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A Fistful of Dollars & For A Few Dollars More -Special Editions : R2 Released 18/ 04 (1 Viewer)

Ushabye

Projectionist
Joined
Mar 31, 1999
Messages
197
Location
Dublin, Ireland.
Real Name
Paul
I just noticed this evening to my delight that 2 disc Special Editions of both A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS and A FEW DOLLARS MORE will both be released on the 18th of April in Region 2! Here are the full list if specs - and yes they both will include Dolby Digital 5.1 & DTS, plus both are Anomorphic! :D

A Fistful Of Dollars - Special Edition (2 Discs) (5.1/DTS)

Fully restored with extended footage
Audio commentary by Sir Christopher Frayling
'A New Kind Of Hero' - documentary about Sergio Leone
'A Few Weeks Off In Spain' - Interview with Clint Eastwood
'Cinque Voci' - featurette
'Not Ready For Primetime' - Monye Hellman discusses the prologue
Additional scene - 'The Network Prologue'
'Restoration, Italian Style' - featurette
'Location comparisons' - featurette
Rare double-bill trailer of A Fistful Of Dollars and For A Few Dollars More
Radio spots
'The Lost Prologue' - prologue shot in the 1970's with Harry Dean Stanton
Collector's gallery
Interactive menus
Scene selection

For A Few Dollars More - Special Edition (2 Discs)(5.1/DTS)

Fully restored with extended footage
Audio commentary by Sir Christopher Frayling
'A New Standard' - Sir Christopher Frayling on Sergio Leone
'Back For More' - Interviews with Clint Eastwood
'Tre Voci' - Interviews on Sergio Leone
'For A Few Dollars More: The Original American Release Version' - featurette on alternative versions
'Restoration notebook'
'Location comparisons'
Rare Double-bill trailer
Original theatrical trailer
Collector's gallery
Radio spots

AND THERE'S MORE!!....A Fistful of Dynamite Special Edition is out same day too!! Man, I'm so broke already!

A Fistful Of Dynamite - Special Edition (2 Discs)(5.1)

Fully restored picture and sound
Widescreen 2.35:1 Anamorphic
Audio commentary by Sir Christopher Frayling
'The Myth Of Revolution': Sir Christopher Frayling on Sergio Leon (21 mins)
'Duck You Sucka': co-writer Sergio Donati remembers the film (7 mins)
'Sorting Out The Versions': a featurette which includes shortened versions, the long flashback sequence and UA's decision to rename the film (11 mins)
'Once Upon A Time In Italy': behind the scenes putting together the exhibit on Leone at The Autry Exhibition (5 mins)
'Location Comparisons': intercutting film clips with current footage of locations set to music (9 mins)
'Restoration Italian Style': John Kirk on restoring the original Italian version (5 mins)
Radio spots
Photo gallery
Original theatrical trailer (3 mins)
 

ArthurMy

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jul 27, 2004
Messages
590
I'm watching Fistful now - nice DTS track, and so far, outside of a little strange flicker on certain shots, it looks grand.
 

ArthurMy

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jul 27, 2004
Messages
590
Have watched both Fistful and FAFDM. The latter seems sharper and less grainy overall, but it had a bigger budget and more time was spent on production. Both transfers have mid and long shots in which the backgrounds are much too soft - if you've ever seen these films projected they are very sharp all the way through. The closeups in these transfers are, and many of the long shots look fine, but there are also many that just don't have the detail they should. That said, they are miles better than the previous DVD. The extras are actually interesting (most extras bore me to tears). The DTS track on Fistful is great. The DTS track on FAFDM is not-so-great - it's kind of like Good/Bad/Ugly with too much weird directional panning of off-screen dialogue that is completely disorienting, and a very hollow "boomy" sound.
 

Gordon McMurphy

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2002
Messages
3,530
I have found the 5.1 mixes a bit too 3D-forced, meaning that the aural 'image' makes the ambiance thin and, as you say, Arthur, "boomy". But, it has to be said; I'm not an audiophile and am much more forgiving of soundmix anomalies (I insist on optimal image quality however and have a far great understanding of film element processing, telecine transfering, etc). Morricone's music in all four of MGM's Leone DVDs sound great to me and his music means a lot to me. If I ever die, I want "Il Triello" from Good, Bad, Ugly played at my funeral.

I was more impressed than ever watching For a Few Dollars More last night. It's an amazing film. What great lead actors. Much has been made of Clint over the years and he is great in the Leone films, but Lee Van Cleef is an extraordinary presence in his two Leone pictures; such a great face for the movies. From what I have read, he was a very sweet, honest, generous man off-screen, also. He lost the tip of his famous finger building a playhouse for his daughter!

Gian Maria Volonte was simply one of the best Italian actors of his generation, although he isn't regarded as so; probably due to his 'unrefined' looks. But, again, like LVC, I find his presence and face perfect for the movies. I get giddy watching him and Alain Delon in Melville's striking heist masterpiece, Le Cercle Rouge. Lean stuff. Pure Cinema at its best.

I cancelled my order of A Fistful of Dynamite after I heard it was cut by six seconds for the forced horse falls, but I re-ordered it as, to be quite honest, I can't see Sony releasing these Leone SEs in R1 this year; they won't fit Columbia's weird release schedule pattern, which seems to be planned well in advance. Also, the recent Midnite Movies debacle has made worried about MGM/UA catalog releases being completely re-evaluated. The Bond 4K restoration SEs will be first out the gate, for sure.
 

ArthurMy

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jul 27, 2004
Messages
590
FAFDM is actually my favorite of the three Clint films. I do wish they'd done the track more like the Fistful track - that one has much more "presence" and much less boominess and much less directional panning.

I can't imagine the six seconds in Duck, You Sucker is going to be much of a deal. The image quality is very nice and the Morricone score sounds great. BTW, I seem to remember a lot of bellyaching about the fact that this release was going to have the Fistful of Dynamite title on the film itself. It doesn't - it's Duck, You Sucker.
 

R-T-C Tim

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jul 26, 2006
Messages
194
Real Name
Tim Young
Its an old thread I know, but for anyone looking for copies of these films with the original English mono tracks, the German DVDs - released late 2005 - should suffice. They have a completely new restoration, I've not seen the MGM discs, but this is a perfect transfer with no print damage at all. All the extras have been ported from the MGM discs.

More importantly, the transfer was made in HD, so it is likely that as soon as HD comes to Europe, we could get these films on even better releases - so if you already have good DVDs of these films, it is probably worth waiting for that.

My reviews of the films/discs are here:

http://mondo-esoterica.net/Fistful%20of%20Dollars.html
http://mondo-esoterica.net/Few%20Dollars%20More.html
 

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