Films of Antonio Margheriti Candids

Here are some additional candid from what looks to be Codename: Wildgeese and Jungle Raiders.

Click to enlarge!

 

Bad Man's River - Spanish Pressbook

click to enlarge!

 

 

Death Rides a Horse Coming to Blu-ray (US)

More exciting blu-ray news!

Kino Lorber Studio Classics announced that Death Rides a Horse will be coming to blu-ray in the United States later this year.  Kino previously released Sabata, Barquero, Captain Apache, and Bad Man's River on blu here in the US, as well as the upcoming 2 disc 50th anniversary edition of The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly and Return of Sabata.

This will be the first US release of Death Rides a Horse.


Explosive Media, who brought us a FANTASTIC German blu-ray releases of The Big Gundown, Sabata, and The Return of Sabata, had previously released Death Rides a Horse in 2013 with many fantastic extras.  You can see my review here.


The Explosive Media version does have a significant framing issue the impacts the last 8 minutes of the film.  The entire end sequence was considerably zoomed in on this Blu-ray. More information on that here.

framing issue on Explosive Media blu-ray

However, Kino has confirmed on Facebook, that this framing issue has been corrected for their release!

Release date and extra features are TBD
 

Blu-ray Update: Kino Addresses "Yellow" in Upcoming The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly Release

Today Kino Lorber Studio Classics issued an update to the "yellow concern" many fans expressed over their upcoming 50th Anniversary blu-ray, that is based off the same controversial 4k master used on the 2014 MGM blu-ray.

After our announcement of the Sergio Leone masterpiece, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, some fans shared their concerns regarding the "yellowishness" of the 4K restoration. We looked into this issue and here are some split screen of the before and after work.

https://www.facebook.com/KinoLorberStudioClassics/posts/1375772699146300

The above Facebook post will link to 6 comparisons, 3 of which I have also used below.

First I would like to applaud the folks at Kino Lorber for listening to the fan feedback.  Truly above and beyond what I see from other studios.  That being said, despite their best efforts, (in my humble opinion), it still does not do justice to this film classic.  I don't fault Kino for this, as I think they are doing the best they can with what they have to work with, which is a digital transfer supplied by MGM.  While they were able to peel some of that yellow back, the image is still dark and blacks are crushed.

Below are the comparisons Kino provided (top) and the previously released Mondo blu-ray (bottom)

Click to enlarge to get the full effect.  Note the images are compressed, so this is not a comparison of sharpness, but of color and contrast.

I understand this is a work in progress for Kino, who are understandably doing their best with what they have to work with, but when you put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig.  The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly needs a new scan of the film, not just the tweaking of the MGM 2014 4k master.

I just hope one day someone, somewhere, can get this right for an English version of the film.

LVC on Amazon Prime

Those of you who subscribe to Amazon Prime in the US will find a number of LVC titles streaming for free.  Some highlights include-

• Day of Anger (HD Widescreen)
• Death Rides A Horse (fullscreen poor quality print)
• Grand Duel (HD Widescreen)
• Commandos (partially cropped widescreen)
• Blood Money (widescreen poor quality)
• The Squeeze (fullscreen poor quality print)

However best of all they have two 80's action films not available on DVD or blu-ray in the states!

• Codename: Wildgeese (Widescreen)
• The Commander (Widescreen)

I'm sure this list is subject to change, so check back with Amazon Prime often!