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Directed by Duccio Tessari
Italy
1965

 

The original Ringo films introduced another iconic hero to the spaghetti western; a clean-cut sharp shooter who was markedly different to Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name.

In A Pistol For Ringo, the eponymous hero, played by Giuliano Gemma (Day of Anger, Tenebrae), infiltrates a ranch of Mexican bandits to save a beautiful hostage (Nieves Navarro, Death Walks on High Heels). In The Return Of Ringo, the gunslinger, now a veteran of war, disguises himself as a Mexican in order to take revenge on outlaws who have stolen his property and taken his wife.

Hugely successful upon their original release, thanks in part to the skilled direction of Duccio Tessari (The Bloodstained Butterfly, Death Occurred Last Night), the Ringo films proved influential on the Italian western, spawning numerous unofficial sequels, due to their gripping set-pieces and unforgettable musical scoring by Ennio Morricone. Arrow Video is proud to present both films in sumptuous new restorations that truly brings their stylish cinematography to life.

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A Pistol for Ringo (Italian: Una pistola per Ringo) is a 1965 Spaghetti Western, a joint Italian and Spanish production. Originally written and directed by Duccio Tessari, the film's success led to a sequel, The Return of Ringo, later that year.

The film stars Giuliano Gemma (billed as 'Montgomery Wood') alongside Fernando Sancho, Nieves Navarro, George Martin, Antonio Casas, José Manuel Martín and Hally Hammond.

The film opens as the films protagonist, a gunfighter known as "Angel Face" or Ringo, kills four men in a gunfight. He is then arrested for manslaughter and locked up in the city jail where he awaits trial.

Excerpt from Wikipedia located HERE

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The Return of Ringo (Italian: Il ritorno di Ringo) is a 1965 Italian spaghetti western film directed by Duccio Tessari and the sequel to the earlier film A Pistol for Ringo.

Like its predecessor, the film stars Giuliano Gemma and features a score composed by Ennio Morricone.

After fighting for the Union Army in the American Civil War, Ringo returns home to find that his property has been taken over by a family of Mexican bandits. His fiancée is about to marry the Mexican gangster behind all this. He decides to go undercover disguised as a Mexican. While there he discovers he has a daughter.

Excerpt from Wikipedia located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: May 12th, 1965 / December 8th, 1965

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Review: Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover

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The Arrow UK Blu-ray comes out a month earlier:

Distribution Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:39:02.895 + 1:36:33.329
Video

Disc Size: 48,940,884,469 bytes

Feature Size: 21,856,269,888 bytes

Average Bitrate: 25.36 Mbps

Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video  

Disc Size: 48,940,884,469 bytes

Feature Size: 22,391,468,352 bytes

Average Bitrate: 26.88 Mbps

Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video

Bitrate: A Pistol for Ringo:
Bitrate: The Return of Ringo
Audio

DTS-HD Master Audio Italian 1066 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1066 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit)
DTS-HD Master Audio English 1077 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1077 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit)
Commentary:

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps 

Subtitles English (for Italian, English (SDH) for English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio:
Arrow

 

Edition Details:
• 
Audio commentaries for both films by Spaghetti Western experts C. Courtney Joyner and Henry Parke
• They Called Him Ringo, an archival featurette with star Giuliano Gemma (21:52)
• A Western Greek Tragedy, an archival featurette with Lorella de Luca and camera operator Sergio D’Offizi (26:20)
• Revisiting Ringo, a new video interview with critic and Ringo fan Tony Rayns (37:56)
• Gallery of original promotional images from the Mike Siegal Archive
• Original trailers
• Gallery of original promotional images
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx

Blu-ray Release Date:
March 26th - April 24th, 2018
Transparent
Blu-ray Case

Chapters 12 + 12

 

 

 

Comments:

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

 

This is another Arrow Blu-ray release that is being released in both region 'A' (US) and 'B' (UK). It is the exact same package playable on both Continents. As Michael Brooke informed us on Facebook in regards to Day of Anger: 'As the producer of Arrow's release, I can confirm first hand that the UK and US discs are absolutely identical: we only paid for one master, so there's no doubt about this at all! Which means that no matter which package you buy, the discs will play in any Region A or B setup (or Region 1 or 2 for DVD - and in the latter case the video standard is NTSC, to maximise compatibility). The booklets are also identical, but there are minor cosmetic differences on the disc labels and sleeve to do with differing copyright info and barcodes, and the US release doesn't have BBFC logos.' This is the same situation.

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

 


CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

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The Return of Ringo

 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 


Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

  

The Arrow UK Blu-ray comes out a month earlier:

Distribution Arrow - Region FREE - Blu-ray



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