2017 End of Year Round Up

Another year has come and gone, so I thought it appropriate to take a look back at some of the events and blog highlights from 2017.

New Blu-ray Releases

This year brought us first time US releases of Death Rides a Horse and Return of Sabata, as well as another controversial release of The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly.


5 Years of The LVC Blog

It's hard to imagine that the blog has been active for 5 years this week.  It's even harder to believe that it's been over 20 years since I published the first website (and message board).  In these 5 years, the blog has received 250,000 visits!

When creating this blog I was thinking of it to be a supplement to the website thebad.net, yet it basically became the replacement as now, anything new on the blog is linked to the website.

The first few years of posting were fairly fast and furious, before settling into the weekly posts that are made now.

I've enjoyed doing the many blu-ray reviews of the all the new releases that have come out in the past 5 years.  It's amazing to think about the amount of material that is now available in hi-def format.

50+ individual location reports from my trips to Spain and elsewhere have been well received.  With a 4th trip to Spain in the spring of 2018, I am looking forward to doing a dozen or so more reports.

Thanks for the great support over the years!


Rare and Candid Photos

Make sure to revisit the press photos and candid photos section to check out some of the great shots that are not often seen!


Into 2018...

Look for the usual weekly updates!  Have a Happy New Year!

LVC Soundtracks on Vinyl

What's old is new again!  Recently Dagored Records has released 3 LVC film soundtracks onto vinyl, including; The Big Gundown, Day of Anger, and Death Rides a Horse.  Each is limited to 500 copies.  The scores are from newer masters, so they contain music not on the original LPs in the 1960's (although currently available elsewhere on CDs and streaming).

More information here:  dagored-records.com

Images of these attractive looking releases below-

Purchase below-

"The Master" Blu-ray and DVD Update

Kino Lorber had previously announced that they will be releasing all 13 episodes on blu-ray and DVD.  We now have a street date of February 20th, 2018.  It doesn't look like there will be any extras, however the package will have reversible cover art (as seen below)-

Press release-

Coming Soon on Blu-ray and DVD! Brand New HD Masters! 

The Master (1984 Complete Series) Starring Lee Van Cleef, Timothy Van Patten & Shô Kosugi 

Guest stars include: Claude Akins, Crystal Bernard, Edd Byrnes, William Campbell, J.D. Cannon, James Gammon, Clu Gulager, George Lazenby, George Maharis, Jock Mahoney, Monte Markham, David McCallum, Doug McClure, Bill McKinney, Demi Moore, Diana Muldaur, Dick O’Neill, Soon-Tek Oh, Robert Pine, Jennifer Runyon, William Smith and Stuart Whitman

Ordering info-

    

Return to Sad Hill

My recent trip to Spain, also marked my return trip to the filming location of finale of The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly commonly known as Sad Hill, the fictitious cemetery from the film.  My first trip in 2013, and was well documented here, here, and here.  At that time Sad Hill was mostly forgotten and grown over, with only a sign to mark it's location and two freshly erected grave markers put up by what would become The Sad Hill Cultural Association.

Now four years later, a lot has changed!

Through passion and crowdfunding, the Association has restored the cemetery to it's 1966 glory!  The original stone circle has been unearthed, and at least a thousand grave markers have been placed back on the original mounds.  Parts that had become overgrown have been cleared, and great details have been added such as the stone grave marker Tuco lands on after the cannon blast, the hanging tree above the unknown grave, and the empty grave Angel Eyes falls into.

The restoration of this location is also the subject of the forthcoming documentary Sad Hill Unearthed.

The location is beyond amazing, and was a true labor of love for all those involved.  I have been in contact with Sad Hill Cultural Association member Sergio Garcia since directly after my first visit, and was honored to finally meet him at the location he has worked so tirelessly at, to make his dream a reality.

Myself and Sergio at the spot where LVC stood during the duel

Recreating an iconic shot

Comparison with stone circle

Below are some additional photos.  Click to enlarge!

a group of tourists look over the Angel Eyes "grave"

Finally for comparison here is a wide shot of 2013 vs 2017

Death Rides a Horse - Black and White Press Photos (part 3)

Click to enlarge!