Monday, December 10, 2018

On December 11th, Get Yourself a Fistful of Westerns from Arrow Video and Shout Select!


Limited Edition Cover Art.
CELEBRATE FIVE DECADES OF NERO AND EASTWOOD WITH THESE NEW BLU-RAY RELEASES! 

UPDATE: 05/23/2020 - After almost two years, Arrow Video's DJANGO Blu-ray is finally getting released! If you missed out on the Limited Edition (or Steelbook) the last time (like most of us did) you can snap up a copy on June 30, 2020!


UPDATE: 12/10/2018 - Arrow's DJANGO discs are currently ON HOLD (so if you somehow got one, count yourself lucky!) There is a review embargo in place, and the disc is not being shipped due to (from what I've ascertained from several sources) rights issues! I'll post more info as I receive it!

Because I'm quite possibly insane, I task myself with owning the best possible edition for just about every movie in my personal collection. That means that I am constantly double-dipping on titles I already own on DVD or Blu-ray.

And now here I am once again, on the cusp of upgrading two of my favorite Westerns: DJANGO and HANG 'EM HIGH, a pair of films warning of the dangers of leaving someone for dead! While DJANGO fares better (4K restoration, lots of extras, and a bonus film!), HANG 'EM HIGH's Blu-ray does offer up a pair of new audio commentaries! For a closer look a these new releases, please continue reading pardners. :: tips hat ::

DJANGO (1966)

Synopsis: In this definitive Spaghetti Western, Franco Nero (KEOMA, THE FIFTH CORD) gives a career-defining performance as Django, a mysterious loner who arrives at a mud-drenched ghost town on the Mexico-US border, ominously dragging a coffin behind him. After saving imperiled prostitute Maria (Loredana Nusciak), Django becomes embroiled in a brutal feud between a racist gang and a band of Mexican revolutionaries...

With DJANGO, director Sergio Corbucci (THE GREAT SILENCE) upped the ante for sadism and sensationalism in Westerns, depicting machine gun massacres, mud-fighting prostitutes and savage mutilations. A huge hit with international audiences, Django’s brand of bleak nihilism would be repeatedly emulated in a raft of unofficial sequels.

Disc Specs:
Not Rated | Color | 91 minutes | Region A
Video - 1080p Widescreen (1.66:1)
Audio - English & Italian DTS-HD Master Audio Mono

Limited Edition Steelbook Cover Art.
Extras: 
  • NEW! Restoration from a 4K scan of DJANGO from the original camera negative!
  • Audio commentary by film critic, historian and theorist Stephen Prince.
  • NEW! Interview with star Franco Nero!
  • NEW! Interview with assistant director Ruggero Deodato!
  • NEW! Interview with co-writer Franco Rossetti!
  • NEW! Interview with Sergio Corbucci’s wife Nora Corbucci!
  • Archival interview with co-writer Piero Vivarelli.
  • Archival interview with stuntman and actor Gilberto Galimberti.
  • NEW! Discovering Django - An appreciation by Spaghetti Westerns scholar Austin Fisher!
  • An Introduction to Django by Alex Cox - An archival featurette with the acclaimed director.
  • Gallery of original promotional images from the Mike Siegel Archive 
  • Original trailers

TEXAS, ADIOS (1966) 

Synopsis: Released as DJANGO 2 in some territories, TEXAS, ADIOS features Franco Nero as a Texan sheriff who travels across the frontier into Mexico with his younger brother to confront the man that killed their father!

Disc Specs:
Not Rated | Color | 93 minutes | Region A
Video - 1080p Widescreen (2.35:1)
Audio - English & Italian DTS-HD Master Audio Mono

Extras:
  •  NEW! Restoration from a 2K scan of TEXAS, ADIOS from the original camera negative!
  • Audio commentary for by spaghetti western experts C. Courtney Joyner and Henry C. Parke!
  • NEW! Interview with star Franco Nero!
  • NEW! Interview with co-star Alberto Dell'Acqua!
  • NEW! Interview with co-writer Franco Rossetti!
  • NEW! Hello Texas! - An appreciation by Spaghetti Westerns scholar Austin Fisher!
  • Gallery of original promotional images from the Mike Siegel Archive 
  • Original trailer

ADDITIONAL LIMITED EDITION BONUS MATERIALS:
  • NOTE: The majority of these extras features only apply to the "standard" Limited Edition, and not the Steelbook!
  • Six double-sided collector's postcards! 
  • Double-sided fold-out poster! 
  • Limited edition 60-page perfect-bound book featuring new writing on the film by Howard Hughes and Roberto Curti, and original reviews! 
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sean Phillips! 
  • (STEELBOOK ONLY) Limited edition fully illustrated booklet featuring new writing on the film by Howard Hughes and original review!

Arrow Video's stellar Limited Edition of DJANGO is due out on Tuesday, December 11th! Both the "standard version" and the Steelbook cost between $35 - $40 and will probably sell out FAST. So hurry up and get a copy ASAP! The regular Limited Edition can be procured from AMAZON, BULLMOOSE (in store only), or directly from ARROW VIDEO. The Limited Edition Steelbook is readily available from AMAZON, BULLMOOSE (in store only), and ARROW VIDEO!






HANG 'EM HIGH (1968)
Synopsis: They strung him up. They left him to die. But they made two fatal mistakes: they hanged the wrong man ... and they didn't finish the job.

Oklahoma, 1873: Jed Cooper (Clint Eastwood), mistaken for a rustler and killer, is lynched on the spot by crooked lawman Captain Wilson (Ed Begley) and a rampaging band of vigilantes. But as Wilson and his gang flee the scene, there's one very important detail they've overlooked — Cooper is still alive!

Saved in the nick of time by a marshal, Cooper takes on the job of deputy marshal in order to bring hard-handed justice to the Oklahoma territory ... and to the nine men who "done him wrong." Co-starring Inger Stevens and Pat Hingle, HANG 'EM HIGH is a savage and action-packed western adventure, presented to you in this celebratory 50th Anniversary Edition!

Disc Specs:
Rated PG-13 | Color | 115 minutes | Region A
Video - 1080p Widescreen (1.85:1)
Audio -  English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 & Dolby Digital Mono

Extras:
  • NEW! Audio Commentary With Western Film Historians Lem Dobbs And Nick Redman!
  • NEW! Audio Commentary With Film Historian Jim Hemphill!
  • Theatrical Trailer
Shout Select's 50th Anniversary Blu-ray of HANG EM' HIGH is also available on Tuesday, December 11th, and should cost around $30! (Ack! HANG 'EM HIGH? More like PRICE 'EM HIGH!) Yeah that's a bit steep, especially considering that it seems like they just ported over the previous transfer from the much cheaper MGM Blu-ray, but the two new audio commentaries might just be worth it? If you have your heart set on owning this 50th Anniversary release, get it now from AMAZON, BULLMOOSE, DIABOLIK DVD, or directly from SHOUT! FACTORY.


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