Forty Guns Barbara Stanwyck

USA 1957

A strong example of style over substance. The film is genuinely entertaining if you don't peer too close and get overly picky about details - condemned in the US because of its incongruous narrative, but lauded in Europe for its eclipsing style. Fuller, always a masterful auteur, pulls no punches and fills this film with western conventions years before Leone would do similar. Bottom line: this is a fun western ripe for high testosterone and machismo genre fans. Purposely different than a Anthony Mann western, but Fuller has his own tricks that keep you intrigued. The 2.35 widescreen has huge appeal and the frame is used to great effect. A memorable film. out of

.Gary W. Tooze

Posters

Theatrical Release: December 5th, 1957 - USA

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DVD Comparison:

20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Optimum Releasing - Region 2 - PAL

(20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Optimum - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	20th Century Fox Region 1 - NTSC	Optimum Video Publishing Region 2 - PAL
Runtime	1:20:00	1:16:45 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.89 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.41 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Fox
Bitrate: Optimum
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 4.0), English (Mono), DUB: Spanish (Mono)	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Dolby)
Subtitles	English, Spanish, and none	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 2.35:1 Edition Details: • Theatrical trailer (2:04) DVD Release Date: May 24th, 2005 Keep Case Chapters 20	Release Information: Studio: Optimum Releasing Aspect Ratio: Original aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Edition Details: • Trailers (Wages of Fear, Breathless, Moby Dick) DVD Release Date: August 24th, 2004 Transparent Keep Case Chapters: 10

Comments:

Bottom line on this comparison is that the Optimum is slightly sharper and brighter than the Fox. The Fox has optional subtitles (bright yellow) and the Optimum does not. The Fox has a trailer for the film, the Optimum has 3 trailers for other Optimum DVD released films. I don't see any significant cropping issues and as both are so cheap I'm glad I own the Optimum for image and Fox for the trailer + audio.

RE: The Optimum - Well, who knew a single layered DVD could look this good? Certainly the data is used primary for the anamorphic and detailed image, not for extras or subtitle (which are non-existent). Strong black levels and contrast too. The price is right and this beckons as a must-own for Fuller and western fans alike. I strongly recommend. out of

Gary W. Tooze

DVD Menus

(20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Optimum - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)

Subtitle samples
(20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. Optimum - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)