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Comparison between the censored British version and the uncensored original version, both included in the Blu-ray set ‘Adventure Calls! Karl May at CCC’ by Eureka
- 4 cuts
The 1965 film Pyramid of the Sun God was made at virtually the same time as its predecessor Treasure of the Aztecs and is part of the second series of films based on the characters or novels of Karl May. Producer Artur Brauner secured the necessary rights for his studio, CCC-Filmkunst, and quickly produced his own films with largely the same cast, which were naturally intended to build on the success of his colleague Horst Wendlandt. In this film, Winnetou and Old Shatterhand were omitted, but Lex Barker plays the lead role, and there was a solid source material by May with the same title. In Germany, the films have already been released individually and in a complete box set containing all the Karl May-related films from both studios some time ago. In the UK, on the other hand, a box set containing only the 7 CCC productions was released in May 2026 by the Eureka label. The Eureka box set is also of interest to German/international fans because it features new 4K restorations for the first time. It’s not a night-and-day difference, but it’s certainly an improvement. The original German audio is included, of course, along with some English dubs (though some of these were produced only for cut versions and thus filled in with German audio), newly produced and archival bonus material, and a booklet with several quite informative essays. But the main reason this box set naturally caught our attention is this: three films had to be censored due to BBFC guidelines on animal violence. As with many other titles affected in this way, however, Eureka presented the films uncensored in the edition released simultaneously on the US market - and the best part is that the same disc contains both versions. Anyone with a Code A or region-free player (or a compatible drive) can thus enjoy the uncensored versions even as a UK buyer. After Old Shatterhand and Treasure of the Aztecs, Pyramid of the Sun God was the last film affected. As before, a few horsefalls were removed here, all of which occur shortly before the finale. Once again, a solution using playlists was technically straightforward to implement, so that only the short segment is played - depending on the UK or US version - to save space, while the rest of the film is available in high-quality compression. Here (and also with the other affected films), this was resolved by simply leaving the screen black for a brief moment during the relevant shots in the UK version, while the audio continues to play.
Runtime information applies to both versions on the Eureka Blu-ray Note: The British Blu-ray begins with a reference to the film’s funding, which explains the slightly different runtime of 7 sec compared to the German Blu-ray (which starts immediately without such a reference).
79:56-79:58 After someone in the foreground (implied) falls into the water, a medium shot is missing in which a horse stumbles and the rider falls headfirst. This applies to all subsequent discrepancies: The audio continues, and the footage has been replaced with a black screen without any difference in runtime. The duration listed therefore refers only to the corresponding censored material. 1.6 sec
80:00-80:01 Another horse is struck down. 1 sec
80:04-80:05 And another brief shot. 0.6 sec
81:34–81:35 After one of the shooters was taken out, there’s another missing wide shot where a horse on the right is knocked to the ground and gets back up, while the rider remains on the ground. 1.6 sec
Conversely, it should be noted that at 81:44-81:46, a shot remained unedited that begins with the horse already lying on the ground and getting back to its feet. Presumably, the horse was brought down here in exactly the same way as in the other edited moments, but this small difference in the depiction is apparently relevant to the BBFC.
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