Customer Reviews

Spaghetti Westerns 20 Movie Pack

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

SPAGHETTI WESTERNS 20 Movie Pack includes works made primarily in Italy and other European locations. (Note that "Apache Blood" is an American film.) Half of these have not been previously issued by MCE and are marked (*) on the list below.

MILL CREEK box sets offer good-to-average-quality audio and video transfers of public domain material at a most reasonable price. An excellent companion piece would be their MEAN GUNS 20 Movie Pack, which offers 18 films not already in this DVD pack.

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Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website.

(3.4) Apache Blood (1975) - Ray Danton
(4.6) (*) Between God, the Devil and a Winchester (Italy/Spain-1968) - Gilbert Roland/Richard Harrison
(5.7) (*) Beyond the Law (Italy/W Ger./Monaco-1968) - Lee Van Cleef/Antonio Sabato/Gordon Mitchell/Lionel Stander/Bud Spencer
(5.5) China 9, Liberty 37 (Italy/Spain-1978) - Warren Oates/Sam Peckinpah
(6.9) Death Rides A Horse (Italy-1968) - Lee Van Cleef/John Phillip Law
(6.1) (*) The Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe (Italy-1972) - Klaus Kinski/Chen Lee
(5.0) (*) Find a Place to Die (Italy-1968) - Jeffrey Hunter
(6.1) (*) Fistful of Lead (Italy-1970) - George Hilton/Charles Southwood/Erica Blanc
(4.0) God's Gun (Italy/Israel-1976) - Lee Van Cleef/Jack Palance/Richard Boone
(5.1) Grand Duel (Italy/France/W. Ger./Monaco-1972) - Lee Van Cleef
(5.3) Gunfight At Red Sands (Spain/Italy-1963) - Richard Harrison
(5.1) It Can Be Done Amigo (Spain/Italy/France-1972) - Bud Spencer/Jack Palance
(6.2) (*) Johnny Yuma (Italy-1966) - Mark Damon/Lawrence Dobkin
(5.3) (*) Man from Nowhere ("Arizona Colt") (Italy/France-1966) - Guiliano Gemma
(6.0) (*) Minnesota Clay (France/Spain/Italy-1965) - Cameron Mitchell
(6.1) (*) Sundance and the Kid (Italy/Spain-1969) - Giuliano Gemma/Nino Benvenuti
(4.7) This Man Can't Die (Italy/Spain-1972) - Guy Madison/Rik Battaglia
(4.0) Trinity And Sartana (Italy-1972) - Robert Widmark
(4.2) (*) Twice a Judas (Italy/Spain-1969) - Klaus Kinski/Antonio Sabato
(3.7) White Comanche (Spain-1968) - Joseph Cotten/William Shatner

As noted in a previous review, this SPAGHETTI WESTERNS 20 MOVIE PACK contains several films (10) not found in other compilations. I had not seen any of these movies before, but purchased the set for the variety of stellar international actors who appear here (which includes Piero Lulli, Rosalba Neri, Gilbert Roland, Chen Lee, Erika Blanc, and Klaus Kinski, in addition to many great American western actors...for $10 new, postage included, this was a "no-brainer"!). I've not yet watched all twenty movies, but about 3/4 of them, and I can attest already that I've got my money's worth and more! I have especially enjoyed THE FIGHTING FISTS OF SHANGHAI JOE (SEE this, if you haven't yet!), MINNESTOA CLAY, FISTFUL OF LEAD, JOHNNY YUMA, SUNDANCE AND THE KID, DEATH RIDES A HORSE, and even WHITE APACHE (a must-see for fans of Wm. Shatner!).

Having other Mill Creek packs of various film genres in my possession, I didn't have high expectations for picture/sound clarity...however, all but a few of these are quite good in that regard. I'm pleased overall with the transfer quality: 4 or 5 of the films are in gorgeous WidescreeN, and another PLUS is that the seemingly ubiquitous "Mill Creek" watermark found on other releases is nowhere to be seen here!!! Mill Creek has also upgraded their packaging, with paper sleeves holding the 'picture disks' (4 films on each single-sided dvd) which feature a graphic of Lee Van Cleef next to CLEARLY MARKED TITLES; these are snugly packed inside a sturdy molded plastic case. Definitely worth more than the $10 pittance I shelled out!

When I see a box set of 20 movies for this price I am always skeptical but optimistic. Hopefully some of the titles will at least be watchable, from a picture quality standpoint. I was amazed to find that half the movies in this collection are very good widescreen transfers. Some of these are Beyond the Law, Find a Place to Die, Grand Duel, Johnny Yuma, and Minnesota Clay. The only truly unwatchable transfer is Gunfight at Red Sands. A few of these films are not actually Spaghetti Westerns but at the price of this set I shouldn't be complaining at all.
I was especially impressed with the quality of Johnny Yuma. Well worth the money.

The face on the cover is most recognizable to those familiar with the Spaghetti western genre, Lee Van Cleef is featured on four of these twenty films from Mill Creek dvd co... The steely-eyed actor stars in "Beyond The Law", "Death Rides A Horse", "God's Gun", including an uncut version of "Grand Duel", the uncut version makes this film a much better movie, the plot is more in sink. These Van Cleef films are also better transfers than seen before, including widescreen versions of Grand Duel and Beyond The Law. There are a few almost unwatchable films on here, "China 9,Liberty 37", still remains edited and the audio is muffled on the dialogue, too bad, it's a Monte Hellman classic. "Apache Blood" an American film, is known as the worst film or western ever made, watch for yourself, if you can make it through it. "Gunfight At Red Sands", one of the first spaghetti's ever made, the transfer is butchered, like watching an old silent film, in some scenes the motion is fast, everything and everyone moves in double time. The Lee Van Cleef westerns are worth the price of admission alone, along with a few other gems, "Johnny Yuma", "Minnesota Clay", "White Comanche", "The Fighting Fist Of Shanghai Joe", a combined martial arts/western tale, look for a deranged Klaus Kinski in his usual psychotic role. Overall for the price this set is a winner, especially if you like fast on the draw, hardcore Italian Westerns, featuring great music scores, also check out The Fast, The Saved, And The Damned collection.

My main reason in purchasing this collection was another online review that indicated one or two of the movies were widescreen prints in great condition. Indeed, this is the case - most importantly Sergio Corbucci's excellent MINNESOTA CLAY; which exists elsewhere in terrible condition on other DVD collections and as a single DVD (Unfortunately, the original Italian ending for this movie - according to Alex Cox's book on Italian westerns - isn't present here - but this is still an excellent print). Also - ARIZONA COLT - here with it's international title of THE MAN FROM NOWHERE is in great shape, with a couple of irritating 'jumps' towards the end, but with what appears to be additional footage spliced in from a German print (made obvious by a sudden drop in picture quality). FIND A PLACE TO DIE is also a great widescreen print, with its haunting Gianni Ferrio theme song and atmospheric locations. Some colour fading at times and an ending that looks a little truncated. JOHNNY YUMA - again, in fabulous condition. From my point of view, these movies alone in this kind of condition made the purchase worthwhile (although I bought mine second hand via Amazon as opposed to the full price).

Other stand-outs include THE FIGHTING FIST OF SHANGHAI JOE - which reveals itself to be actually MY NAME IS SHANGHAI JOE (Il Mio Nome e Shanghai Joe) with one of Bruno Nicolai's best music scores. A shame that it's in 4:3 rather than in widescreen, but the over-the-top nasty violence (including arm splintering and eye gouging) seems intact - with a great OTT performance by Klaus Kinski. BEYOND THE LAW - not one of my favourite spaghetti westerns (but with a great music theme by Riz Ortolani) is also in great shape in this collection, with good colour - compared to the various other releases in muddy colour and terrible framing.

DEATH RIDES A HORSE - one of my favourite spaghetti westerns - is in 'serviceable' condition here, but is in no way comparable to the official single DVD release, which is not only in pristine widescreen, but contains material that appears to have been cut from this version.

Some bummers here, as you might expect. WHITE COMMANCHE exists on other collections - and whereas the novelty value of William Shatner in a spaghetti western might draw your attention - the utterly lousy music score will put you off in the first two minutes. GUNFIGHT AT RED SANDS - with one of Ennio Morricone's first scores - is in an appalling state, looking like a video to DVD transfer ten generations removed from its original source. If this is your main attraction to this collection, look elsewhere - because it can be found in a much better state on other releases.

I haven't reviewed the other titles yet (most of which I have individually or on other collections) although I'm hopeful that the prints will be as good as the first titles I've mentioned. On that basis, I'd recommend this collection - but not at the full price requested.

I've only seen a couple of the movies but I've never see this stuff on cable TV so its worth getting. Reasonable price and the discs are labeled so its easy to find your selection. I'm looking forward to checking most of these movies out over time and that's a great compliment for a public domain movie set! 4 of 5 stars.

Richard Thompson, Warrandyte, Australia. This is a useful collection of Italian versions of the genre--for study purposes only. It has two major limitations:
1. When selected from the menu, four of the titles refuse to play.
2. Image quality of the transfers is uneven but generally not good. Fuzzy focus for a start, but more irritating are the wrong or wandering aspect ratios/image cropping. Sometimes the aspect ratio varies from shot to shot in the same sequence. So, not much use for visual or stylistic analysis. Still, at the price...

As a great fan of westerns, i can certainly say that this one is a rare collection... prints are not that classy but it aint matter for me if the movie is an old western! it gives the feel of watching it in the real setting :)

$12.99 for 20 movies? And some of them very rare?How can you go wrong?I have enjoyed this collection so much.This is a must for every Spaghetti Western fan.Just a little plug for Amazon here: I have made many orders, Amazon has the best selection (of course)and the shipping is extremely reasonable and fast.You can look all over town if you want (or all over the net), but you will save time and money by just getting it with Amazon.

Excellent mix of Spaghetti Westerns. If you like the Van Cleef, Palance and Ernest Borgnine approaches to life, you'll LOVE this set of movies. My grandson--age 2-1/2-- figured out that the good guys ride white horses and wear white hats. 'Nuff said.