Timeless Media Group, a company I've not heard of before, certainly got my attention when they released The Best of Spaghetti Westerns: In the Tradition of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
last month on DVD. With a hefty MSRP of forty bucks and a few sparse details on the Amazon.com page, I really wasn't sure if this set was worth the asking price. A BOGO sale on Deep Discount was the answer to my problem and the set arrived in yesterday's mail. Let's take look...
last month on DVD. With a hefty MSRP of forty bucks and a few sparse details on the Amazon.com page, I really wasn't sure if this set was worth the asking price. A BOGO sale on Deep Discount was the answer to my problem and the set arrived in yesterday's mail. Let's take look...
The back cover...
In the spirit of such great Spaghetti Westerns as A Fistful of Dollars, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, and For A Few Dollars More, TMG presents this blockbuster collection of some of the most rip-roarin' action packed westerns ever produced by Italian, German and Spanish directors in the badlands of Almeria, Spain.
Starring some of the most recognizable faces in Spaghetti Westerns, including Giuliano Gemma, Klaus Kinski, Anthony Steffen, Stephen Boyd and Loradana Nusciak, these 20 westerns pull no punches, and the pace never lets up.
So hitch up your gunbelts, clamp your hat down tight, and get ready for some good old fashioned Western action, Spaghetti-style!
A listing of what films are on each disc is then presented along with this frightening phrase: "Full Screen Presentation."
The Cover Art
The cover art for The Best of Spaghetti Westerns is horrible. That mean looking hombre on the front cover with the stars on his boots would not be caught dead wearing that get-up in anything but one of those lousy comedy westerns. The cover art here makes this release blend in with all the other budget label spaghetti western collections, but forty bucks is not a budget price.
The Discs
Luckily, the set includes ten single sided, dual layer discs. They feature the cover art in different colors and list the titles on the disc, you get two movies per DVD. The discs are not numbered like they are on the back cover. The discs are held in place by what looks like a ten disc VERSApak case; they didn't go the cheap route and use paper sleeves like those Mill Creek sets.
The Menus
The set offers very basic menus with a static image, the name of the DVD set, and the selection of movies on the disc. There are no scene selections although the movies do have a few chapter stops.
The Movies
As stated on the back cover, this is a Full Screen Presentation. I guess this is technically correct as the movies are presented in widescreen, but they are not anamorphic. Luckily they're not pan & scan, which is what I fear every time I see the words "full screen" written on a DVD. Let's take a look at what films are included.
Disc Three
Shanghai Joe (1973)
Starring: Klaus Kinski, Gordon Mitchell, Chen Lee
Directed by: Mario Caiano
Music by: Bruno Nicolai
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 98 minutes
DVD Runtime: 87 minutes
Return of Shanghai Joe (1975)
Starring: Klaus Kinski, Chen Lee
Directed by: Bitto Albertini
Music by: Mauro Chiari
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: Not Listed
DVD Runtime: 94 minutes
Disc Four
Charge! (1973) aka Those Dirty Dogs
Starring: Gianni Garko, Stephen Boyd
Directed by: Giuseppe Rosati
Music by: Nico Fidenco
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: Not Listed
DVD Runtime: 86 minutes
Shoot Gringo... Shoot! (1968)
Starring: Brian Kelly, Keenan Wynn, Erika Blanc
Directed by: Bruno Corbucci
Music by: Richard Ira Silver
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: Not Listed
DVD Runtime: 91 minutes
Disc Five
A Bullet For A Stranger (1971) aka They Call Him Cemetery
Starring: Gianni Garko, William Berger
Directed by: Giuliano Carnimeo
Music by: Bruno Nicolai
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 94 minutes
DVD Runtime: 88 minutes
10,000 Dollars For A Massacre (1967) aka 10,000 Dollars Blood Money
Starring: Gianni Garko, Loredana Nusciak, Fernando Sancho
Directed by: Romolo Guerrieri
Music by: Nora Orlandi
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 100 minutes
DVD Runtime: 93 minutes
Disc Six
A Pistol For Ringo (1965)
Starring: Giuliano Gemma, Fernando Sancho
Directed by: Duccio Tessari
Music by: Ennio Morricone
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 98 minutes
DVD Runtime: 94 minutes
The Return of Ringo (1965) aka Blood At Sundown
Starring: Giuliano Gemma, Fernando Sancho
Directed by: Duccio Tessari
Music by: Ennio Morricone
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 104 minutes
DVD Runtime: 96 minutes
Disc Seven
Ringo: Face of Vengeance (1967)
Starring: Anthony Steffen, Frank Wolff, Eduardo Fajardo
Directed by: Mario Caiano
Music by: Francesco De Masi
Original Aspect Ratio: Not Listed
Original Runtime: 102 minutes
DVD Runtime: 97 minutes
Blood For A Silver Dollar (1966) aka One Silver Dollar
Starring: Giuliano Gemma
Directed by: Giorgio Ferroni
Music by: Gianni Ferrio
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 99 minutes
DVD Runtime: 91 minutes
Disc Eight
Deep West (1971) aka They Call Me Hallelujah
Starring: George Hilton
Directed by: Giuliano Carnimeo
Music by: Stelvio Cipriani
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 94 minutes
DVD Runtime: 92 minutes
Seven Dollars on the Red (1966)
Starring: Anthony Steffen, Fernando Sancho
Directed by: Alberto Cardone
Music by: Francesco De Masi
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 95 minutes
DVD Runtime: 95 minutes
Disc Nine
Bandidos (1967)
Starring: Enrico Maria Salerno
Directed by: Massimo Dallamano
Music by: Egisto Macchi
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 95 minutes
DVD Runtime: 91 minutes
Forgotten Pistolero (1969)
Starring: Leonard Mann, Luciana Paluzzi
Directed by: Ferdinando Baldi
Music by: Roberto Pregadio
Original Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Original Runtime: 88 minutes
DVD Runtime: 80 minutes
Disc Ten
A Noose is Waiting For You Trinity (1972)
Starring: George Martin, Klaus Kinski
Directed by: Alfonso Balcázar
Music by: Ennio Morricone
Original Aspect Ratio: Not Listed
Original Runtime: Not Listed
DVD Runtime: 80 minutes
A Sky Full of Stars For A Roof (1968)
Starring: Giuliano Gemma, Anthony Dawson
Directed by: Giulio Petroni
Music by: Ennio Morricone
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 100 minutes
DVD Runtime: 93 minutes
The Special Features
Sadly, there are no special features. Not even a trailer.
The Bottom Line
The Best of Spaghetti Westerns delivers twenty movies, all of which are spaghetti westerns that, for the most part, stay away from those awful comedies. Although all the movies are not in the correct aspect ratios and most of them are cut, the picture quality is good for all of the films, some are better than others, but they are all solid. I'm not sure what TMG are going for with this release. The set looks and feels exactly like one of those budget label collections, but the price tag is a bit high. For forty bucks I want all films uncut, in the original aspect ratio, anamorphic, and some special features. Is this set worth getting? Absolutely, when you can find it on sale.
Disc One
No Room To Die (1969)
Starring: Anthony Steffen, William Berger
Directed by: Sergio Garrone
Music by: Vasili Kojucharov and Elsio Mancuso
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 97 minutes
DVD Runtime: 97 minutes
Directed by: Sergio Garrone
Music by: Vasili Kojucharov and Elsio Mancuso
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 97 minutes
DVD Runtime: 97 minutes
Lone and Angry Man (1965) aka A Coffin for the Sheriff
Starring: Anthony Steffen, Eduardo Fajardo
Directed by: Mario Caiano
Music by: Francesco De Masi
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 95 minutes
DVD Runtime: 85 minutes
Directed by: Mario Caiano
Music by: Francesco De Masi
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 95 minutes
DVD Runtime: 85 minutes
Disc Two
Rope and the Colt (1969) aka Cemetery Without Crosses
Starring: Michèle Mercier, Robert Hossein
Directed by: Robert Hossein
Music by: André Hossein
Original Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Original Runtime: 90 minutes
DVD Runtime: 87 minutes
Directed by: Robert Hossein
Music by: André Hossein
Original Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Original Runtime: 90 minutes
DVD Runtime: 87 minutes
In A Colt's Shadow (1965)
Starring: Stephen Forsyth
Directed by: Giovanni Grimaldi
Music by: Nico Fidenco
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 79 minutes
DVD Runtime: 78 minutes
Directed by: Giovanni Grimaldi
Music by: Nico Fidenco
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 79 minutes
DVD Runtime: 78 minutes
Disc Three
Shanghai Joe (1973)
Starring: Klaus Kinski, Gordon Mitchell, Chen Lee
Directed by: Mario Caiano
Music by: Bruno Nicolai
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 98 minutes
DVD Runtime: 87 minutes
Return of Shanghai Joe (1975)
Starring: Klaus Kinski, Chen Lee
Directed by: Bitto Albertini
Music by: Mauro Chiari
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: Not Listed
DVD Runtime: 94 minutes
Disc Four
Charge! (1973) aka Those Dirty Dogs
Starring: Gianni Garko, Stephen Boyd
Directed by: Giuseppe Rosati
Music by: Nico Fidenco
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: Not Listed
DVD Runtime: 86 minutes
Shoot Gringo... Shoot! (1968)
Starring: Brian Kelly, Keenan Wynn, Erika Blanc
Directed by: Bruno Corbucci
Music by: Richard Ira Silver
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: Not Listed
DVD Runtime: 91 minutes
Disc Five
A Bullet For A Stranger (1971) aka They Call Him Cemetery
Starring: Gianni Garko, William Berger
Directed by: Giuliano Carnimeo
Music by: Bruno Nicolai
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 94 minutes
DVD Runtime: 88 minutes
10,000 Dollars For A Massacre (1967) aka 10,000 Dollars Blood Money
Starring: Gianni Garko, Loredana Nusciak, Fernando Sancho
Directed by: Romolo Guerrieri
Music by: Nora Orlandi
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 100 minutes
DVD Runtime: 93 minutes
Disc Six
A Pistol For Ringo (1965)
Starring: Giuliano Gemma, Fernando Sancho
Directed by: Duccio Tessari
Music by: Ennio Morricone
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 98 minutes
DVD Runtime: 94 minutes
The Return of Ringo (1965) aka Blood At Sundown
Starring: Giuliano Gemma, Fernando Sancho
Directed by: Duccio Tessari
Music by: Ennio Morricone
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 104 minutes
DVD Runtime: 96 minutes
Disc Seven
Ringo: Face of Vengeance (1967)
Starring: Anthony Steffen, Frank Wolff, Eduardo Fajardo
Directed by: Mario Caiano
Music by: Francesco De Masi
Original Aspect Ratio: Not Listed
Original Runtime: 102 minutes
DVD Runtime: 97 minutes
Blood For A Silver Dollar (1966) aka One Silver Dollar
Starring: Giuliano Gemma
Directed by: Giorgio Ferroni
Music by: Gianni Ferrio
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 99 minutes
DVD Runtime: 91 minutes
Disc Eight
Deep West (1971) aka They Call Me Hallelujah
Starring: George Hilton
Directed by: Giuliano Carnimeo
Music by: Stelvio Cipriani
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 94 minutes
DVD Runtime: 92 minutes
Seven Dollars on the Red (1966)
Starring: Anthony Steffen, Fernando Sancho
Directed by: Alberto Cardone
Music by: Francesco De Masi
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 95 minutes
DVD Runtime: 95 minutes
Disc Nine
Bandidos (1967)
Starring: Enrico Maria Salerno
Directed by: Massimo Dallamano
Music by: Egisto Macchi
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 95 minutes
DVD Runtime: 91 minutes
Forgotten Pistolero (1969)
Starring: Leonard Mann, Luciana Paluzzi
Directed by: Ferdinando Baldi
Music by: Roberto Pregadio
Original Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Original Runtime: 88 minutes
DVD Runtime: 80 minutes
Disc Ten
A Noose is Waiting For You Trinity (1972)
Starring: George Martin, Klaus Kinski
Directed by: Alfonso Balcázar
Music by: Ennio Morricone
Original Aspect Ratio: Not Listed
Original Runtime: Not Listed
DVD Runtime: 80 minutes
A Sky Full of Stars For A Roof (1968)
Starring: Giuliano Gemma, Anthony Dawson
Directed by: Giulio Petroni
Music by: Ennio Morricone
Original Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Original Runtime: 100 minutes
DVD Runtime: 93 minutes
The Special Features
Sadly, there are no special features. Not even a trailer.
The Bottom Line
The Best of Spaghetti Westerns delivers twenty movies, all of which are spaghetti westerns that, for the most part, stay away from those awful comedies. Although all the movies are not in the correct aspect ratios and most of them are cut, the picture quality is good for all of the films, some are better than others, but they are all solid. I'm not sure what TMG are going for with this release. The set looks and feels exactly like one of those budget label collections, but the price tag is a bit high. For forty bucks I want all films uncut, in the original aspect ratio, anamorphic, and some special features. Is this set worth getting? Absolutely, when you can find it on sale.
6 comments:
Could you outline what some of the 'cuts' to the films are? Thanks very much! Great blog!
Although I can't give you a breakdown of what footage is specifically missing from each of the films, I can give you a listing of how much is cut based on the runtimes gathered from other DVDs and on the internet compared to the runtimes from the "Best of" DVD set.
Lone and Angry Man (A Coffin for the Sheriff) is missing 10 minutes.
The Imagica Entertainment Macaroni Western DVD is uncut at 95 minutes.
Rope and the Colt (Cemetery Without Crosses) is missing 3 minutes.
German DVD from Buoi Omega is 87 minutes. Perhaps this one is uncut, the German DVD states that it's uncut and only has a runtime of 87 minutes.
In A Colt's Shadow is missing 1 minute.
The Japanese DVD from SPO is complete at 92 minutes
Shanghai Joe is missing 11 minutes.
The German DVD from X-Rated Kult is 94 minutes. It's still missing 4 minutes, but that's a lot better than 11.
Charge! (Those Dirty Dogs)
Japanese DVD from SPO is also cut at 86 minutes.
Shoot Gringo... Shoot!
Both the Japanese DVD from SPO and the German disc from Koch Media clock in at 92 minutes, 1 minute longer than the version here.
A Bullet For A Stranger (They Call Him Cemetery) is missing 7 minutes.
The Spanish DVD from VM Films runs 97 minutes. Which is a longer runtime than I thought this film had...
10,000 Dollars For A Massacre (10,000 Dollars Blood Money) is missing 7 minutes
The Spanish DVD from VM Films runs 94 minutes. The German Disc from Koch Media also has a runtime of 94 minutes, and states that it's uncut. Perhaps the true runtime is 94 minutes, which is still longer than the version in the "Best of" set. 94 minutes might be the full film as the Franco Cleef disc has the same runtime.
A Pistol For Ringo is missing 4 minutes.
Medusa released an uncut DVD in Italy.
The Return of Ringo (Blood At Sundown) is missing 8 minutes.
The Japanese DVD from SPO has a runtime of 97 minutes, which might be the correct runtime.
Ringo: Face of Vengeance is missing 5 minutes.
The Sinister Cinema DVD is uncut at 102 minutes.
Blood For A Silver Dollar (One Silver Dollar) is missing 8 minutes.
I'm not sure which country the Wild West disc is from, but it's uncut at 98 minutes.
Deep West (They Call Me Hallelujah) is missing 2 minutes.
The Japanese disc from SPO is only missing 1 minute.
Bandidos is missing 4 minutes.
All of the other discs I can find also have a runtime of 91 minutes.
Forgotten Pistolero is missing 8 minutes.
This was released by Wild East, but I don't own this one and can't find the runtimes online.
A Sky Full of Stars for a Roof is missing 7 minutes.
All of the other discs I can find also have a runtime of 93 minutes.
Thank you so much for the effort that went into that breakdown.
What a shame.
I was on the verge of clicking "Buy It Now" until I read your informative and useful blog and saw all the cuts in this set. I wonder which and how many of the uncut European editions have an English dub option or an English subtitle option? If the answer is none of them, or few of them, I would go ahead and buy this set.
Enjoy your blog.
Richard
Hi Richard,
I'm glad you are enjoying the blog. You may want to check out The Spaghetti Western Database at www.spaghetti-western.net. They have quite a good section where you can see what DVDs have been released, the runtimes, with audio and subtitle options.
In upcoming posts, I plan on going through all of the spaghetti western sets I have and doing write-ups like this one. I plan on adding more information to the main article like what other releases are uncut, and listing the audio and subtitle options for those releases also sounds like a good idea. I don't know, I'm making it up as I go...
That is a useful project and I will check back here to read your breadowns. I went ahead and bought this set, by the way.
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