Verdict
Summary
Fans of the Tintin comic strips and the Steven Spielberg film should be especially interested in this collection.
Tintin and the Mystery of the Golden Fleece (1961) Plot:
A plucky reporter, his dog, and a wily ship captain go to Turkey and get involved in an adventure surrounding an old ship with a big secret.
Review:
Pals Tintin – a reporter (Jean-Pierre Talbot), Tintin’s dog Snowy and a wily retired sea captain named Haddock (George Wilson) – all sort of live around a big estate in the country, and when Haddock inherits a ship, the three of them travel to Istanbul to see what’s what. Turns out Haddock has inherited a jalopy called The Golden Fleece, and as soon as they try to claim it, someone offers to buy it from them straight away for an exorbitant sum – and then ups the offer when they hesitate! Just as a precaution, they refuse the offer, which proves to be problematic to say the least! An assassin tries to kill Haddock, and thus begins an adventure as he and Tintin (and Snowy, of course) dodge killers, close calls, and all sorts of peril. They investigate and realize that The Golden Fleece holds a secret within: a Map to a sunken treasure and the old shipmates who used to sail on it are out to claim it before Tintin and Haddock realize what’s they’ve inherited!
The first of several filmed adventures based on the Tintin comic strip from Herge, Tintin and the Mystery of the Golden Fleece is very colorful, fun, and totally suitable for patient and sophisticated kids and families who might’ve seen Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin movie and are curious to see more. The casting is good, the score is breezy, and the beautiful locations are stunning. You can totally see how perhaps Spielberg and Lucas were inspired by this stuff to make the Indiana Jones movies (and the big budget Tintin film, obviously), so this film is a must-see for fans of cinematic adventures. From director Jean-Jacques Vierne.
Tintin and the Blue Oranges (1964) Plot:
World hunger is at stake when Tintin and Haddock get wind of a genetically modified orange that can potentially solve all hunger.
Review:
While whiling away the hours at their estate, reporter Tintin (Jean-Pierre Talbot) and Captain Haddock (Jean Bouise) receive a package in the mail that befuddles them: a blue orange! Before they give it a thought, the orange is stolen, and they scramble to figure out just what’s going on. The mystery leads them to Spain where a scientist working on a solution to global hunger, and when their colleague Professor Calculus is kidnapped, Tintin and Haddock (and their dog Snowy) are on the case! Their adventure leads them around scenic Spain, and they make an enemy out of a villain who wants to keep the formula for himself.
Less focused but still just as playfully colorful as the previous film, Tintin and the Blue Oranges clearly has a message to deliver, which diminishes its entertainment value as pure escapism for families. The casting is better this time around with Bouise very well cast as Haddock (and his beard is not obviously fake the way George Wilson’s beard in the first movie was), and there’s no reason why sophisticated kids and patient families won’t be entertained by these two movies on the whole. From director Philippe Condroyer.
Kino Lorber’s recent double feature Blu-ray release of these two Tintin adventures come in nice and crisp high definition transfers, but don’t come with any bonus features. Fans of the Tintin comic strips and the Steven Spielberg film should be especially interested in this collection.
