I wanted to create a thread dedicated to discussion of Spaghetti Westerns as I've just started collecting some of these on DVD. I'd love to hear reviews, recommendations, what is in your collections, what you hope to some day collect etc...
I'm also curious to hear thoughts on some of the companies that have been releasing Spaghetti Westerns on DVD and the quality of their product. As an example here is the list of companies that seem to produce most of the product now available on DVD in region 1:
Anchor Bay
Blue Underground
Fantoma
Wild East
Now one thing that I've noticed right off as I've begun collecting is that the reviews of the quality of these DVDs varies wildly. I guess at times it depends on the reviewer and what they expect but I don't think I've ever seen the same disc called by one person "Criterion quality" and then by another reviewer "Not even worth owning it's so bad."
This has left me quite puzzled and very hesitant to pull the trigger on purchasing anymore discs until I have an idea what is what and who is who. Please if you have any thoughts to share on the product from the companies I would love to hear it. Wild East has me very curious because they seem to be a great company that is tracking down and releasing a lot of Spaghetti product but I've read some very odd stuff and bad reviews of their product. The ones that have me really stumped are several reviews I've read that claim they appear to be producing their new DVDs on what look to be "used discs"...meaning they are badly scratched and covered with fingerprints even though it's a brand new disc. I've also read they have had terrible issues with DVDs that won't play or stop dead or have sound issues.
These are not really things I want to hear before making a purchase but as I've said I've seen some glowing reviews of their product as well so maybe it was the first batch of stuff they ran that had the issues as most of the bad reviews seem to relate to the early releases from them.
Now, I love Spaghetti Westerns and they have been a huge influence on everybody from Peckinpah to Tarantino as most people know. They often feature beautiful cinematography and amazing images. On top of this they are just a hell of a lot of fun. So, I'd love to hear what you guys think are the classics or your favorites outside of the Leone pictures. Of course I own all of the Leone stuff and I also have the following:
The Great Silence
A Bullet for the General
A Reason to Live, A Reason to Die
I'm looking at getting Django and Django Kill next but I'd love to hear thoughts on what films people think I should seek out. As a final note I will say I'm not as big a fan of the comedy Spaghetti's and did not much care for when they went in that direction.
So please fire away!
I'm also curious to hear thoughts on some of the companies that have been releasing Spaghetti Westerns on DVD and the quality of their product. As an example here is the list of companies that seem to produce most of the product now available on DVD in region 1:
Anchor Bay
Blue Underground
Fantoma
Wild East
Now one thing that I've noticed right off as I've begun collecting is that the reviews of the quality of these DVDs varies wildly. I guess at times it depends on the reviewer and what they expect but I don't think I've ever seen the same disc called by one person "Criterion quality" and then by another reviewer "Not even worth owning it's so bad."
This has left me quite puzzled and very hesitant to pull the trigger on purchasing anymore discs until I have an idea what is what and who is who. Please if you have any thoughts to share on the product from the companies I would love to hear it. Wild East has me very curious because they seem to be a great company that is tracking down and releasing a lot of Spaghetti product but I've read some very odd stuff and bad reviews of their product. The ones that have me really stumped are several reviews I've read that claim they appear to be producing their new DVDs on what look to be "used discs"...meaning they are badly scratched and covered with fingerprints even though it's a brand new disc. I've also read they have had terrible issues with DVDs that won't play or stop dead or have sound issues.
These are not really things I want to hear before making a purchase but as I've said I've seen some glowing reviews of their product as well so maybe it was the first batch of stuff they ran that had the issues as most of the bad reviews seem to relate to the early releases from them.
Now, I love Spaghetti Westerns and they have been a huge influence on everybody from Peckinpah to Tarantino as most people know. They often feature beautiful cinematography and amazing images. On top of this they are just a hell of a lot of fun. So, I'd love to hear what you guys think are the classics or your favorites outside of the Leone pictures. Of course I own all of the Leone stuff and I also have the following:
The Great Silence
A Bullet for the General
A Reason to Live, A Reason to Die
I'm looking at getting Django and Django Kill next but I'd love to hear thoughts on what films people think I should seek out. As a final note I will say I'm not as big a fan of the comedy Spaghetti's and did not much care for when they went in that direction.
So please fire away!
