NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Arrow Blu-ray (May 2019): The new Arrow Blu-ray transfer of Keoma is described as from a 'new 2K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative'. It has many superiorities over the golden-hued, noisier, Millcreek BD from 2012 that shares itself with Keoma. Both transfers are 1080P, but the Arrow has richer colors and black levels, it offers both Italian and English versions (despite the slight disparities - titles and credits) seamlessly-branched, showing more information in the frame, and it offers a plethora of new supplements. 

Like Keoma, it appears to be from different sources (judging my the above title captures). The Arrow's skin-tones warm and it looks far more stable in-motion with tighter lines but I'd say the richness and depth of the contrast and colors are the most notable difference on initial inspection. The Arrow more suits the film's themes with more natural, less-orange, skin-tones.

On their Blu-ray, Arrow use a linear PCM mono tracks (24-bit) in the Italian or English language. Even though the Millcreek is also 24-bit (via a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel mono) the Arrow is another advancement - notable in the film's many western-related effects (horses, gunplay etc.) and genre-rich score credited to Luis Bacalov (Il Postino, Seduction, A Bullet for the General, Shoot First, Die Later, Django Unchained, City of Women) and Sergio Bardotti (worked on the soundtrack of Elio Petri's The 10th Victim). It sounds clean in the uncompressed carrying some depth and competent high-end. Arrow offers optional English or English (SDH) from different translations (see below) subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

Arrow load this excellent western up with plenty of new extras. Included is a new audio commentary by Steven Prince who exports plenty of data although doesn't share the fun-style of spaghetti western experts C. Courtney Joyner and Henry C. Parke who worked on Arrow's Keoma. Prince is, regardless, impressive and well-prepared looking at why Van Clef didn't make it big in Hollywood and his appealing facial character comparing him to Eastwood. There is even a part on the Kennedy assassination and the Zapruder film. An Unconventional Western is a newly filmed 1/2 hour interview with director Giancarlo Santi. The Last of the Great Westerns, is a 25-minute interview with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi. Cowboy by Chance, is an interview with the actor Alberto Dentice AKA Peter O'Brien that runs over 35-minutes and is quite interesting as he describes how he got into that vocation. Out of the Box is another a newly filmed interview - this time with producer Ettore Rosboch running just shy of 1/2 hour. The Day of the Big Showdown, spends 20-minutes with assistant director Harald Buggenig. I enjoyed the 1/4 hour Saxon City Showdown, a revealing video appreciation by the academic Austin Fisher. Fascinating for some will be Two Different Duels, a 15-minute comparison between the original cut and the longer German cut of The Grand Duel. The Grand Duel was released in Germany in a longer cut as Drei Vaterunser fur vier Halunken ('Three Lord's Prayers for Four Scoundrels'). Unfortunately, the additional footage found in this longer version was not preserved with the original film elements accessed by Arrow Films for their new 2K restoration of the film. Here they have sourced a Standard Definition master of the longer German cut, in order to present a split-screen comparison with the original Italian and International cut of the film.  Game Over is an obscure 9-minute sci-fi short film from 1984 directed by Bernard Villiot and starring The Grand Duel's Marc Mazza. And who is Marc Mazza you may ask - a new piece Who was the Rider on the Rain? answers that in a dozen-minute video essay about the elusive actor by tough-guy film expert Mike Malloy. There are original Italian and international theatrical trailers plus an extensive image gallery featuring stills, posters, lobby cards and home video sleeves, drawn from the Mike Siegel Archive and other collections. The package has a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin and for the first pressing only there is an illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Kevin Grant and original reviews.

The Grand Duel is has some infusion of other genres - touches of Giallo and Noir with Zen-like, man in black, Van Cleef giving the film its pasta imprint. Of course it's primarily a western and a decent one at that with more moral layers that we usually see. The Arrow is, obviously, the finer presentation and their multitude of supplements, including commentary, interviews and video appreciation, only makes it more enticing. As I said about Keoma, just to see it - I would recommend the Millcreek (presently less than $5) but, , I would suggest after you see the film - you may want it in the best Blu-ray edition possible - that is, obviously, the Arrow.

Gary Tooze