Customer Reviews

Death Rides A Horse 16x9 Version Widescreen Televsion

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Okay, "Death Rides A Horse" ranks as one of the top ten Spaghetti westerns and Lee Van Cleef's best starring role in a Spaghetti western. However, DO NOT BUY this disc. First, it is not 16 X 9. Second, it is not widescreen. Instead, it is full-frame with a menu that allows you to play the movie. I know what I am speaking about because I ordered this awful piece of crap and thought that I would be getting some deluxe off-brand name widescreen version. That is NOT the case. In short, the wording on this movie is deceptive, highly deceptive. Beware!!! Happily, Amazon.Com allowed me to return this execrable junk. The company that manufactured this disc has no ethics. You can find a better bootleg version of this four-star western beautiful widescreen if you search the web.

This is one of Lee Van Cleef's lesser spaghetti westerns, but it's not at all bad. It's a standard revenge tale with Van Cleef seeking the partners who betrayed him, and co-star John Philip Law looking for the men who slaughtered his family. Since originality isn't going to be this film's strong suit, it's virtues must lie in its presentation. Van Cleef and Law get a good slate of opponents to go up including the English character actor Anthony Dawson, Luigi Pistelli and the inevitable Mario Brega playing his usual portly thug. There's a pleasantly cynical conceit at work here, in that the wronged heros are saddle tramps while the bad guys have all risen to positions of respect in the community!
Ennio Morricone's hypnotic main theme enjoyed a renaissance of sorts when Quentin Tarrantino quoted it in the first KILL BILL.

I bought this film expecting a 16 X 9 Version and it's not. The movie looks as if it's been recorded off of television and the sound is horrible. The title is spelt wrong on the side of the DVD and they even spelt the legendary Ennio Morricone's name wrong. I didn't realize until after I bought the film that I already owned it in my Classic 20 Movies Features Spaghetti Westerns 5 Disc set. That version looks and sounds much better and includes another great Lee Van Cleef film titled Grand Duel. It's a cheaper collection as well.

Here's the deal. I have NOT seen this particular "packaged" release of this film. However, I highly suspect that it is substandard. The movie itself is one of the best non-Sergio Leone entries in the Italian "Spaghetti" western genre. It is definitely one of my favorite Lee Van Cleef vehicles. He looks, sounds and acts great. Getting Ennio Morricone to score the music was a huge bonus. It's a shame that it hasn't gotten a proper video release. If you really desire a good copy of this film I suggest videotaping it (with dvd or vhs) off of a decent cable television broadcast. The Starz/Encore Western channel schedules a nice showing of it from time to time. Check out "The Big Gundown" (also with Van Cleef/Morricone) while you're at it!

I love the new format. This movie is formatted from widescreen theatrical to wide screen television so it fit the television without any bars and without starching the picture. It is cropped from one side or two sides of the movie. By the way, all the movies you watch on television are formatted to fit the 4x3 television or the widescreen television this why you do not see black bars. This movie is standard definition as most of Hollywood Classic movies. It will look little soft on wide screen television especially of 50 or 60 inch television. Also if you have high definition cable of satellite you will see the difference. The movie is a good movie I enjoy it. If you do not want black bars, buy this movie. The quality you see on the small video screen is the same quality you see on 40' screen.

Here's another classic Italian made spaghetti western full of revenge and regret. 2 men competing to take out the same gang for different reasons. Beautifully shot with a memorable score by the legendary Ennio Morricone. In fact some of the score wound up being used the new film from Quentin Tarantino "Inglorious Basterds". I just wish that this film could get the DVD release it truly deserves. As the film has lapsed into public domain there are no remastered widescreen prints available. If someone online says they've got a widescreen copy they'd be lying. The supposed widescreen copy I purchased was a transfer of a full screen VHS print with very poor picture and video quality. But that still doesn't take away from how friggin' awesome this flick is!