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Bad Man's River [Blu-ray]
(Eugenio Martín, 1971)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: International Apollo Films Video: Kino Lorber
Disc: Region: 'A' (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player) Runtime: 1:31:48.169 Disc Size: 19,252,736,978 bytes Feature Size: 18,512,885,760 bytes Video Bitrate: 23.71 Mbps Chapters: 8 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: October 6th, 2015
Video: Aspect ratio: 2.47:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio English 1718 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1718 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitles: None
Extras: • Barquero Trailer (1:37) / Sabata Trailer (2:36)
Bitrate:
Description: Newly Remastered in HD! The con is on! During the volatile Mexican Revolution, Roy King (Lee Van Cleef, Sabata, Barquero) and team of bandits gets drawn into a scheme with two other criminals, Francisco Paco Montero (James Mason, The Destructors) and the lovely Alicia (Gina Lollobrigida, Woman of Straw) to swindle the Mexican government out of one million dollars. But when they re captured by a gang of revolutionaries, they must finesse their way past the revolutionaries, the Mexican Army and even Billy the Kid. Directed by Eugenio Martin (Horror Express), who also co-wrote the screenplay with legendary screenwriter Philip Yordan (The Bravados, El Cid) the stellar cast includes Aldo Sambrell (Navajo Joe), Sergio Fantoni (Hornets' Nest), Jess Hahn (Topkapi) and Gianni Garko, legendary star of various Sartana and Django spaghetti westerns.
The Film:
Roy King (Lee Van Cleef) is a wanted bank robber out west, who after his last job in El Paso meets on a train the attractive widow Alicia (Gina Lollobrigida) and marries her when he learns she's traveling with a priest, only to find she ties him up and escapes with the bank loot as he's taken off the train to a loony bin on her request. Later, after he breaks out of the loony bin, she gets him and his gang a job through her next husband, the Mexican diplomat double-agent revolutionary, Francisco Montero (James Mason), to blow up the arsenal of the Mexican army at their headquarters. When the mission is accomplished, there's no payoff of the $10,000 promised but a promise of a million dollars if King and his gang pull off the next job. Alicia explains that now the Mexican government will spend a million dollars to buy new guns through Montero, and King will steal the money from Montero. Excerpt from Ozu's World located HERE
A Mexican revolutionary offers four marauding outlaws a million bucks to destroy an arsenal owned by the Mexican army. The arsenal gets blasted, but the million bucks doesn't get delivered in this "outsmart the outsmarters" and "double-cross the double-crossers" western saga. Excerpt from Barnes & Noble located HERE
Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. The single-layered Kino Lorber Blu-ray of Bad Man's River has some damage marks in the beginning but settles down fairly soon after the credits to look quite reasonable. There may be a shade of thinness and frailty but colors are fairly rich and there are instances of depth. I appreciated the consistently of the textures. It's really widescreen at 2.47:1 and the scope is appealing. The many outdoor sequences do modestly raise-the-bar for the overall image. This Blu-ray gave me a watchable, and decent, viewing in regards to the picture quality.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :Kino Lorber use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track at 1718 kbps in the original English language but DUB syncs are apparent. There are effects in the film - mostly guns, explosions, and horses. and they come through flat with only a modicum of depth. The god-awful score is by Waldo de los Ríos and, IMO, contributes greatly to the poor-ness of the film experience. It never seems to suit and it doesn't sound very crisp either. There are no subtitles offered and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.
Extras : Only a, two trailers; Sabata and Barquero.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze September 28th, 2015
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About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500 DVDs and have reviewed over 5000 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.
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