The Spaghetti Western - Page 2

Re: The Spaghetti Western

Who cares about what Tarantino likes? Anyway, you should check LUST IN THE DUST from 1985.

Re: The Spaghetti Western

Just thought I'd mention that I have just reviewed Matalo.

It is one of a small selection of genre titles that completely shed their American influences and embraced European surreality. Certainly not for the faint hearted, it does come recommended if you think you have seen everything the Western has to offer.

Re: The Spaghetti Western

Has anyone gotten ahold of this: Spaghetti Westerns 20 Movie Pack? It's another Mill Creek public domain extravaganza, so the prints will look like hell - but are the movies any good?

I've got The Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe on another Public Domain set, so I know that one's pretty good - but any word on the rest? I imagine if I keep the ratio of 30% crap, 40% so-so and 30% Awesome that I usualy get with these sets, I'm par for the course, but I was hoping for some words of encouragment.

A couple more reviews to peruse - New reviews of Have a Good Funeral, My Friend... Sartana Will Pay (1970) and Light the Fuse... Sartana Is Coming (1971).

I've also written an all new biography of Spaghetti Western regular Gianni Garko.

It does look very interesting, but all bootlegs (one print even still has the television channel logo on it) so I'm not sure I will pick it up. There is more information on the Spaghetti Western forum.

I've got more new reviews of the latest two-film pack from Wild East, this time some seriously obscure genre entries:

Kill or be Killed is a very American style Western, but it is well made and certainly worth watching.

Kill the Wickeds was made at the same time, by the same director, but is something very different - a harsh, brutal and distinctly Italian Western it has an amazing ghost town set and some solid scripting. Recommended to genre fans.

Two more reviews, although these are not Spaghetti Westerns, being made a full decade after the Italian Western boom came to a spluttering close.

From infamous exploitation director Bruno Mattei, these films have gained a reputation as mere exploitation pieces and do include a lot more blood and sex than we are used to in the Western, but also have some quite impressive storyline and direction (interestingly, Scalps uses a lot of ideas from the earlier American Western Soldier Blue, but uses them a lot more effectively than that often tiresome production).

Available on some nice looking Spanish DVDs, I have just reviewed Apache Kid and Scalps, venganza india (caution, this review has some gory images from the film). They are certainly of interest to fans of the Italian Westerns.

I may have looked in this thread before but have just had another look at it after doing a HTF forum search.

 

Even though I don't agree with some of his opinions in his spaghetti western book Alex Cox's 10,000 Ways to Die book is worth reading. There are a couple of films which were made in the 70's which sound interesting. Have Closed Circuit and California been released on DVD?

Face to Face (aka Faccia a Faccia), is getting a UK DVD release from Eureka! DVD. The title seems to have been pushed back a few times, and now has a new release date of Monday 20th June, 2011.

Anyone here seen Gatling Gun (1968) (starring John Ireland) and Bury Them Deep (1968)? The former was released in the US on DVD by Dorado Films. The latter I'm not sure if it has been released on DVD. It was shown in the week on a UK satellite channel.

Some of Wild East's titles released in the past twelve months (source: Amazon.com):

 

 

Moment to Kill (1968) and Full House for the Devil (1968)

Arizona Colt (1966) and Arizona Colt Hired Gun (1970)

Hands Up Dead Man! You're Under Arrest (1971) and Revenge of the Resurrected (aka Prey of Vultures (1972)

Dead Men Don't Count (1968) and Kill and Pray (aka Requiescant (1967)

Killer Caliber 32 (1967) and Killer, Adios (1968).

 

Off topic, but I noticed whilst looking at the search results for Wild East Productions titles available on DVD on Amazon.com, that Wild East have released some European crime films as well.

Wild East presses limited editions of only 1,000 and then the DVD becomes either unobtainable or insanely pricey real fast. At least three Wild East DVD's I bought as recently as last March have gone out of print. The transfers, generally, are very good to excellent, mostly excellent. Many spaghetti westerns were shot in Techniscope, so that's the quality you'll be seeing, from dye transfer negatives. Their new transfer of Death Rides a Horse (1968) is widescreen, anamorphic, uncut, with the proper gamma and color saturation. Probably from the same source as the MGM release in the U.K. The best I've seen in the USA for a title that circulates in blown-out, cut-up, full-screen public-domain editions. Wild East's DVD is the only one to buy if you like this film, but be advised it will be sold out shortly:

http://184.172.176.43/~wildeast/

I've been gathering spaghetti westerns this past year and watching them, trying to get to know the genre better. I've watched nearly 50 films in the past year and I still have a long want list. Overall, I'm disappointed in the genre. Although American names and places are used, there is little discernment of what the American west was about, and not much attempt at dramaturgy beyond greed, rape, and revenge. These are the motivations. As basic drama, spaghetti westerns are not ambitious, although there is cleverness to the gamesmanship on display. 99% of the stories being told are simplistic, monothemic, redundant exercises in sadism. 45 minute plots stretched out to 90 minutes or longer. I usually stop the film midway through, and then come back to it after a break. I'm starting to enjoy spaghetti westerns as exercises in style and in a certain mentality. I do appreciate the raw visual aesthetic of the average spaghetti western.

I was hoping to find another Sergio Leone. Someone with his visual acuity, dramatic range, emotional power and sense of poetry. Leone was a true artist and a great filmmaker. But no one else even comes close. The most impressive film I've seen so far is Sergio Sollima's Faccia a Faccia (Face to Face, 1967). It is actually about something. It has good ideas, an original and engaging subtext, layered characters, a story that plays out in unpredictable ways, at least two superb performances, and a fine pictorial use of landscape and sky. I enjoyed the film so much I actually forgot it has no more discernment of the American west than the worst spaghetti western. But as cinema, I recommend it very highly. The Eureka! DVD from the U.K. is the only one to get. You will need a multi-region player to watch it:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00450AFRO/ref=oss_product

My growing familiarity with the spaghetti western brings me back to the beginning: I prefer the American western. The best westerns have always been legitimate drama first, connected somehow to how the pioneers lived and to what they did, and action films second. The American western is a deeper, richer, more challenging and durable entity, infinitely more accomplished as story telling. The western is our invention and our signature contribution to cinema.

Spaghetti westerns are distinctly European in their outlook, but they can be fun.

Yes, the Eureka! DVD of Faccia a Faccia is definitely worth getting. They do a really good job on the presentation of their titles, and Faccia a Faccia is a great example.

 

Purchased a book about spaghetti westerns a while back, 10,000 Ways to Die: A Director's Take on the Spaghetti Western by Alex Cox. Another book on the subject was released back at the end of May, but looks like it's going OOP, called Any Gun Can Play: The Essential Guide to Euro-Westerns by Kevin Grant (this has nice front cover artwork).

 

Is it a usual thing with Wild East's double feature releases of spaghetti westerns, double-sided discs?

 

Informative post Richard.

Edited by WaveCrest - 8/26/11 at 4:13pm

On a related note Wild East's pairing of the Charles Bronson films RIDER ON THE RAIN and FAREWELL FRIEND is well worth obtaining, with fine anamorphic widescreen transfers of two of the actor's European-made thrillers. (RIDER was one of the actor's personal favorites). At $13.49 it's a bargain, one that slipped onto the market with little fanfare.

I second the recommendation for the Rider On the Rain / Farewell Friend double-feature, two excellent French crime films.

By the way have you guys seen this

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/314225/ismael-rodr-guez-s-pancho-villa-trilogy-highly-recommended

Death Rides A Horse from Wild East is the best video dvd I have watched. Richard, great, informative post about Wild East. I have from volume 10 thru current Wild East spaghetti westerns. It is true if you do not buy before they go oop price is insane. I think most of Wild East double features are one side dual layer dvds. I just got vol 34- Dead Man Don't Count -Kill and Pray which is a flipper double sided dvd. I like the one sided dual layer better because of artwork on dvd and easier to see . Almost all have the movie trailer and some have interviews with the stars of the movie. List of Wid East spaghetti westerns: there is also a link to spaghetti westerns forum top left

http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Wild_East_DVD_catalog

If you are looking for a box set at a decent price take a look at Timeless Media Group Best of Spaghetti Westerns 20 movie- 10 dvd set. Picture quality is pretty good Price is around $20 from Sams Club and Amazon. TMG link:

http://www.timelessvideo.com/dvds/spaghettiwesterns.html

Another source for spaghetti westerns with good video is cuttcine.

http://cultcine.com/

For A Few Dollars More was the first movie I saw Lee Van Cleef. I like all his spaghetti westerns. Encore Westerns has LVC westerns on now and then. Not a spaghetti western but i enjoyed Barquero, starring LVC, Warren Oates and Forrest Tucker.

dale3,

You mention CultCine.
Which titles of theirs' do you recommend?
I've been thinking of buying Cemetery Without Crosses, Return of Ringo, Dead Men Ride, Day of Anger, and several others.

The Timeless Media Group's 10 DVD set consists of shortened, cut versions, and not always in the best quality.

Flipper discs are a new development from Wild East. I don't like them.

I haven.t got a flipper from Wild East yet . I have bought most of the recent spaghetti double features .

I bought the Timeless Spaghetti 10 feature at Sam,s club a few months back . I thought they looked pretty good . Haven,t watched them all yet . But i did check them all and they seemed to be all Widescreen and uncut . . At least the times matched up with the running times listed in the book The Good the Bad and the Violent .

I stumbled across a blog that broke each film down in the Timeless-Media set and compared it to European DVDs that were longer. I'll see if I can find it again and post the link here.

Is this the blog?:

http://cinemaraiders.blogspot.com/2011/05/best-of-spaghetti-westerns.html

For me I liked the set, region 1 dvd with good video with english dubs. I bought the set because of price. These have some SW that otherwise I would not have seen. Personally I like Timeless Media Group. I have almost all their TV westerns. Video is good on almost all and just about the only legit distributor for some classic tv westerns. Almost all my purchases of them have been from Sams Club at about half the retail price. Sams club seems to have a 3-4 week window, after that I think they are sold out or returned.

I also have TMG Soldiers of Fortune- John Russell series before Lawman. Video quality varies on the episodes. Sams has it for under $13.

 

 

 

I have about 20 of their titles.  All are anamorphic, almost all are the uncut versions (in some instances subtitles are used for segments that were never dubbed in English).  Most have good to very good PQ. 

 

Cemetery and Ringo have good PQ.  I don't have Dead Men, can't help there.  Day of Anger actually has better PQ then the insanely overpriced OOP Wild East DVD (which I have) but it is missing a few minutes compared to the WE.

 

Off the top of my head Bandidos has banding issues so I'd hesitate recommending that one. 

 

I have a few titles of theirs I might be interested in parting with (just not crazy about the films) if you want to save some money, if so shoot me a PM.  Cultcine is a bit overpriced IMO.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Am considering getting one Wild East spaghetti western release to see what the presentation and print looks like. Have some of the films in the Timeless set been released by Wild East?

The only one I'm aware of is Forgotten Pistolero which is on a double feature with The Unholy Four.  I believe it's out of print now though.

 

FP is in my top 20 / top 25 Spaghetti's, I thought TUF was just ........well........meh

WaveCrest, get DEATH RIDES A HORSE. Highly recommended.

Thanks for your help. Think I'll pass on Timeless' set and try at least one of Wild East's spaghetti western releases.

 

 

 

I've got the MGM (R2) release of Death Rides a Horse. May consider getting Wild East's release of the film.

 

Has Bury Them Deep had a DVD release?

There's a R2 France DVD, no English language, no english subs so unless you're fluent in French........no

 

 

Wild East got the same transfer of Death Rides a Horse as the region 2 MGM disc. There is no difference. They are exactly the same, except Wild East is in NTSC which means it isn't sped-up 4% which in turn means the audio is heard at the proper pitch instead of at a high pitch. Makes a BIG difference in the voices and how we hear the music. I'd stick with the Wild East DVD while supplies last (only 1000 copies were pressed).

Have you guys seen these:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/314225/ismael-rodr-guez-s-pancho-villa-trilogy-highly-recommended#post_3844265

 

 

 

A possibility for release by Wild East?

 

 

*****

 

Some very memorable music by Ennio Morricone in the Dollars trilogy, but one of those pieces of music which sticks in my mind is "The Ecstasy of Gold" from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Starts off quiet and then builds up to a magnificent ending.

Edited by WaveCrest - 11/28/11 at 1:23pm