Sabata - Spaghetti Western

(aka 'Ehi amico... c'è Sabata, hai chiuso! ')

Directed by Gianfranco Parolini
Italy 1969

This flamboyant spaghetti Western comes with acrobats, bearded knife-wielding drunks, a strolling minstrel with a banjo which doubles as a gun, pantomime villains and standard virtuoso gunplay. Van Cleef, all in black, looks mean and surly, but this doesn't stop him from standing up for the Texas small folk whose livelihoods are threatened by rapacious railroad tycoons. The sound editing is ludicrous, the costumes are absurdly gaudy, performances come close to caricature and the dubbing is always noticeable, but that doesn't lessen the entertainment value one jot.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: August 1969

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DVD Review: MGM - Region 1 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	MGM Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	1:46:00
Video	2.35:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 4.45 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0), French (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Subtitles	None (advertised on the menus but I could not get them to function)
Features	Release Information: Studio: MGM Home Video Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Edition Details: • Previews DVD Release Date: May 22nd, 2007 Keep Case Chapters: 12

Comments:

I suspect that these new editions are the same transfers as the 2005 The Sabata Trilogy Boxset from MGM (Sabata / Adios, Sabata / Return of Sabata) available HERE.

The stingy MGM DVD shows weaknesses - it is anamorphic (2.35:1) but is interlaced - see last screen capture for visible combing in horizontal pans - and takes up only around 3.75 Gig of a single-layered DVD. I also have issues with the optional subtitles. I couldn't get them to work on my system. Luckily the film is in English (with obvious DUBs). The image is moderately hazy in spots - but looks fairly respectable on a tv tube system. Audio is unremarkable but clear and consistent - and there is a French DUB available.

There are no extras, aside from some previews, and although this is no film masterpiece - the DVD inferiorities don't take away from the charm of its spaghetti western genre appeal. Van Cleef is great and the film is a ton of fun - much better than the sequels. If you do order, at least you know what you are getting into in regards to the DVD.