Posts Tagged ‘Clint Eastwood’
Stream Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid Online
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Stream Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid Online.
Movie Title: Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid is available for streaming or downloading. Click Here to Stream or Download Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid |
Movies, especially genre pieces, are rarely unique; so one has to watch at this film as a blooming achievement, if only for its fabulous originality and the manner in which it achieves that originality without demolishing the Western genre. Unlike Sergio Leone, who signaled his admire of the genre even as he deconstructed it; PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID seems to spontaneously erupt out of Peckinpah’s unconcious. I don’t believe he ever made a film before or after which speaks so effortlessly and so beautifully in the vow of its author. The result is a Western which is not only unlike any other Western ever made, but completely unlike any other film ever made, including Peckinpah’s gain.
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Firstly, this film moves in an entirely recent manner, avoiding the three-act structure of the outmoded film in favor of a cyclical arc which inexorably propels the film towards its violent climax. The film, quite literally, ends where it begins, both chronologically and geographically. Secondly, the film’s dialogue is simply fabulous. Screenwriter Rudy Wurlitzer (most probably in collaboration with Peckinpah) invents a patois which, for all intents and purposes, amounts to an artificial period dialect. The film essentially invents its believe language. This, combined with John Coquillon’s bleached-tan cinematography, creates a world so self contained that one begins to understand how its inexorable forces push against its characters, rendering them helpless before their fates.
This is also, without put a question to, a masterpiece of acting on the fraction of James Coburn. His performance ranks with John Wayne’s Ethan Edwards in THE SEARCHERS as a towering pice of film acting. Coburn’s Garrett is a weak-willed yet ferociously tough outlaw who is incandescent enough to realize that the outlaw’s time is almost over; like Pike Bishop in THE WILD BUNCH, he wants to commence thinking beyond his guns, because those days are closing fleet. Indeed, the darkness is closing on everyone in this film. Its characers seem to appear like memories, ciphers out of a dream. They are lost souls who history has abandoned, and are left only with their fading memories of the West when it, and they, were once young. Coburn captures Garrett’s tragedy, the tragedy of a man who cannot avoid his fate and yet fights desperately to do unprejudiced that, in a performance of safe economy and subtlety. He barely raises his negate until the film’s final moments, and yet one can almost look the forces tearing him apart inside. There are a handful of moments where this humanity bursts through to the surface – when he watches, with a behold of pity and compassion, as the gutshot Sheriff Baker wanders to the river to die, his weeping wife silently at his side; or when he almost shoots a perfect stranger on a riverboat and suddenly realizes the absurdity of what he is about to do; or, most especially, the split second discover in his eyes the moment before he pulls the trigger and kills Billy the Kid, a scrutinize halfway between weeping and despair – and these moments are marked by Peckinpah’s unrelenting camera as beautifully as John Ford’s shattering closeups of Wayne’s face, contorted by rage and sorrow, in THE SEARCHERS.
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The rest of the cast, while not as elegant as Coburn, nonetheless provide an unbelievable array of grotesque and tragic characters, simultaneously frightful and unforgettable. Kris Kristofferson’s Billy is essentially a child, incapable of seeing or idea the forces with which Garrett is reckoning. He too cannot flee them, yet he has no conciousness of his believe doom.
The films’ elegiac sense of inevitability is underlined by the presence of a myriad of aging Western actors: Chill Wills, the amazing Katy Juarado, and, most especially, Jack Elam, who turns in a shockingly captivating performance as Alamosa Bill Kermit. It is simply astounding to consider that the man who played a monosyllabic thug in the opening scenes of ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST has here been transformed into the black, good-hearted weak man doomed by merely being in the depraved dwelling at the outrageous time. Peckinpah’s skill with actors is rarely mentioned, even by his supporters, but it must be notorious that the performances in this film (many by non-actors) are, even in the smaller parts, universally involving and memorable.
The Bob Dylan soundtrack, often cited by the film’s detractors, is also quite new. Like Curtis Mayfield’s soundtrack to SUPERFLY, the soundtrack does not enhance the film so grand as add another dimension to it, acting less like accompaniment and more like a chorus keeping observe over the proceedings and signaling to us the complexities its characters cannot lift. More than anything else in the film, Dylan’s find provides the sense of tragedy and loss, the tear-jerking inevitability of the passage of time, which raises this film out of its genre origins into the realm of cinematic poetry. (Sage has it that when Dylan first played Peckinpah the film’s signature theme “Billy”, the icon of cinematic machismo – who had no understanding who Dylan was – was reduced to tears, blubbering “goddamit, who is that boy? Tag him up!”)
A word has to be said here about PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID’s space in the history of the Western. It is, in my conception, THE oustanding masterpiece of the later Westerns; begun by John Ford himself in THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE and culminating in Clint Eastwood’s UNFORGIVEN; an era in which the Western was looked at for the first time in a concious manner and its conventions were subverted and, ultimately, re-mythologized. This film must stand alongside ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST as one of the most fabulous reimaginings of the Western ever establish on film; but whereas Leone’s film is an operatic fantasy, Peckinpah’s film is a dusty folk song, an elegiac, late-evening ballad laced, perhaps, with a bit too great Mexican tequila but, nonetheless, suffused with that sense of sadness and loss that has marked all the spacious Westerns of its era. It is a film whose violence, dirtiness, and occasional sadism only underline its wounded heart, the heart of its director, who loved the Western and its conventions even as he blasted them to pieces in tiring, motion. Peckinpah might have occasionally reveled in blood, but there was arrangement in his sadism, perhaps summed up in the line of one his characters, who only wanted to enter his house justified. None of the characters in PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID can hope for such a consummation, but the same cannot be said of its creator. Whatever accolades may yet approach Peckinpah’s plot, and he is long overdue for a reassessment, this film proves that every one of them is, unquestionably, justified.
*This review refers to the long version of the film, included on the second disk of this DVD package. The novel Special Edition, while captivating, is ill considered in my conception. The added scenes are superfluous and the trimming removes some of the films best lines and disturbs its measured perambulate. Quite frankly, it plays like a two hour preview. The reconstruction seems to have been done by people seeking to impose their beget ideas of what Peckinpah intended rather than allowing the longer version to stand on its have. While it is apt that, given the abscense of its creator, there is and can be no truly definitive version of this film, the longer version is, in my belief, clearly the masterpiece its shorter counterpart is not. A wounded masterpiece, perhaps, but even wounded masterpieces are, generally speaking, better left alone.
There seems to be a lasting discussion, or even a consensus, about why this movie is flawed in one procedure or the other and worse than the Wild Bunch, especially amongst US audience. A discussion I frankly can’t quite follow even though it is belabored at mighty length in the commentary tracks. The screech apparently also motivated Mr. Seydor to throw together a so called ‘special edition’ with scenes taken from either the Turner version or the theatrical release, in an attempt to invent a version he feels Sam Peckinpah might had been striving for, given the disquieted production circumstances. This ‘special edition’ is the one version coming with this package, and if you are like me you might think this wasted region, as at least I’m not at all enthusiastic in what Mr. Seydor feels might be tall. The idleness of this whole attempt is mirrored in the commentary tracks, where most of the time is wasted with repeated explanations about what a directors crop and a handsome slice are, why the theatrical release is more of the latter and the directors cleave is flawed in various respects etcetera etcetera, in an positive, lengthy and dead attempt to interpret that very ‘special edition’. Thoroughly painful to listen to, and I had rather watched the theatrical release and judged for myself. Something Mr. Seydor and his production staff apparently assume I am resp. we are not able to, or else they simply would have included the theatrical release and spared us their sever.
That said, the other version coming with this package is the Turner version, also known as the director’s slash, and it’s a blessing this version is finally available on DVD. In spite of all the blabber about supposed flaws this movie is a upright classic. The narrative, the core of which is the conflict Garrett’s going through, most of the acting, production build and win are outstanding. The tale alone could have carried the whole movie with ease, but on top of this it’s loaded with gems not found elsewhere. Anyone appreciating e.g. the jailhouse sequence, it’s dialogue, Ollinger’s character and his peculiarities, the wonderfully bleak production beget and ingenious fling leading to a fresh climax, making it an almost complete tale within the memoir, knows what I’m talking about – sheer poetry, profoundly consuming sarcastic humor and an astonishing bunch of talent assembled into a novel masterpiece.
Bottom line? Highly recommended due to the Turner version. Both thumbs down though for the ‘special edition’ and commentary tracks.
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Watch American Violet Online
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Watch American Violet Online.
Movie Title: American Violet American Violet is available for streaming or downloading. |
Seen a viewing of ‘AMERICAN VIOLET’ recently.. And I had mixed emotions: upset, glum, elated, and surprised! To be falsely accused of a crime, that you know deep in your heart you did NOT commit, is one thing… But when your so-called lawyer suggests you to acquire a plea bargain, oppose to fighting for your clearance makes one wonder who can you trust… This movie, based on just events, is heartwrenching, as it is an eye-opener!!! I’d recommend that everyone sees this flick, even teens!!! Granted this ocurred in Melody, Texas, it’s taking region worldwide…
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PS… Good performances by all: Nicole Beharie, Alfre Woodard, Will Patton, even Anthony Mackey!!! Applause, followed by a standing ovation!!!
Wouldn’t it be dreadful to get yourself jailed for something you did not do, based solely on the word of a lying, mentally ill drug addict? That’s what happened to Regina Kelly in Hearne, Texas assist in 2000. Ensnared in a mass arrest of suspected drug dealers at her housing project, the young single mother was charged with selling drugs in a school zone. Despite her insistence that she was innocent, her court-appointed attorney pressured her to rep a plea bargain to avoid many years in prison and the loss of her children. With no criminal report and no drugs found on or approach her, she refused the deal. Instead, with the assist of the American Civil Liberties Union she filed a class action lawsuit.
Although Kelly’s case was reported in a documentary by PBS’ cutting-edge Frontline attend in 2004, American Violet brings a fictionalized version to a broader, mass audience. Co-director Bill Haney (along with Tim Disney) says he heard about Kelly’s case on National Public Radio as he was driving; it so moved him that he pulled his car over to the side of the road and cried.
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In this film, “Dee Roberts” (a aesthetic Nicole Beharie) is the plaintiff in a class-action case over racial discrimination in drug enforcement. Tim Blake Nelson plays David Cohen, the ACLU lawyer who sues district attorney Calvin Beckett (Michael O’Keefe) on her behalf.
Kelly is quoted in the Chicago Tribune as saying the film is “90 percent lawful.” The depositions, the courtroom scene in which she fights to keep custody of her children, and many other scenes are word-for-word accounts.
Like Clint Eastwood’s Changeling, this sage of a defiant woman’s struggle against putrid law enforcement strikes a universal chord. But American Violet also addresses present-day criminal justice themes of racial profiling, coerced plea bargaining, and – most of all – wrongful convictions based on erroneous statements by jailhouse informants.
I highly recommend this much movie.
For those involved in more information on the right case, the Web has various resources. The class-action case, Regina Kelly v. John Paschall, is discussed at the ACLU’s website. Kelly has her absorb web region and a YouTube video; fair Google her name to salvage to those. I have also posted more information and links at 1url(dot) com/AmericanViolet.
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Streaming Yojimbo – Remastered Edition Online
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Streaming Yojimbo – Remastered Edition Online.
Movie Title: Yojimbo – Remastered Edition Yojimbo – Remastered Edition is available for streaming or downloading. Click Here to Stream or Download Yojimbo – Remastered Edition |
Although it lacks the scope of THE SEVEN SAMURAI, THRONE OF BLOOD, and other more widely known films by the renowned Akira Kurosawa, the 1961 YOJIMBO (also known as BODYGUARD) is one of the most critical films of the second half of the 20th Century–and a film that was deeply influenced by American film. Even so, YOJIMBO stands on its gain merits: it’s a aesthetic allotment of cinema that will fascinate even those who normally turn up their noses at “movies with subtitles.”
In theory, the film is based on the 1929 Dashiell Hammett unusual RED HARVEST–but transports the basic memoir to a period in Japan when the Samurai class has fallen on hard times and must examine employment as accepted body guards. Sanjuro Kuwabatake (brilliantly played by Toshiro Mifune, who appeared in several Kurosawa films) is such a one, a scruffy looking and aging warrior who finds himself caught between warring factions of a Japanese village and responds by playing the two against each other.
One of the film’s greatest assets is its visual style. Kurosawa is very clearly influenced by the inspect of the American western here, and most particularly so, in my idea, by HIGH NOON. Consequently, YOJIMBO leaps the cultural divide with noteworthy ease–but Kurosawa uses the images of empty streets and the lone warrior to considerably different do, presenting him as a uncertain figure who emerges from the dust and the wind to rip wide his foes. But the film does not rely on visual style alone: there is plenty of hard substance here, too. The position is tightly injure, action-intensive, and laced with a dry and very dark humor, and the cast is superlative throughout.
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As it borrowed from the American movie western, so did it influence American film in return, most obviously in the compose of the celebrated Clint Eastwood “spaghetti westerns” of the 1970s–where it was essentially remade as A FIST Chubby OF DOLLARS. But frankly Clint Eastwood never had it so good: with Kurosawa at the helm and Mifune as the lead, Eastwood’s “lone stranger” feels powerful tame in comparison.
The Criterion DVD offers the film in unusual widescreen and in the best possible condition short of a bulky digital restoration. As eminent elsewhere, there are occasional blips and lines–but honestly the film is so driving that you will barely peer them. The subtitles also seem to be a better translation than I’ve seen in any other version. YOJIMBO was my introduction to Japanese cinema. I speed you to let it be yours as well.
GFT, Amazon reviewer
Being one of Kurosawa’s best known works, Yojimbo is indeed a classic and a gorgeous view in film craftsmanship. The visual compositions, performances, and fight sequences that Kurosawa delivers here are, as usual, sparkling (and highly influential) . It must be said, however, that the film’s residence is fair confusing at times, especially in the second half with all the various characters and dark intrigues that enter the mix. I personally have some anguish keeping track of which characters are aligned with which of the two warring factions, and that becomes doubly difficult when the rival groups initiate exchanging prisoners and whatnot. Of course it doesn’t really matter in terms of the film’s tone and meaning (the two groups are equally execrable and equally deserving of what Sanjuro does to them), but I collected like to be able to consume what’s going on when I perceive a samurai-western-action movie like this. Nevertheless, it is a grand film and certainly valuable viewing for any fan of Kurosawa or samurai films. Criterion’s DVD edition, though, leaves a bit more to be desired. The only extra is the film’s trailer, which is in widescreen but is strangely and inexplicably shifted towards the bottom of the screen; and those of you with gracious home theater systems will gape a lot of pixellization and other problems in the visual presentation of the film itself. But worst of all is the sure fact that portion of the image is missing at the left and true edges of the screen– anybody watching the opening credits sequence can clearly glimpse that the words are spilling out of the recount (causing the credits to read “Starrin Toshiro Mifun” with the last letters of words missing) . Criterion should have done something about this, especially with a film like this one where you know Kurosawa struggled to catch every aspect of visual detail fair suitable. Serene, the film makes up for these problems, and since this is the only American DVD of this movie, we don’t have too many alternatives…
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Crank Lowest Price!
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Crank
Product: Crank Lowest Price! List Price: —- Amazon Price: $2.99 Add to cart to see low price@ Availability: In Stock Usually ships in 24 Hours Free Shipping Available |
- Amazon Sales Rank: #4797 in Movie
- Released on: 2009-03-06
- Rating: R (Restricted)
- Running time: 89 minutes
One Helluva Wild Ride – Buckle Up!
Say this for “Crank,” it definitely isn’t boring. And it is certainly original and audacious. It is also ridiculous and will not hold up under any scrutiny. I, however, dismiss all logical criticisms of this movie, and any like it, with a wave of the hand. This movie exists solely to pop, rock and shock the audience. It is fake, over the top, ridiculous and outrageous. And that is precisely why it is one of the freshest, funniest and best pure action flicks in a long while. Sure there are more studied and complex action thrillers out there, but this is the most fun, junk-action pic this side of “Road House” and its cult action ilk. Not just a dumb campfest though, mind you; oh it’s certainly none too brainy, but it has aspirations to shock and thrill beyond just having a bunch of guys shoot at each other or crash cars into things. There is a lot of that here, but the scenarios that spawn such things have to be seen to be believed. Ditto this movie. Everything here is taken to another level. Logical restrictions be damned. And the movie, and audience, is better for it.
There is, of course, already a movie called “Speed,” and a terrific one at that; but had the title not been taken, this film would personify truth in advertising had it been able to use it. In a plot similar to the Keaue Reeves VS the bus classic, hitman and all around bad-a*s (we know this because he grimaces and talks in one of those threatening whispers ala Clint Eastwood and Steven Seagal) Jason Statham is injected with a virus known as “The Beijing Cocktail” that will explode his heart if its rate drops too low. You can only imagine all the different things he uses to keep his heart rate consistently above average: from waffle irons to nasal inhalers, deliberators to public sex, surfing atop motorcycles to jumping out of windows, the movie takes the `everything but the kitchen sink approach’ and exploits the full potential of this outlandish premise, right up to its climax, which manages to feel truly bizarre, even for a movie in which you thought you’ve seen everything that could possibly come off as bizarre already. Yep, it just keeps on pushing those genre conventions.
Statham is good in a role that basically requires him to play the transporter again, although he loses his cool far more often in this film and spews far more expletives. However, if one were to imagine the Transporter’s reaction to being injected with this type of poison, this is pretty much how we would expect his reaction, and the film, to play out. Amy Smart is good too in a minimalist role. Strong, stylish direction helps. If you’re movie is essentially a cartoon already, cartoonish staging of the action is pretty much a key to making it work. The film is in on its own joke, which is a good thing. Rather than sell any of this as plausible, everyone involved simply goes with it.
As much as I dug this film, it admittedly won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. However, if you are someone who complains that action movies have become too generic, here’s a big present for you.
“Crank” is often laugh-out-loud funny, jaw-on-the-floor audacious, and also manages to wring suspense out of its many close calls, and it never forgets to throw in a surprise here and there to keep things spicy.
Sounds like a five-star action pic to me.
(This DVD includes a feature called “family friendly audio” which, according to the description on the back of the DVD jacket, allows the viewer to “enjoy the film without the usual expletives.” This might be a great feature for a romantic comedy or a drama of some educational value that you may want the kids to see and just wish there were a few unnecessary expletives blurted out, but on this movie this feature is as ridiculously amusing as the film itself. Yeah, block out the swear words for the kids, but let them see all the sex, nudity, and violence. There is no way to make a movie like this family friendly (and it should not be – that is one of its main allures). If you are a parent and all you care about is that your child does not hear some foul language, but the rest of the stuff they are going to see in films like this is okay, then you seriously have your priorities screwed up. So, I’m not sure why this feature is here. It just stuck me as so ridiculously odd and pointless I had to point it out (I’m sure others who see this will be thinking the same). But it’s one more sign that in everything right down to the film’s DVD technical features, “Crank” is an absurd, hilarious action classic.)
Video Quality Review (Blu-ray)
Just to second what others have said, flawless. This really is a perfect transfer. The sharpest, cleanest picture, when the film is meant to be sharp and clean, of any Blu-ray disc I have seen. Even the picture-in-picture commentary looks fantastic. For right now at least, ‘Crank’ is the king of the hill of live-action high definition.
(PS3 – 1080p projector – 92″)
Raging Steel Pole? Check!
Excellent film. If you are smart and have a sense of humor and an eye/ear for spotting cultural references this movie will have you rolling around on the floor laughing and immediately replaying it as soon as the end credits roll.
The attention to detail makes Tarantino’s clued-in references in Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs look like the work of a noob. For instance – how many people noticed that the videogame played in the limo towards the end of the film was an 80′s game called Berzerk and why would they include this game in the film? If you don’t know the answer to this you might well be one of the critics who inexplicably reviewed this film so badly whilst obviously not coming close to understanding it.
The dialog is classic, the humor is faultless. My favorite line is said by the main character to his girlfriend when he tells her “You’ve had a nice lie in? Good. Listen – I’ve been fatally poisoned and a psychopath is heading over to your apartment to torture and kill you. I’ll be over in a flash”.
Even typing this review makes me want to go and play the film again. Highly recommended.
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly Discount.
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The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Product: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly Discount. List Price: —- Amazon Price: $9.99 Add to cart to see low price@ Availability: In Stock Usually ships in 24 Hours Free Shipping Available |
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- Amazon Sales Rank: #19398 in Movie
- Released on: 2007-12-25
- Running time: 179 minutes
One of the great Westerns in an amazing package!
MGM released a DVD edition of “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” in the late 1990s, but it had few extras, a mono soundtrack, and a scratched print. Finally, MGM has given Sergio Leone’s Western epic the double-disc special edition it deserves. The print is restored and as clear as I’ve ever seen it, the sound is now an astonishing 5.1 Surround (listen to the glass falling off Tuco after he springs through the window in the opening sequence!) nineteen minutes of footage from the Italian original have been restored, and the discs are packed with extras. Even the packaging is great: a sturdy interlocking box, with the DVDs kept in the upper and bottom parts of the two lids. Also inside the box are cards containing posters for the film in five different countries.
The film, like most of the European Westerns of the 1960s, was critically disregarded in its day. The New York Times said of it: “the most expensive, pious, and repellent movie in the history of its peculiar genre. There is scarcely a moment’s respite from the pain.” It’s amazing how people missed the brilliance of this movie, which turned Western conventions upside down in such a wonderfully bizarre, European way. Now the film is considered a classic, and only Sergio Leone’s own “Once Upon a Time in the West” (another great 2 DVD set, by the way) has more respect in the genre. Leone’s strange style — stretched out time, obsession with close-ups and extreme wide-shots, focus on rituals, and use of Morricone’s wild and avant-garde score — are all in full force in this tale of three treasure-seekers searching for a cache of gold coins on the Texas-New Mexico border during the Civil War. The implacable and unflappable ‘hero’ Blondie (Clint Eastwood), the crazy comic bandit Tuco (Eli Wallach), and the calculating immoral sadist Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef) cross each other’s paths amidst the senseless violence of the war. Leone perfectly contrasts the self-interested men with the greater backdrop of the tragedy of war. It’s a strangely emotionally affecting picture despite its focus on three men who are detached from normal society and seem not to care about anything but money. So many individual scenes stand out for their virtuosity that the movie a parade of “greatest hits.” Most astonishing of all is “The Ecstasy of Gold” sequence where Tuco dashes madly through a cemetery, looking for the grave that might hold the gold. Morricone’s music here is especially overwhelming.
Chances are you’ve seen the film and love it. What about the new scenes and the extras?
Nineteen minutes of footage have been restored that were never shown in the American prints. The scenes integrate perfectly into the film, and after seeing them once, you won’t be able to imagine they were ever missing. Among the scenes are Angel Eyes visiting a destroyed fort; Tuco hiring bandits to help him chase Blondie; Blondie and Angel Eyes having a face-to-face when they first set out together to find the gold; and some extra conversation between Tuco and Blondie in the desert. However, these scenes were never dubbed into English in the 1960s. Therefore, the DVD producers had to newly dub them. Eli Wallach and Clint Eastwood do their own voices. An actor named Simon Prescott does the imitation of the deceased Lee Van Cleef. Admittedly, Wallach and Eastwood no longer sound the same, but I couldn’t imagine someone else imitating their voices — it couldn’t have been done any other way. Prescott is pretty good as Angel Eyes, if a bit more gravelly.
The extras…
Disc 1 has audio commentary by Richard Shickel, a film historian who wrote Eastwood’s biography and also did commentary on Leone’s “Once Upon a Time in America” DVD. His comments can be pretty dry, and he focuses mostly on Leone’s style and techniques instead of on background information on the filming itself. Nonetheless, there are many interesting insights, and Shickel manages to say a lot during the three-hour running time.
Most of the extras are on Disc 2:
“Leone’s West” — A 20-minute documentary about the making of the film. Includes interviews with Shickel, producer Alberto Grimaldi, author of the English dialogue Mickey Knox, and best of all, Eastwood and Wallach. There’s some very interesting info and memories here, mostly from Knox and the two actors.
“The Leone Style” — A 23-minute documentary, really just an extension of the first one. It spends more time on Leone’s unusual techniques. The same interviewees appear here.
“The Man Who Lost the Civil War” — A 14-minute documentary that was produced separately from the DVD. It makes no mention of the movie, but is about its historical backdrop: the disastrous General Sibley campaign in Texas. Sibley appears in the film briefly, and this short documentary gives the viewer an important insight into the world of Blondie, Tuco, and Angel Eyes.
“Reconstructing The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” — An 11 minute look into the painstaking work involved with fixing the picture and sound, restoring the cut scenes, and re-dubbing it.
“Il Maestro: Ennio Morricone” — 8 minutes; mostly an interview with music scholar John Burlingame about the film’s score. At the end of the feature, you can choose to listen to an audio-only twelve-minute lecture by Burlingame that provides a much more in-depth analysis of the music.
“Deleted Scenes” — Two scenes couldn’t go back into the film. The extended torture scene had a damaged negative, so here it is in its rougher state. An apparently lost scene is reconstructed through text, stills, and clips from the French trailer.
Finally, there’s a gallery of posters, the original trailer, and MGM tossing in some gratuitous advertising for their other films.
Don’t miss this DVD. Not only is it one of the great action films and one the great westerns, but it’s the kind of release that the DVD format was invented for!
Il Cattivo, il Brutto, il Blu-Ray
I am a huge fan of Leone’s work, especially his Westerns. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a fantastic entry in his oeuvre (though I rank Once Upon A Time in the West and For A Few Dollars More just above it). It is full of his great style, it’s very entertaining, and it features one of the best adversarial trios ever put to film in Blondie, Tuco, and Angel Eyes.
So it is with sadness that I have to rate this Blu-Ray 3 stars (and it’s closer to 2.5). I’ve bought this movie three times now, not counting this Blu-Ray: on VHS, the first single disc DVD, and the SE that came out a few years ago. It should be obvious that I love this movie. When the Blu-Ray was announced, I was ecstatic. High definition Leone? Sign me up! I pre-ordered it along with the new T2 disc. Then I started reading early reviews that said the picture quality wasn’t up to snuff. I was disheartened, and decided to cancel my order until I could check out the disc for myself.
I rented it from Netflix, and have unfortunately found my fears confirmed. While it certainly looks better than the SE DVD, it is not the best this movie can look. The over-zealous Digital Noise Reduction that has been applied completely robs many scenes of the fine detail we might otherwise have seen in 1080p. I put the old SE DVD in my Xbox and flipped back and forth between the Blu-Ray and DVD on a single scene (Blondie stands alone against some hills in the background in the final scene). While the Blu-Ray looked “cleaner” (that is, the digital artifacting visible on the DVD was gone), there was actually no further detail to be seen on the Blu-Ray! It was as if you took the DVD image and smeared it until the noise was gone, then bumped it up to 1080. I looked specifically at Blondie’s eyes to see if any more detail was visible on the Blu-Ray, but there wasn’t. The bushes on the hill in the background, too, looked like sharpened up-scaled blobs rather than bushes captured on film by a camera.
So, the picture quality isn’t as good, but how about the rest? Well, it’s mostly great! The extras, carried over from the SE, are all still interesting, and the new commentaries (which I haven’t listened to yet) are very welcome and appreciated. The new menus are also nice. But I do have one more negative point: the sound.
If you watch the special feature on restoring the movie, the producer notes that in order to make a 5.1 audio track, he had to add sound effects. While I’m sure some appreciate having a 5.1 track, the sound effects (specifically the gun-shots) sound way off from the original unique and integral Leone effects. They use the exact same stock gun-shot that you’ve heard on TV cop shows and it really detracts from the movie if you’ve seen the original as many times as I have. The Blu-Ray includes many audio options, but unfortunately, an original mono track is not among them. It did have an English 2.0 mono, but it’s still the remastered sound with the lame gun-shot effects, oddly. To hear the difference, pick a scene (like Tuco in the bath), and switch back and forth between the English 5.1 or 2.0 and the Italian 2.0. It’s very obvious and really bugs me. So if I want to hear the original sound effects, I have to watch it in Italian? Come on, MGM/Fox, how hard would it have been to include the ORIGINAL 2.0 Mono track?
So, in conclusion, you have a great movie on Blu-Ray with lackluster picture and no original English soundtrack, but a plethora of great extras, all on a single disc. Worth it? Not for me, but it may be for you. I’m holding out hope that one day MGM/Fox will get a good transfer that isn’t overly digitally tampered with (Leone should have some GRAIN, man! Check out the Italian BR releases!), and includes the original mono sound in English. Until then, I’m going to have to buy the old 1-disc DVD release used to enjoy this great movie.
“Such ingratitude after all the times I saved your life…”
“The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” is Sergio Leone’s epic masterpiece. While it is part of his Spaghetti Western Trilogy( all three films have different characters and plots), the film stands on its own and really shows you how good a movie can really be. This movie has it all. It has action, drama and even some comic relief in it. It is a timeless classic that is unforgettable. When I first saw it, I was a little kid and couldn’t truly appreciate it as I can now at age 22.
Blondie (The Man with No Name) isn’t your typical good guy. He mainly does things that suits his own agenda. However, when compared to the murderous Angel Eyes and the greedy Tuco, Blondie is a saint. This tale involves bloodshed, shoot-outs, search for treasure, and double-crossing. And it all takes place while the Civil War is going on, which makes things a lot more “interesting” for the notorious three. The West has never been wilder or more unpredictable than it is now. With an incredible score, excellent acting, and superb story-telling, this is one memorable film that you will never forget.
As I said in the beginning, the first time I saw this was when I was a little kid. When I just recently purchased this new edition of the movie, it truly was like I was watching it for the first time. Coming from a guy who isn’t a big fan of Westerns (I don’t mind them, but I don’t watch too many of them), I absolutely LOVED this film. In fact, I wanted to give it a standing ovation when it was all said and done due to how moved I was by it. This really is filmmaking at its finest. I wasn’t terribly impressed with Leone’s “Once Upon a Time in America,” but he is absolutely flawless with this amazing and timeless Western. It is slower than the second film (“For a Few Dollars More”), but I think that makes this all the better. The build up of tension is much more present in this film, and you really get the sense that these characters are real people. Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach are brilliant in their roles, and a lot of props need to go to Lee Van Cleef as he is absolutely chilling in his role.
This new edition really does the film the justice it deserves. The film has been restored to the director’s original vision as much as possible, giving you an extra 18 minutes. You will notice the added scenes as the voices have been re-dubbed (the first time you will notice this will throw you, as I think that specific part has the worst re-dubbing, but the other added scenes are done a lot better, even if you still notice it). The picture looks incredible and the sound is great. Extras included are commentary from Richard Schickel, a couple of documentaries and featurettes, poster gallery, deleted scenes and the original theatrical trailer. Along with the nice packaging, you get an 8-page booklet that includes pictures from the film along with Roger Ebert’s most recent review of the film. And, you get some mini-posters included inside the packaging as well. A superior edition of the movie, without question.
“The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” is a pure triumph in filmmaking and should be seen by everybody at least once. Don’t let the fact that this is a Western throw you. I think this can be enjoyed by everybody, and even by those who are not big fans of Westerns. A film filled with authentic emotion and action, this is one that shouldn’t be missed by anyone. I LOVE this movie, and I cannot express that enough. -Michael Crane