Django Blu-ray Franco Nero

Search DVDBeaver

S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

directed by Sergio Corbucci
Italy 1966

Franco Nero (KEOMA, DIE HARD 2) stars as the lone stranger who roams the West dragging a coffin filled with chaos towards a destiny ruled by vengeance. Co-writer/director Sergio Corbucci (THE GREAT SILENCE, COMPANEROS) packs his landmark classic with indelible images, unforgettable performances and some of the most shocking brutality of any 'Spaghetti Western' ever made. This is the still-controversial epic that defined a genre, launched a phenomenon and inspired over 50 unofficial sequels. This is the one and only DJANGO!

***

Originally banned in Britain for its comic-strip iconoclasm and graphic violence, this rates alongside Leone's 'Dollars' trilogy as one of the daddies of the spaghetti/paella Western. It's a clean- up-and-paint-the-town-blood-red revenge drama with a difference. Nero's mud-spattered ex-Yankee soldier, first seen squelching towards a US-Mexican border ghost town, a coffin forever in tow, has every Western hero's quality in extremis. His speed-of-light gunslinger outlaw has a romantic heart - his wife was killed by one of Major Jackson's KKK-like henchmen - and an enigmatic morality. He solves the war between Jackson's men and General Rodríguez' bandidos by dispensing death to all, but his sympathies are shown when he later teams up with Rodríguez for a gold heist. Corbucci's style is a mix of social realism, highly decorative visuals, and finely mounted action sequences. For the rest, there are enough mud-wrestling prostitutes, whippings, ear-loppings, explosions and scenes of wholesale slaughter to keep any muchacho happy.

Excerpt from TimeOut located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: April 6th, 1966 - Italy

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

*Anchor Bay - Region 0 - NTSC vs. **Blue Underground - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Blue Underground - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

*part of a double bill with "Django Strikes Again"

** Blue Underground's 'Django' is only available as part of 4 disc Spaghetti Western boxset

Thanks to Gregory for both sets of DVD Screen Captures!

1) Anchor Bay - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT

2) Blue Underground - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE

3) Blue Underground - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - RIGHT

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	Anchor Bay Region 0 - NTSC	Blue Underground Region 1 - NTSC	Blue Underground Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:30:24	1:31:30	1:31:35.031
Video	1.60:1 slightly cropped 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.54 mb/s NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s	1.66:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 8.67 NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s	Disc Size: 31,130,924,482 bytes Feature Size: 25,528,498,176 bytes Average Bitrate: 32.99 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC 1080P
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Anchor Bay
Bitrate: Blue Underground
Bitrate: Blue Underground Blu-ray
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 5.1)	Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1073 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1073 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit) DTS-HD Master Audio Italian 1054 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1054 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	None	English, none	English (SDH), English, French, Spanish, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Anchor Bay Entertain Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1,60:1 Edition Details: • Production notes • Theatrical trailer(s) • Limited edition of 15,000 • Double Feature Two-Disc Set: Django (90 min.) & Django Strikes Again (96 min.) • Exclusive Franco Nero Interview • Interactive Game on Django • Widescreen anamorphic format DVD Release Date: September 24, 2002 Keep Case Chapters 36	Release Information: Studio: Blue Underground Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.66:1 Edition Details: • Theatrical trailers Includes: Run Man Run Mannaja: A Man Called Blade Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot • Bonus disc: Django • "Run Man Run: 35 Years Running" (interviews with director Sergio Sollima and star Tomas Milian) • "Westerns Italian Style" (a rarely seen '60s documentary about the Spaghetti Western phenomenon containing behind-the-scenes footage of "The Great Silence" and "Run Man Run," as well as interviews with directors Enzo G. Castellari, Sergio Corbucci and Sergio Sollima) • "A Man Called Sergio" (interview with director Sergio Martino) • "Django, Tell!" (interviews with director/co-writer Giulio Questi, stars Tomas Milian and Ray Lovelock) • "Django: The One and Only": interviews with star Franco Nero and assistant director Ruggero Deodato • Poster and still gallery • Sergio Martino biography • Poster & stills galleries • Talent bios • Liner notes DVD Release Date: January7th, 2003 Keep Case Chapters 32	Release Information: Studio: Blue Underground Disc Size: 31,130,924,482 bytes Feature Size: 25,528,498,176 bytes Average Bitrate: 32.99 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC 1080P Edition Details: • Intro by Nero (:31) • "Django: The One and Only": interviews with star Franco Nero and assistant director Ruggero Deodato (13 min) • The Last Pistolero (10 min) • "Western, Italian Style" - A 1968 documentary about the Spaghetti Western phenomenon containing interviews with Directors Enzo G. Castellari, Sergio Sollima and Sergio Corbucci (38:01) • International Trailer • Italian Trailer Blu-ray Release Date: May 25th, 2010 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 23

Comments:

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

ADDITION - Blue Underground - Region 'A' - Blu-ray May 2010: Blue Underground continues to impress! Similar to their DVD edition this is advertised as "This definitive edition of DJANGO has been newly transferred in glorious High Definition from its camera negative, and includes the original Italian audio track featuring Franco Nero's own voice. Following extensive restoration work, Blue Underground is now proud to present the most stunning and complete version of DJANGO you will ever see!". And it appears true.

The damage marks seen on the Blue Underground DVD have been irradiated - the image is sharper and it has a wonderful consistent sheen of grain. Colors like red and blues become truer and aside from some frailty it looks absolutely magnificent. The disc is dual-layered with a high bitrate. Wow - what an improvement!

Audio has original mono for English and Italian versions. Both are offered in lossless DTS-HD Master tracks. This is cleaner and has more resonance but, obviously no depth or separation. Cool to hear Franco Nero's recognizable voice. The Blu-ray offers subtitles in English (SDH), English, French and Spanish - in a yellow font. My Momitsu has identified this disc as being a region 'A'-locked.

Extras duplicate some of the past DVD with a 30-second intro by Nero, the "Django: The One and Only": interviews with star Franco Nero and assistant director Ruggero Deodato for just shy of 15-minutes, The Last Pistolero is a western, black and white, short with Nero, "Western, Italian Style" - A 1968 documentary about the Spaghetti Western phenomenon containing interviews with Directors Enzo G. Castellari, Sergio Sollima and Sergio Corbucci. This runs almost 40-minutes. There are also 2 trailers.

This is an extremely popular title - and has always been so. DVD editions have sold out many times and this Blu-ray is easily the definitive edition. It has an enduring charm and I'll credit Nero with a lot of that - but the Corbucci direction deserves credit as well. They don't make them like this anymore. This 1080P edition is a true gem that we strongly recommend! Let's hope Blue Underground continue releasing these strong transfers or niche titles. I expect this will be a great seller!

****

ON THE DVDs: RE: written on the Blue Underground box:

"This definitive edition of DJANGO has been re-mastered from the original camera negative, recently discovered in a Rome vault untouched for over three decades.

Also included for the first time is the optional Italian audio track featuring Franco Nero’s own voice."

There are a few instances where the Anchor Bay shows some cropping in the horizontal. Although the Blue Underground version shows some damage it is miles ahead of the Anchor Bay which has washed out colors and it extremely hazy. The Blue Underground comes with a host of Extras in the boxset as well as the audio options of Italian as well as English. For Django fans this is an easy choice; get the Blue Underground boxset!