The Stranger and The Gunfighter, aka Blood Money, or in this case El Karate, El Colt, Y El Imposter was recently released on Blu-ray in Spain. This Blu-ray was put out by Divisa Studios, the same studio that also recently released Bad Man's River, and is marketed as a "budget title", (cheap disc!) The disc is compatible with US blu-ray players (verified).
Main Menu - includes animation of LVC being carried across the screen
VIDEO:
Have you ever watched a DVD or Blu-ray where the movie looks great, and when you go to watch the trailer on the disc, the image looks muddy, washed out, and overall terrible? Now imagine the whole movie looking like that, and you have a pretty good idea of how this transfer looks! Contrast levels are way off, with much of the image crushed into a sea of black, and much of the color is bled out.
Overall it is a very disappointing transfer. I am not sure if it is the film elements they sourced, or their actual transfer process (although I suspect both), but there is a lot of room for improvement. As this title was released under several names in several territories, I am hopeful a better Blu-ray will see the light of day.
Screencaps below (click to enlarge!) -
Below is a comparison between this blu-ray, and a DVD version (La Brute, Le Colt, Et Le Karate). While neither is stunning, the DVD does offer a brighter (if slightly less detailed) picture.
Blu-ray
DVD
AUDIO:
The audio is available in both Spanish and English. Both are serviceable. Spanish subtitles are also available.
EXTRAS:
Only a pretty lame slideshow of video boxes, posters, and photos. 35 seconds in length!
I am hopeful this film one day gets a better release. There is not much to praise with this release, but it can fill a hole in your LVC blu-ray collection.
THE GOOD:
THE BAD:
Full stats and ordering info-
- Region: A/B/C
- Language: Spanish, English
- Subtitles: Spanish
- Number of discs: 1
- Studio: Divisa
- Run Time: 100 minutes (1:39:48)
Amazon.es - El Karate, El Colt, Y El Imposter Blu-ray
Thanks for the review and info Aaron. I'm not sure I'll get this one. I watched it on YouTube every now and then under the title "Blood Money" and the print is good and clean. I'm surprised it hasn't been removed for copyright violation. I recently watched a great film with Charles Bronson called "The Hard Way" and told a buddy at work about it and that it is on YouTube but by the time he got home, it had been removed for copy right violation. It wasn't on long. Other films and TV shows last and last so I guess it's up to who notices it and how much they want to enforce the public to pay up to see it.
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