The Million Eyes of Sumuru: Extended Version – Blue Underground (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: UK, 1967
Director: Lindsay Shonteff
Writers: Harry Alan Towers, Franz Eichhorn, Bruno Leder
Cast: Frankie Avalon, George Nader, Shirley Eaton, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Klaus Kinski, Maria Rohm

Release Date: September 24th, 2024
Approximate Running Time: 89 Minutes 28 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $49.95

"Two years before The Girl from Rio, Shirley Eaton (GOLDFINGER) also starred as Sumuru, a beautiful but deadly woman with plans for world domination. When a couple of wise-cracking, swingin’ secret agents uncover her scheme to eliminate male leaders and replace them with sexy undercover female operatives, they rush to Hong Kong and enlist the local police to stop her all-female army of assassins known as The Million Eyes of Sumuru." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD), 4.5/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "brand-new 4K restoration from its long-lost (and recently found) original camera negative."

The Million Eyes of Sumuru comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD

Disc Size: 59.5 GB

Feature: 53.9 GB

The source used for this transfer is in excellent shape. Colors are nicely saturated and at times vivid; flesh tones look healthy; image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid; and the image always looks organic. That said, this transfer is a substantial upgrade when compared to Blue Underground’s 2016 Blu-ray release. Also, this new release restores ten minutes of footage that were missing from previous home media releases.

The Million Eyes of Sumuru comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 38.4 GB

Feature: 21.4 GB

The Blu-ray included as part of this release uses the same source that was used for the 4K UHD’s transfer.

Audio: 4.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English. The audio is in great shape; there are no issues with distortion or background noise. Dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds are well represented. That said, range-wise, things sound very good. Included are removable English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 34 seconds, DTS-HD mono English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with film historians David Del Valle and Dan Marino,and an audio commentary with film historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 34 seconds, DTS-HD mono English, no subtitles), a poster & still gallery (54 images), RiffTrax edition - The Million Eyes of Sumuru riffed Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy (71 minutes 26 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), a documentary titled England’s Unknown Exploitation Film Eccentric: The Schlock-Cinema Legacy of Lindsay Shonteff (100 minutes 40 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with David Del Valle and Dan Marino,and an audio commentary with Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth.

Other extras include reversible cover art and a slipcover (limited to the first pressing).

Summary:

The Million Eyes of Sumuru is one wacky plot that takes all the spy films' most cliched elements and magnifies them tenfold. When it comes to conquering the world and having all men under her thumb, Sumuru has also developed a gun that shoots darts that turn their targets to stone. Two things that add humor to the story at hand are how Nick West, a CIA agent, only cares about his vacation and can’t be persuaded to help save the world until he is framed for murder. Despite its melting pot of ideas, The Million Eyes of Sumuru works in an odd sort of way.

A lot of The Million Eyes of Sumuru's appeal is due to director Lindsay Shonteff's superb visual eye, which beautifully captures the numerous voluptuous women in this film. Other notable films directed by Lindsay Shonteff include Devil Doll, Licensed to Kill (The Second Best Secret Agent in the Whole Wide World), and Clegg. Also, The Million Eyes of Sumuru features many moments of suspense and plenty of action, including an all-out raid on Sumuru’s fortress. Besides action and suspense, there's an ample amount of humor, notably a moment with Klaus Kinski in the role of President Boong.

But this is another very limited and brief role for Klaus Kinski. He just does not show up and become part of the scenery; his portrayal of President Boong is The Million Eyes of Sumuru's most memorable performance. Reportedly, director Lindsay Shonteff said that Klaus Kinski wanted to make his character even more outlandish than what appears on the screen. Some of Klaus Kinski’s ideas that were never used include sporting a very large tongue while licking women and wanting his character to appear from under a pile of cushions whenever someone enters the room.

The two lead male roles, George Nader (Robot Monster) in the role of Nick West and Frankie Avalon (Beach Party) in the role of Tommy Carter, are serviceable performances. That said, they make an odd duo. In the role of the title character, Sumuru, is Shirley Eaton, who most film fans remember from the James Bond film Goldfinger, whose character's death in that film ranks among the most memorable to ever grace the silver screen. Two years later, she would reprise the role of Sumuru in The Girl from Rio. With the role of Sumuru, she would get a chance to show that she was something more than just a beautiful face and body. Other notable performances in The Million Eyes of Sumuru are Wilfrid Hyde-White (My Fair Lady) and Maria Rohm (Marquis de Sade's Justine). Ultimately, The Million Eyes of Sumuru is an entertaining action/adventure that fans of 1960's spy cinema will get a kick out of.

The Million Eyes of Sumuru gets a definitive release from Blue Underground, highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer