The Good, The Bad And The Ugly Announced in Region B - now in Region A as well (1 Viewer)

[Brian Borst]

Apparently, 20th Century Fox will release The Good, The Bad And The Ugly on Blu-Ray, on 29 april in The Netherlands. That's about as much info as there is as of yet. Not even the website mentions any of this. Since it's released by Fox, I assume it will be region locked.

See here for the press release. Just scroll down, it's the last entry. Let's keep the fingers crossed for an actual (and above all, decent) release.

 

[Matt Butler]

Best...News...Ever...!!

I love this movie!! Top 5 of all time!

This means we should be getting a US release. Now bring on the other two dollars flicks!!

 

[John Hodson]

Blimey; that's so weird. I watched the SD today and elsewhere I've just posted this...

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (R1 DVD); How do you choose between any of Leone's magnificent Dollars Trilogy? Simple truth is, choosing any one above the other seems like picking which one of my children to save when the house catches fire. Though if you put a Colt .45 to my throat, Wallach's Tuco probably swings it for GBU. They're all fantastic examples of not just 'The Western', but the film makers art, and Leone improved with each movie. The audience stood up and cheered at the Paris premiere as Tuco swirled dizzyingly round and round Sad Hill Cemetary, Morricone's spine-tingling score making the perfect marriage of sound and image. I feel I could do the same, every time I see it. My skins prickles even now at the memory.

However, however...

It's been a few months since I viewed the disc last, and I squirmed in my seat at MGM's restoration. I can put up with an SE that includes revoiced scenes (they were present and correct for the premiere after all), though I'd also prefer a version included without those. I can put up with the lack of English mono, and with the monkeying about with the restyled gunshots that MGM's John Kirk created for the 5.1 track. What does surprise me is just how poor, overall, this restoration is. The colours are muted, the print is still marked with various scratches and spots, and there is an, albeit faded, mark running the whole depth of the left hand side of the film for several reels.

The film obviously still needs a whole stagecoach load of gold spending on it (for a few dollars still more...), and, as one of the most important westerns made, deserves it. How about a gorgeous new transfer for BD, MGM? Complete with seamless branching, mono sound as an option?

There are two kinds of people in this world, my friend, those that care about film and those that don't...

EDIT; showing on Amazon.fr as coming April in France too...

 

[Matt Butler]

John,
I would like those options as well. Im glad they reinsterted the deleted scenes back in and "revoiced" them for historical reasons but It still takes me out of the movie due to the aging (voices) of Clint and Eli.

 

[John Hodson]

...and a German disc is coming April too...

 

[Dale MA]

Agree with you 100% John. The BD should include both cuts, the remixed 5.1 track and the original mono both in lossless. Also ALL the extra features need to be carried over.

Hopefully the UK will get a release of all three Dollar movies on BD sometime this year.

 

[Jim_K]

I'l love to have MGM release the entire Sergio Leone set (TGTBTU, Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and Duck You Sucker) on BD. Featuring both cuts of TGTBTU of course, the original cut is absolutely essential.

 

[Brian Borst]

Well, that makes the Dutch release a lot more likely. Thanks for that link

.

 

[Sam Posten]

WANT

 

[Brandon Conway]

While I understand the desire to have as many commercially released alternate cuts as possible, I can let it go with just the extended cut on this title. To me, it's the same situation as Lawrence of Arabia. Sure, there were shorter cuts officially released both theatrically and on home video, but ever since the restoration that's been the cut to watch. And I just don't see people clamoring for the shorter cuts of Lawrence, even though by the same logic they should be if they're desiring the shorter cut of GB&U.

 

[Brian Borst]

Well, the longer cuts of both this and Lawrence of Arabia were the director's preferred cuts, weren't they? And, if I'm not mistaken, both were altered after the premiere. So I think in each case the DC is the most valid one. And I prefer the longer cuts as well, can't imagine them being shorter.

On a side note, does anybody know how the restoration of the Italian version of Once Upon A Time In The West is coming along? I only heard Martin Scorsese was part of it, and that's all I know.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Which was my point.

 

[Edwin-S]

Well, I have the longer cut of this film and there is only one added scene that actually added anything to the film. I would prefer that they have both cuts of this film on the Blu-ray, so I can watch the one I prefer. I'm kind of tired of the excuse that it was the "director's preferred cut"....so what.....that doesn't mean that the director was actually right in his choices. Sometimes a film actually is improved when the director is forced to edit it. There really are times when you have to "kill your darlings". Most of the reinserted footage in TGTB&TU only served to make the film longer. The only useful addition was the scene where Angel comes across the wounded Rebs. That scene showed that even a hard case like Angel could actually demonstrate some empathy for the miserable conditions those men were in.

Then there was the mistake of using Eastwood and Wallach to dub the missing dialogue. Eastwood was somewhat passable, but Wallach's voice had changed so much with age that it just took a person right out of the film.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

We hear a lot of complaints around here about longer director's cuts, but no one ever asks for the theatrical cut of LOA.

 

[Edwin-S]

Maybe in the case of LOA there is rare unanimity that the longer cut is best, so no one is too concerned about having the shorter cut; although, that really isn't the best excuse for not including it in a definitive release.

 

[Brian Borst]

That's why I'm glad I said the the most valid, or preferred one. It's always hard to judge different versions of the same film. Just because I prefer the longer cuts doesn't mean at all the only ones available should be the longer cuts. Not at all. If you take another Director's Cut, I might think the exact opposite. Take Amadeus for example. The DC doesn't add anything new to the film. It just overstates everything already established in the TC. That's why I really want the original cut on that film. Some others might think differently.

Long story short, both versions should be available in the same quality

.

 

[OliverK]

Because the is not THE theatrical cut with LOA. Instead there are numerous theatrical cuts of Lawrence with one of them being the director's cut, too. The imdb lists these:

216 min | UK:228 min (director's cut) | UK:187 min (1970 re-release) | UK:210 min (original version) | UK:222 min (premiere version) | USA:227 min (restored roadshow version)

The restored roadshow version done by RAH and James Katz is both director approved and was shown theatrically so I guess there is little to complain about

 

[Robin9]

The restored version is one that was re-cut by David Lean and Anne Coates and can truly be described as a director's cut. Both David Lean and Anne Coates admitted that when they originally cut Lawrence Of Arabia they were under such pressure to get it ready for the world premiere that they did not have time to produce a fine-cut.

 

[OliverK]

Correct and in a sense everything that is approved by the director could be called the director's cut anyway, so there would be an old DC (put together with time constraints but isn't this the case for most movies anyway ?) and the new one that we will most probably get on Blu-Ray. And thanks for giving Anne Coates her due, her name eluded me in my post.

 

[John Hodson]

I recall that five years ago (!), after the release of GBU in R1, Christopher Frayling, obviously a little disappointed that he hadn't been invited to do the commentary, let it be known that he'd recorded a commentary track 'just in case'...and I understand from the Sergio Leone web board that it will now be used on the BD release. We'll see.