The Spaghetti Western Collection [DVD]

Ok well lets start by saying I won't be reviewing the films here or getting bogged down in the is it even a triolgy debate. Others have been doing this over the last 44 years so im sure you have read it all before.

There have been a few mixed reviews on other sites so let me throw in my hat in the ring pardner and see if its any good...

All three films are presented in full 1080p 24fps and appear to be the same extended versions that appeared in the last re-release of the 3 films on DVD in 2005.

Running Times
A Fistful Of Dollars (1964) Runtime 99 minutes
For A Few Dollars More (1965) Runtime 132 minutes
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (1966) Runtime 179 minutes

In terms of picture quality all three films show some wear with occasional artefacts (white speck holes in the film) but a lot of tidying up has been done on all three. Making a direct comparison to the previous release on DVD of the 3 films, this is the best these films have ever looked and by some distance. The usual vibrant colours associated with the blu ray format are not so obvious but this is not a bad thing. The overall feel is a slightly drab colour pallet and an age to the images which is appropriate for films as they spend so much time with white adobe building sets and faded costumes worn on the dusty trails, but the magic of blu ray is apparent throughout. The close up work that Leone made as his own trademark is wonderful. The scarring on the heavy set faces are a rogues gallery of glorious characters that fill all 3 movies.

The Audio on all 3 films is remastered in English 5:1 DTS-HD. Although im sure many folks are aware of the dubbing issues in all three films. I have to add the sound is fantastic and the reason for the lips and words not matching on for the non english speaking actors is down to the fact the these films had the sound added after the filming, in order to cater to the Italian, German and Spanish markets the films were made for. So basically all the actors added the dialogue in there native tongue and where then redubbed depending on country the film was being being distributed to. The main advantage of adding the sound after was that layers of sound effects could be added which along with Ennio Morricones glorious musical score creates an atmosphere par excellence.

The Extras are plentiful on all 3 films and appear to same as the previous DVD release with 2 new features added.

So is it worth the switch ? Well I think it is. I gave the box set 4 stars as the actual quality of the films may not be what a lot of folks regard as "Excellent Blu-ray". The images are not as vibrant or bright as the the latest Blu-Ray films and the artefacts although not overly abundant in the movies are non the less still there, But we are viewing films made 44-46 years ago that were made as B movie westerns for the Italian,Spanish and German market. They weren't picked up by the USA till 1967 which is mean't they had all 3 movies in 1 hit which explains the desire to make them appear to be a trilogy. So although I do believe that maybe the films could be cleaned a little further and maybe they could shine them up so more Im not really sure i won't them to. I really don't think its either viable (some of the reinserted scenes from the original Italian versions where saved from destruction) or necessary as they appear as they should and these as i said earlier are the cleanest and clearest versions out at the moment.
Well I really enjoyed all 3 films and will enjoy them again and again and again
But maybe im just someone who misses the scratching noise you got when you played old vinly records :)

Some Extra Info added about language and subtitles
Audio and Subtitle Information
Fist Full of Dollars
Audio
English DTS-HD Multi Channel , French DTS Multi Channel, Spanish 2 Channel Digital, English 2 Channel Sir Christopher Frayling commentary.
Subtitles
English Hard of Hearing, Spanish, French (Quebecois) French, Portugese, Portugese (Brazil), Polish, Greek, Chinese and Korean.

For A Few Dollars More
English DTS-HD Multi Channel, English Digital (mono), Spanish digital (mono) , English 2 Channel Sir Christopher Frayling commentary.
Subtitles
English, Spanish & French

The Good The Bad And The Ugly.
Audio
English DTS-HD Multi Channel , English Digital (Mono), German DTS Multi Channel, Portugese Digital Multi Channel, French Digital multi Channel, Italian Digital (Mono), Spanish Digital Multi Channel, Thai Digital 2 Channel, English 2 Channel Sir Christopher Frayling commentary, English 2 Channel Richard Schickel commentary.
Subtitles
English Hard of Hearing, German,German Text, Spanish, Spanish Text, French Text, Portugese,Portugese Text, Chinese, Korean, Italian. There are also several variant subtitles in German and English that feature text versions of the Audio Commentary.

The worse supported film is the few dollars which is the only film of the 3 that is only region AB not ABC.

I've read through all of the other reviews and the one thing that hasn't been mentioned is the price. I paid less than the price of a pizza for 3 of the most influential westerns that now have been released in Blue-Ray (BR) format. OK the films aren't as well restored as other old films(James Bond/Wizard of Oz/Star Trek) but to be honest you really do have to go out of your way in which to find fault with these BR releases. Lets not forgot these films are around 45 years old and were budget films then. Yet on my TV they look great. Now I'm a little discerning when it comes to films which helps explain why I have given away a number of Blue rays which I didn't like. Yet and a big yet these 3 films will be staying with me. Other people have explained the technical bits better than I ever could, which is why I haven't bothered boring folks waffling about this, that and the other. If you like Clint Eastwood and have a spare £10 then you can't go far wrong with this collection.

For those who really want to buy this but are afraid of Madame Tussauds being involved in the mastering of these discs - heres the details.
A fistful of dollars - grain fully intact, excellent picture quality.
For a few dollars more - again, grain fully intact and excellent picture quality.
The good, the bad and the ugly - not good news. This one looks very smooth. I dont know how bad it will look on a big screen as I only have a 37" but theres hardly any grain visable at all! It still looks a lot better than the DVD (same restored version) but it should do anyway!