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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (February 2021): Kino Lorber brings Enzo Barboni's "Man of the East" to Blu-ray, on a new dual-layered disc. The 2.35:1 HD image boasts a maxed out bitrate to boot. There are the occasional instances of frame-specific damage (a tiny white fleck here or there), though nothing to worry about. The level of detail is decent, given the film's rather thick grain and somewhat 'soft' look. Colors don't seem to be too accentuated, which could very well be due to the intended look of the film. As noted in the credits, the film was shot completely in the Plitvice Lakes National Park in Yugoslavia (now Croatia), an interesting stand-in for the United States if I've ever seen one.

NOTE: We have added 20 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

Kino's Blu-ray of "Man of the East" is given the DTS-HD Master Audio treatment, here in 16-bit 2.0 The rather forgettable score (even acknowledged as mediocre in Alex Cox's must-listen commentary) is thanks to Guido and Maurizio De Angelis (under the pseudonym Oliver Onions). Though the overall sound design is somewhat flat, dialogue is audible and intelligible. There are optional English subtitles on this Region 'A' Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.

Alex Cox (author of the indispensable '10,000 Ways to Die: A Director's Take on the Spaghetti Western') provides another fabulous commentary. Cox talks of how this movie was to have been the third in the Trinity series of films, starring Hill and Spencer, with Spencer not really keen on being in a film with multiple henchmen, thus allowing Harry Carey Jr. to step in, playing against type. Cox is brutally honest about his feelings for the film, at once declaring that the "film moves at a pace that makes one think they have all the time in the world". Later when discussing the rather dull look of the film, Cox states "Enzo Barboni never went out of his way to secure a great or striking location, and indeed the visual aspect of the film doesn't seem to be a priority. Yet, Barboni had been the Cinematographer of several visually striking westerns including "Django'' and "Hellbenders" for Corbucci, "Texas, Adios", Texas Goodbye". Cox goes on to discuss Barboni's use of the pseudonym E.B. Clucher for this later period of his filmmaking. Later on in a boring exposition scene, Cox mentions that even this film's use of the 'Jake the explainer' trope is abandoned part way through the scene. The director/author goes on to recount a common saying at the time, "after the success of Django in 1966, if you couldn't get Franco Nero, you could always get Terrence Hill''. Perhaps what best sums up the commentary is during a silly, broad comedy scene involving a bicycle, Cox notes that when compared to the 65-69 Italian Westerns, "The great Italian Westerns were violent, shocking... peopled with maniacs... visually and musically extraordinary, with great bravura performances. how the genre has changed in 4 or 5 years''. It's a brilliant commentary for a mediocre film. The only other feature is the film's trailer (and a handful of other trailers).

Kino's Blu-ray of "Man of the East" is a fine presentation of what is, in my mind, a forgettable film. There may be fans out there though, perhaps those that enjoyed the first two Trinity films will want to seek this out. I found the comedy much too broad and safe, and not much tension to the plot. That said, Alex Cox's commentary is worth listening to, hopefully many will take the opportunity to do so.

Colin Zavitz