getting started with his string of Vietnamsploitation action films begun by The Last Hunter and Cannibal Apocalypse (essentially 
gored-up epics loosely inspired by The Deer Hunter and especially Apocalypse Now right down to using the same sets), director Antonio "Anthony M. Dawson" Margheriti quickly jumped on another Hollywood hit to riff on in 1981 with the massive box office success of Raiders of the Lost Ark. The number of Indiana Jones imitators rose around the world with films like Romancing the Stone, King Solomon's Mines, High Road to China, Firewalker, and multiple Jackie Chan films. However, nobody did 'em quite like Italy which even jumped in with a 3-D option, Treasure of the Four Crowns. However, there's something a little extra special about the trilogy of films Margheriti delivered between 1982 and 1985, all featuring his beloved character actor mascot Luciano Pigozzi and ready made to occupy video store shelves for many years after they hit theaters. After that the three films now collected in a 2026 UHD and Blu-ray set from Severin Films were tricky to find for many years, occasionally popping up on European DVD or a couple of Blu-rays, but this box is definitely the way to go for the ultimate '80s Italian action experience.
jungle to retrieve a priceless mystical snake artifact made out of... well, take a guess, and it's guarded by natives tied to a cult. He'd had a brush with the area before when 
his plane went down the prior year, where he saw a mysterious blonde woman who was a dead ringer for Julie (Suska a.k.a. Almanta Keller, the much-traumatized Fay in The New York Ripper), also accompanying him on the trip since her twin sister disappeared where they're going. Overseeing her on the trip is her guardian and the benefactor of the expedition, archaeologist Greenwater (Pigozzi, credited as "Alan Collins" as usual) whose own motivations might not be what they seem. 
much. 
The Severin release featuring a very impressive new scan from the original negative looks gorgeous and will particularly knock out anyone who hasn't seen this since VHS or the various bad budget bootlegs floating around. The scope framing looks perfect here, and Margheriti's sparing but effective bursts of very colorful lighting work perfectly here. The original English and Italian dub audio options both sound nice here in DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono choices with optional English SDH or translated subtitles. In "The Path of the Cobra" (24m27s), assistant director Edoardo Margheriti chats about shooting in the Philippines, the logistics of bringing back Warbeck, Steiner, and Pigozzi from The Last Hunter, his dad's love of plentiful special effects, the sales markets for these films, the frequent use of the same set of caves, and more. In "Bloodline of the Cobra" (18m53s), second camera assistant Davide Mancori looks back at his first meeting with Margheriti on the set of Web of the Spider, his fellow technicians on the shoot, Margheriti's personality and highly impressive knowledge of his craft, and the tricks of the trade to handle cameras and lighting in the most challenging scenarios. Then you get a 1996 Festival Of Fantastic Films award presentation and Q&A (20m31s) with a very animated and funny Warbeck talking about his career, followed by a video essay by Rob Hill (6m51s) about these films' fusion of man on a mission war movies with Indiana Jonesploitation complete with zesty model work and a colorful gallery of character 
actors reflecting the 
evolution of public tastes in the first half of the '80s. A nice quality scope English trailer is also included. 
standout here is actually a crazed chase scene involving Thunderbirds-style toy cars and a train that you have to see to believe; it's so amazing 
that Bruno Mattei recycled all of it in 1988's Cop Game but just replaced the close-ups of who's driving. The pounding synth score by Aldo Tamborelli (who's barely a footnote on the Italian scoring scene but lively all the same) is a big asset here as well, nicely supporting the action scenes which, as many have noted, owe as much to '80s James Bond as Indiana Jones here. Widely bootlegged in very bad quality after its initial run on VHS and moderate theatrical play from Trans World (with a budget tape from Interglobal in drugstore everywhere for a couple of years), this one laid dormant for quite a while before getting an unlikely UHD and Blu-ray release from 88 Films in the U.K. in 2023. That edition featuring the English and Italian audio (DTS-HD MA 2.0 mon, with the English being preferable) looked quite nice and came with a new commentary by Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth covering all things Margheriti, Warbeck, and toy car-related. Also included are "Assembling the Ark" (21m36s) with editor Alberto Moriani and Edoardo Margheriti and "Sketches and Credits" (17m50s) with production designer Massimo Antonello Geleng. 
sourced from the same scan for the UHD and Blu-ray, though they've made some color timing improvement tweaks that range from very minor to quite obvious depending on the scene -- in particular with that distinctive red lighting popping more here and having a slightly less pink push to it. Other scenes look warmer, and overall the UHD in particular is really 
the way to go here. The DTS-HD MA English and Italian mono tracks (with optional translated or SDH English subtitles) still in excellent shape. In "Second Unit Chronicles" (29m6s), Edoardo Margheriti essentially continues the discussion with details about an aborted sci-fi version of Stagecoach, working with screenwriter Giovanni Salmonelli, the large number of locales and chases for this film, the integration of the Italian crew members with Turkish ones, and the location scouting to come up with appropriately exotic places for the story. Then in "Raiders of the Sun God" (19m28s), writer Giovanni Paolucci talks about working with Simonelli and Flora Film, the adventures he had with Margheriti in Turkey, his love of adventure stories, his positive memories of the two stars, Sudlow's fotoromanzo popularity, and a crazy bit about the Trans Am driver for this film. Also included are the trailer and a quick 2m28s archival Margheriti interview with Peter Blumstock talking about working with Warbeck. Also packaged with this one is a much-appreciated soundtrack CD for Golden Corba and Sun God featuring 14 tracks including the theme songs by Josette Martial and Vicki Williams.
It was probably inevitable that Margheriti would cross paths with Cannon at some point, and that came to pass in 1985 with 
Jungle Raiders, another one that seemed to linger on video store shelves well into the '90s with its oversized silver MGM/UA VHS case. Here Warbeck gets swapped out for Christopher Connelly in a sailing captain hat, but you also get Lee Van Cleef added in the process. This one cribs from its American inspiration far more blatantly with a very familiar opening in 1938 Malaysia as Captain Yankee (Connelly) heads into the jungle to retrieve a small golden idol from a bobby trap-filled cave, only to deal with some pesky natives and a tricky flight to safety. There is a fun little twist to it though that won't be spoiled, after which we get to the main story about a quest for the valuable Ruby of Gloom with our hero and his cohorts Gin Fizz (Pigozzi, showing some bizarre fashion sense here) and Alain (Abadeza) recruited by the mercenary Inspector Warren (Van Cleef). A couple of vacationing scholars, Professor Lansky (Monty) and Maria (Costa), are involved to legitimize the mission, 
which draws the attention of various criminals including Borneo pirates in the area who are hot on their trail. 
gung ho about Raiders copycats by this point including some of the titles mentioned above, so it makes sense they would hop on this one as well as an acquisition they could wedge in between films like Lifeforce, American Ninja, and Rappin'. (How's that for a summer slate?) The pace here is sleepier than the others with a particularly uninspired score by Cal Taormina (who understandably didn't get hired much after this), but there are still plenty of thrills and spills to keep you amused. As usual this was geared for the English-language market, with Costa and Pigozzi replaced by some familiar voices fans of Italian dubs will spot right away. This one also amps up the comic relief quite a bit including some banter between Connelly (not known for his comedic timing) and Costa as well as some dubious child actor shenanigans, so don't feel too bad if you take a pizza break during those bits in between the fire lakes and rampant jungle explosions.
Significantly censored in the U.K. and Germany but uncut with a PG-13 rating in the U.S. (where it was heavily cropped on home video), this has been a tough one to see in any kind of complete, watchable presentation until now. The UHD and Blu-ray release is a 
major visual revelation that finally allows you to appreciate all the production design details here, with Margheriti milking every dollar as much as possible on the screen. The English and Italian DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono tracks both sound fine given how average the original mix has always been, with optional English SDH or translated subtitles. Edoardo Margheriti pops up one last time for "The Ruby Trail" (27m48s) chatting about how to pass off the Philippines as Malaysia, the casting of locals, the laid-back Connelly, his dad's friendship with Van Cleef, the bit roles performing in his father's movies, and more. Also included are the trailer and the Italian non-Cannon main title and end credit sequences. ARK OF THE SUN GOD (Severin UHD)
ARK OF THE SUN GOD (88 Films UHD)
