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.

THE GREAT SILENCE Gets a 2K Restoration for Its 50th Anniversary! Own it on DVD & Blu-ray on June 5th!

SERGIO CORBUCCI'S SPAGHETTI WESTERN MASTERPIECE COMES TO DVD & BLU-RAY IN A MUST-OWN 50TH ANNIVERSARY RELEASE!

To be perfectly honest Vault Dwellers, the only Sergio Corbucci films I've ever laid eyes on are DJANGO and NAVAJO JOE. I must correct this injustice, and it seems to me that the most logical step is to watch THE GREAT SILENCE, which debuted in theaters back in 1968! This tale of cruel bounty hunters and a silent gunslinging hero was restored in 2K and features some great special features!

Synopsis: On an unforgiving, snow-swept frontier, a group of bloodthirsty bounty hunters, led by the vicious Loco (Klaus Kinski, NOSFERATU, THE VAMPYRE) prey on a band of persecuted outlaws who have taken to the hills. As the price on each head is collected one-by-one, only a mute gunslinger named Silence (Jean-Louis Trintignant, THE CONFORMIST) stands between the innocent refugees and the greed and corruption that the bounty hunters represent. But, in this harsh, brutal world, the lines between right and wrong aren't always clear and good doesn't always triumph.

Featuring superb photography and a haunting score from maestro Ennio Morricone, director Sergio Corbucci's (DJANGO, COMPANEROS) bleak, brilliant and violent vision of an immoral, honorless west is widely considered to be among the very best and most influential Euro-Westerns ever made.

Guess we won't have to add this film to our WANTED ON BLU-RAY column.

Disc Specs:
Not Rated | Color | 105 minutes | Region A
Video - 1080p Widescreen (1.85:1)
Audio - Italian & English audio options. (2.0 Mono?)

Extras:

• NEW! 2K Restoration of the film!
• Cox on Corbucci - Filmmaker and author Alex Cox (Repo Man) surveys Sergio Corbucci's career and how The Great Silence fits within the maestro's oeuvre.
• Western, Italian Style - This 1968 documentary on Italian westerns includes prime behind the scenes footage of The Great Silence.
• NEW! Two never-before-seen alternate endings, including the option to play one of the alternate endings with Alex Cox commentary.
• Original theatrical trailer.
• 2018 theatrical trailer.
• NEW! Ending the Silence - A new essay about The Great Silence by film critic Simon Abrams.  

The 50th Anniversary restoration of THE GREAT SILENCE is available on Tuesday, June 5th wherever DVDs and Blu-ray discs are sold! Distributed by Film Movement Classics, the DVD runs between $15 - $23 while the Blu-ray is in the $28 - $35 range! Get your copy now from AMAZON, BULLMOOSE, or DIABOLIK DVD!

On August 15th, THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY Goes 4K for its 50th Anniversary!

KINO LORBER GIVES SERGIO LEONE'S CLASSIC SPAGHETTI-WESTERN THE ROYAL TREATMENT FOR ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY!

In all honesty, while I do enjoy this entry into the "Man With No Name Trilogy," its not my absolute favorite. That being said, I'm really excited for Kino Lorber's brand new 2-disc Blu-ray of this classic title, which two cuts of the film (both restored in 4K!) and hours of extras features! Read onward fellow spaghetti western fans, so that you can rationalize buying this film yet again!

Synopsis: "For three men the Civil War wasn't hell... it was practice!" By far the most ambitious, unflinchingly graphic and stylistically influential western ever made, THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY is a classic actioner shot through with a volatile mix of myth and realism. Screen legend Clint Eastwood (A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE) returns as "The Man with No Name," this time teaming with two gunslingers to pursue a cache of $200,000 and letting no one, not even warring factions in a civil war, stand in their way.

From sun-drenched panoramas to bold hard close-ups, exceptional camerawork captures the beauty and cruelty of the barren landscape and the hardened characters who stride unwaveringly through it.  Hailed as "pure cinema" by Robert Rodriguez and "the best directed movie of all time" by Quentin Tarantino, this epic masterpiece was directed by the great Sergio Leone (ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST) and co-starred Lee Van Cleef (DEATH RIDES A HORSE, SABATA) as Angel Eyes, and Eli Wallach (THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN) in the role of Tuco.

Disc Specs:
Not Rated | Color | 163 & 179 minutes | Region A
Video - 1080p Widescreen (2.35:1)
Audio - English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 & Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0

Extras:
DISC ONE

• NEW! 4K transfer of the Original U.S. Theatrical Cut Available for the first time in HD!
• NEW! Audio Commentary by Film Historian Tim Lucas!
• Trailers From Hell with Ernest Dickerson.
• Restored 1967 UA Logo
• Alternate Scene: The Optical Flip
• Deleted Scenes 
• Animated behind-the-scenes image gallery.
• Posters & Lobby Cards animated image gallery.
• Sergio Leone Westerns: Original Theatrical Trailers.

DISC TWO

• 4K transfer of the Extended Cut!
• Audio Commentary by Film Historian Richard Schickel
• Audio Commentary By Noted Cultural Historian Sir Christopher Frayling
• Leone's West: Making Of Documentary
• Il Maestro: Ennio Morricone and GBU Featurette Part 1
• Il Maestro: Ennio Morricone and GBU Featurette Part 2
• The Leone Style: On Sergio Leone Featurette
• The Man Who Lost The Civil War: Civil War Documentary
• Reconstruction: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly 
• Deleted Scenes
• Original U.S. Theatrical Trailer
• Original French Theatrical Trailer

Kino Lorber's 2-Disc Blu-ray of THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY seems like a worthwhile upgrade (though it apparently isn't the definitive release, according to this review), and you can order it now from AMAZON, BULLMOOSE, and DIABOLIK DVD!