A Fistful of Dollars Italian Blu-ray Group Buy

[Cochise]

Originally Posted by amigou

I watched it over the weekend and loved hearing the Italian PCM AQ while reading the English subs.
A special feature indicates that an original score sourced from Sony in Germany was used in this restoration.

The PQ looks great by the way.

Now I want to get The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, but I'm getting from your comment that the domestic BD received the DNR treatment.

Is there any foreign BD version that may be recommended?

No, the only other of the Leone trio that was released overseas was For a Few Dollars More, and while it received high marks it's from a different Italian studio and lacks any English audio or subs. Well, The Good the Bad & the Ugly was released in a few European countries but it's all the same transfer from MGM/Fox, so they have no advantage over the US release which at least is inexpensive, easily under $20. TGTBTU isn't anywhere as bad as Patton or Gladiator, but does pale in comparison to Fistful of Dollars. HDD didn't review it; this DVDbeaver review gives you a pretty good idea of what to expect.

Detail is only marginally better but where I noticed the greatest improvement is the absence of prominent artifacts that exist in the SD-DVDs.

Mostly this looks as expected - no gloss, a dusty, grittier, and sometimes an even duller, look but the frequent absence of grain makes one think momentarily of DNR (Digital Noise Reduction). While I suspect it in some scenes it is absent throughout most and if it was applied - wasn't blanketed. It represents a 'flatter' look than A Fistful of Dollars on Blu-ray - a film made only 2 years earlier.

The DTS-HD Master 5.1 at 2887 kbps seems to show more depth than its DVD counterpart but the mix won't blow the windows out although the segments with canon-fire were fairly aggressive. Ennio Morricone's iconic score is as haunting as ever an the available Italian track is 2.0 channel - not mono as on the DVD.

Nothing new, or Blu-ray exclusive with the extras - they repeat the MGM extended with the commentaries, deleted scenes and the interesting documentaries. The trailers are unrestored and in HD!

[kannisto]

Originally Posted by Cochise

No, the only other of the Leone trio that was released overseas was For a Few Dollars More, and while it received high marks it's from a different Italian studio and lacks any English audio or subs. Well, The Good the Bad & the Ugly was released in a few European countries but it's all the same transfer from MGM/Fox, so they have no advantage over the US release which at least is inexpensive, easily under $20. TGTBTU isn't anywhere as bad as Patton or Gladiator, but does pale in comparison to Fistful of Dollars. HDD didn't review it; this DVDbeaver review gives you a pretty good idea of what to expect.

There's actually a new Italian release of The Good, The Bad and the Ugly coming on 7th of October, by Mondo Home Entertainment who also released For a Few Dollars More in Italy. I've got that preordered from dvdland.it.

http://www.dvdland.it/nicom1/p_56350...o_blu_ray.html

I believe this is not the same Fox release.

[Cochise]

Originally Posted by kannisto

There's actually a new Italian release of The Good, The Bad and the Ugly coming on 7th of October, by Mondo Home Entertainment who also released For a Few Dollars More in Italy. I've got that preordered from dvdland.it.

http://www.dvdland.it/nicom1/p_56350...o_blu_ray.html

I believe this is not the same Fox release.

Thanks a ton; no the Mondo release should definitely not be the same Fox release - I was referring to the French release, and I think Fox also released it in Germany.

I see the Mondo release has both Italian and English DTS Master Audio. We'll eagerly look forward to your impressions, we might have to do a little group buy here.

[Arkadin]

count me in for that for sure.

[kannisto]

OK, but do note that packages from dvdland take usually about 1.5 weeks to get to my place so will have to wait some time still before I can post impressions

[Jester217300]

Originally Posted by Cochise

I see the Mondo release has both Italian and English DTS Master Audio.

As many of us have found out the hard way Italian listings aren't always accurate (especially as pre-orders). I'm not getting my hopes up for English audio.

IIRC all the other Mondo western releases were announced with English audio and none of them have it.

[Cochise]

Originally Posted by kannisto

OK, but do note that packages from dvdland take usually about 1.5 weeks to get to my place so will have to wait some time still before I can post impressions

Oh sure, understood. But it's worth the wait for you to confirm PQ and audio / subtitle options. I know you can add in subtitles if not included, but most of us don't have that capability.

Originally Posted by Jester217300

As many of us have found out the hard way Italian listings aren't always accurate (especially as pre-orders). I'm not getting my hopes up for English audio.

IIRC all the other Mondo western releases were announced with English audio and none of them have it.

True enough, that's why I won't blind buy it. I checked dvd.it and they're also saying both Italian & English audio, but a quick check of threads at AVS and blu-ray.com gives conflicting reports; guess we'll have to wait and find out.

[kannisto]

With Suspiria dvdland acrually informed the customers about the mismatch in original specs and the actual disc giving the opportunity to cancel before shipping so they might do it again if there is such a situation with this release. Anyway, I'm ready to buy it in either case. Would be a good idea to check the specs from MHE's own website. I can't do it just now though as I'm typing on my mobile...

[Jester217300]

Originally Posted by kannisto

With Suspiria dvdland acrually informed the customers about the mismatch in original specs and the actual disc giving the opportunity to cancel before shipping so they might do it again if there is such a situation with this release.

Unfortunately I didn't get a notification, probably because I ordered three Blu-rays at once so it wasn't flagged as a "Suspiria only" order.

[amigou]

Thanks guys!

I'll rather wait to hear the impressions for the Italian release.

If it's good, I'll be in for a GB!

[Jester217300]

Originally Posted by amigou

If it's good, I'll be in for a GB!

Haha, I think you've been a part of every one since you joined

[amigou]

Originally Posted by Jester217300

Haha, I think you've been a part of every one since you joined

Hey! I was red before...

I joined after I turned blue!

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by kannisto

There's actually a new Italian release of The Good, The Bad and the Ugly coming on 7th of October, by Mondo Home Entertainment who also released For a Few Dollars More in Italy. I've got that preordered from dvdland.it.

http://www.dvdland.it/nicom1/p_56350...o_blu_ray.html

I believe this is not the same Fox release.

Thanks for the info, I've got that and Fistful of Dollars ordered from there (although for some reason they only accept my paypal plugin as a form of payment, just like DVD.it).

[kannisto]

Originally Posted by bruceames

Thanks for the info, I've got that and Fistful of Dollars ordered from there (although for some reason they only accept my paypal plugin as a form of payment, just like DVD.it).

Yeah, Fistful of Dollars is a great release as well. It's going to be nice to have the whole trio from Italy.

I ordered 3 Eagle releases at the same time as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, as they were on 3 for 2 sale at the time:

- Beyond Borders
- The Four Feathers (2002)
- Exorcist: The Beginning

Tried to look up The Good... from MHE's web page but it wasn't listed there at all yet. They are sometimes slow in getting their new releases listed there.

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by kannisto

Yeah, Fistful of Dollars is a great release as well. It's going to be nice to have the whole trio from Italy.

I ordered 3 Eagle releases at the same time as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, as they were on 3 for 2 sale at the time:

- Beyond Borders
- The Four Feathers (2002)
- Exorcist: The Beginning

Tried to look up The Good... from MHE's web page but it wasn't listed there at all yet. They are sometimes slow in getting their new releases listed there.

Well along with the HD DVD For a Few Dollars More I'll have the triology in HD. Hopefully this latest release will be as good as Fistful of Dollars. I don't mind paying import prices in this case since it was actually released in Italy first so it's like buying a foreign film and it will probably have less DNR as well (also I don't know if the US versions would have the original Italian audio).