Color, 1966, 90 mins. Directed by Sergio Corbucci
Starring Franco Nero, Loredana Nusciak, Simón Arriaga, José Bódalo, José Canalejas, Eduardo Fajardo / Cinematography by Enzo Barboni / Music by Luis Bacalov
Format: DVD - Anchor Bay (MSRP $39.95)
Letterboxed (1.66:1) (16x9 enhanced) / Dolby Digital Mono
In the legendary, iconic opening sequence, Django (Franco Nero) appears as an unassuming yet oddly sinister figure trudging through a muddy western town. Clad in a dirty coat and dragging a coffin behind him, he quickly makes enemies with a diabolical fallen Major and rescues a tied up young woman in peril. Staying near a saloon/brothel in town, our antihero finds himself in the middle of a war between the Major's faction of vigilantes and a band of Mexican revolutionaries, who have become more than a little curious about what Django's hiding in his coffin.
Far less polished and artistically ambitious than the Sergio Leone westerns, Django instead grabs the viewer's attention through the sheer stark force of its imagery and the unremitting nastiness of its violence. The infamous ear slicing scene alone should have been Anchor Bay's lavish DVD set presents Django in a slightly more generous 1.66:1 letterboxed transfer compared to the marginally letterboxed versions previously issued (but long unavailable) on U.S. video. The anamorphically enhanced image quality looks excellent throughout, with only a few minor scuffs on the source material. The brownish and orange tinge present through much of the film is intentional and inherent in all existing versions. The sound quality reflects the limited capacity of the dubbing studio used for the English version, which is dubbed far more atrociously than the Leone westerns. Luis Bacalov's too-catchy score survives intact, but the dialogue still sounds trapped in a vacuum and rarely comes close to approximating anyone's lip movements. The box set also includes a spectacular full color booklet detailing the history of the official and unofficial Django films, complete with an eye-popping array of Italian poster art. A fine piece of scholarship and a handy guide for spaghetti western fanatics, this is almost worth the inflated price by itself. Extra supplements include a trio of brief theatrical trailers (all pretty much the same in tone), a recent Franco Nero interview in which the well preserved actor fondly discusses his legendary role, and a terrific "Django shooting game" the viewer can play with the DVD remote control. Once again, Anchor Bay has hit the bullseye with this one.
DJANGO STRIKES AGAIN Color, 1987, 83 mins. Directed by Ted Archer (Nello Rossati)
Starring Franco Nero, Donald Pleasence, Christopher Connelly, Licia Lee Lyon, William Berger, Robert Posse / Cinematography by Sandro Mancori / Music by Gianfranco Plenizio
Letterboxed (1.66:1) (16x9 enhanced) / Dolby Digital 2.0
After years of living in solitude as a monk, Django is called back into service to rescue his daughter from the clutches of the evil Christopher Connelly (sporting a funny Udo Kier accent), who is running a steamer through the South American jungle. Along the way he meets the peculiar Gunn (Donald Pleasence) and a host of other bizarre characters before finally breaking out his trusty Gatling gun.
While it's always good to see Nero back in action, Django Strikes Again never really catches fire like the original film. The constant waffling between genres, coupled with Ted Archer's flat direction, makes it more of a passable action piece than a true return to form, but its long overdue release is certainly welcome. Like its predecessor, the film has received first class treatment from Anchor Bay, who even included a subtitled five minute Italian prologue scissored from the English print prepared for export. Basically an amusing vignette with two oldtimers trying to recall the name of "that guy with the coffin" before being blown away, this kicks the film off on a better note than simply jumping into the main titles. Aside from the slightly dupey opening, the image quality is very good, if a bit murky during the night scenes. The English surround soundtrack features most of the performers' original voices, a very welcome touch, but features a rather primitive sound mix with some sloppy channel separation (ditto for the alternate Italian track). Considering what they had to work with, though, the DVD sounds just fine, and Gianfranco Plenizio's electronic score is surprisingly catchy and effective throughout. Also included is the trailer and another brief Franco Nero interview in which he discusses the genesis of the sequel. Both films feature some terrific animated menus, including hilarious faux-Spanish menu options and nifty bullet-ripping effects.
For European film fans, the name "Django" has become synonymous with action-filled spaghetti westerns. For everyone else, it regrettably means very little. A contemporary of Sergio Leone's legendary Dollars films with
Clint Eastwood, Django is a much dirtier, rougher film which also injects conventions of Japanese cinema and pulp novels into the western framework. Perhaps due to its difficult title, Django never broke out of cult status in America but spread like wildfire over Europe, kicking off a host of tangentially related imitators which continued into the 1980s.
enough to leave mid-'60s audiences catatonic with shock, but the entire film really rolls around in the dirt and still packs a punch. With his grungy clothes and unshaven appearance, Nero makes a good laconic leading man; it's easy to see why he went Hollywood for a brief period after this film.
Packaged with the Django box set comes a much more obscure companion feature, Django Strikes Back, in which Franco Nero reprises his role twenty years later! Originally released in Italy as Django 2: Il Grande Ritorno,
the film was never officially released in the United States, even as a straight to video title. While the character may be the same, the jungle setting, low budget '80s photography, and massive rapid-fire gunplay put this more in the league of Italy's Rambo knockoffs, such as the Indio series. Adding to the peculiarity of the project is a Laura Gemser-style bondage queen figure and some increased salacious sexual material, far more blatant than what was suggested in the first film. Of course, the character of Django seemed more interested in pleasures of the flesh than the average "Man with No Name" spaghetti western hero, so this may have been a logical step forward.
