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

Arrow Video has given us another great transfer here with this double-bill - both films on one Blu-ray. The dual-layered disc has a decent bitrate for the two films running time. Skin tones are suitably warm and detail looks crisp in the many close-ups. There are appealing grain textures in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio frame and it supports a film-like viewing experience - never being intrusive. The colors are rich and tight - often stunning. Darker scenes are still quite detailed and have no noise. There is some minor emulsion damage in a few spots and some vertical scratches but they are the rare exception and I didn't find them intrusive. The HD transfer here is most likely the best these films will ever look in the digital format. Certain close-ups reveal much more detail than SD could export. Overall, this is another impressive transfer from Arrow that looks superb in-motion - often breathtaking.

Arrow Video has given us the original Italian or English soundtracks as options in uncompressed 1.0 channel linear PCM transfers. As Joyner and Parke state in their commentary track, the sound mixing is very well presented here. The 1.0 mono track features very crisp and clean dialogue and the typically hollow Pasta-western sound effects (gun shots, horses etc.) The sync was obvious at times but acceptable for this sub-genre. The music is composed by the great Ennio Morricone (The Black Belly of the Tarantula, The Fifth Cord, Luna, A Bullet for the General, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, U Turn, Stay As You Are etc. etc.). We also get 'Angel Face' - lyrics by Gino Paoli, performed by Maurizio Graf in A Pistol For Ringo and Il ritorno di Ringo performed by Maurizio Attanasio as Maurizio Graf in The Return of Ringo. There are optional newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack and optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack. The Blu-ray disc is Region FREE.

Each film is given a commentary track featuring Spaghetti Western experts C. Courtney Joyner (author of The Westerners: Interviews with Actors, Directors, Writers and Producers) and Henry Parkes (author of Gods and Men: The Origins of Western culture). The two men have a great rapport and are extremely well informed. They discuss the films and the genre in great detail. This is a welcome track for any Italian Western aficionado. Arrow Video gives us a 38-minute featurette, "Revisiting Ringo" with Film Critic Tony Rayns. Rayns speaks of Tessari's life and work in great detail. Most interesting are the similar origins of Italian and Hong Kong cinema, with regards to their lack of television leading to a prosperous film industry. This gave us a plethora of Giallos and Spaghetti-Westerns for example. Tessari was able to be a popular genre filmmaker thanks to this heavy demand. Rayns speaks of Tessari's life and work in great detail. The director was quite critical of the genre-film that he so thrived in, and would later parody them. This is a very informative and interesting interview, thanks to Rayns' wealth of knowledge of film history. A Western Greek Tragedy, is a 26-minute archival featurette with Lorella de Luca and camera operator Sergio D’Offizi. The two reveal what has become of the cast and crew, as well as discussing the greek myth the film is based on. Sergio explains how he perfected a continuous handheld camera shot, in a saloon fight, as well as other interesting techniques. "They Called Him Ringo" is an archival 21-minute featurette with star Giuliano Gemma. It is led off by an interview with actress (and Tessari's wife) Lorella De Luca. De Luca describes how she came to meet and fall in love with Tessari. De Luca and Gemma talk about acting and how Tessari wrote (and altered) his scripts as well as Tessari's friendship with Sergio Leone and Fernando Di Leo. This is a welcome extra for anyone interested in Tessari. Also included is a gallery of promotional images, trailers reversible sleeve with alternate artwork and purchasers of first pressing receive an illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the films by Howard Hughes and a newly-translated interview with Duccio Tessari.

Arrow Video have created another stellar release with this double bill of classic Tessari Spaghetti-Westerns. Both films are very different in themes and in execution. Though sounding like a sequel, Return of Ringo has no connection to Pistol, other than the same actors (many in completely different roles). Tessari had a deep love for playing within the confines of genre, the resulting films are some of the finest examples of the Italian Western. Pistol is arguably the better film, though Return has its moments. The transfer is very thorough with the picture quality being the most impressive. The audio sounds as good as it is ever going to sound. Highly recommended to Spaghetti-Western fans, or just fans of genre film in general. A fantastic Blu-ray release - all hail Arrow - where would we be without them!  

Colin Zavitz