Django

Italy - Spain / 1966 Directed by Sergio Corbucci Starring Franco Nero Loredana Nusciak Eduardo Fajardo Color / 90 Minutes / Not Rated Format: DVD (R0 - NTSC) Blue Underground

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2007 stand-alone edition

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		Review by Brian Lindsey

7     8   10 = Highest Rating   SNEAK PREVIEW | DVD Release Date: Jan. 7, 2003 Replaces EC's April 2001 review of the Anchor Bay version

The classic '60s spaghetti western Django was originally released on DVD by Anchor Bay in 1999, paired with its 'official' 1987 sequel, Django Strikes Again in a 2-disc limited edition. While North American fans of EuroWesterns were happy to finally get the chance to see it, the transfer was somewhat dull-looking and only the dubbed English version was provided. A little over a year later the DVD was out of print. (Anchor Bay subsequently announced a stand-alone, single disc edition of the film but it was apparently produced in very limited quantities.) Now, this coming January Blue Underground is set to release Django in all its fully restored glory — complete with subtitled Italian language track — as part of a 4-DVD box set, The Spaghetti Western Collection.     Shortly after the Civil War, in a muddy, desolate town on the Mexican border, a horseless stranger appears... a gunslinger in Union garb dragging a coffin behind him by a length of rope. Known only as Django, he quickly involves himself in the power struggle between a gang of vicious Mexican banditos and the hood-wearing private army of Colonel Jackson — ex-Confederate raiders who use the local Hispanic peasants for target practice. (Michael Savage Fantasy Camp?) Neither the bandit chief nor the ruthless Jackson realize that this enigmatic stranger has his own score to settle, and he's brought just the right tool for the job...     Django is a grim, brooding action-drama, well-crafted by director Sergio Corbucci (The Great Silence) and featuring an iconic performance by star Franco Nero (Compañeros, Keoma, Hitch-Hike).* The film is obviously heavily influenced by Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars but possesses a distinctly offbeat vibe of its own which keeps it from being just another rip-off.     The main setting for this violent tale is one of the most depressing, squalid-looking towns seen in any western, a glutinous morass of mud as well as morality. Django, pulling a casket behind him like some mythological harbinger of death, is even more mysterious a figure than Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name. The motivations for Django's actions are not always clear. He coolly deals out death to those who deserve it but suffers his own share of brutal agony in consequence. Yes, Nero is clearly aping Eastwood's performances for Leone, with stubbly chin, low-brimmed hat and requisite cigarillo, but he's perfectly cast — Leone could've easily used him instead of ol' Clint.     Virtually unknown to U.S. audiences, Django was a smash hit in Europe, spawning an astounding fifty "unofficial" sequels (none starring Nero) and proving as influential to the spaghetti western genre as any of Leone's sagas. (As for more modern relevance, the film's notorious ear slicing scene reportedly inspired a similar moment in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs. Apart from this scene the violence is PG material; thus not earning a "Blood 'n' Guts" icon.) The movie's groovy theme song, marvelously warbled by a dead ringer for the lead vocalist of Dread Zeppelin, is an unknown classic. Spaghetti western fans will definitely want to saddle up with Django... even though he doesn't ride a horse.

* My appraisal of the film is based on the Italian language version with English subtitles. The dubbed English script is decidedly inferior; the voice actor used for Nero is actually somewhat dweeby sounding.

Blue Underground's edition of Django will only be available as part of its upcoming Spaghetti Western Collection. The title will not be sold separately on DVD. The other titles in the collection are Django, Kill... If You Live, Shoot!, one of those 'unofficial' sequels mentioned above, plus Run, Man, Run and Mannaja. These three will be sold individually, but Django can only be had by acquiring the box set. The DVD is, in effect, a 'bonus' disc which adds luster to the collection. (I'll be reviewing the other three titles here in coming weeks.)     There's really no comparison between this version of Django and the '99 Anchor Bay release. Transferred from the original negative, picture is sharper, displaying greater detail, with rich, vibrant color. (Check out the crimson hoods worn by Jackson's men.) Aside from a few seconds of print damage due to age the film, presented in 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen, looks pristine. Complimenting the improved visual quality are the strong, distortion-free audio tracks, both English and Italian. (With optional subtitles, the Italian version is the only way to go; see above.)     As for extras, there's the theatrical trailer, a step-through poster/still gallery, talent bios of Corbucci and Nero, and insightful liner notes by spaghetti western scholar Christopher Frayling. An entertaining 13-minute documentary, Django: The One and Only, intercuts recent interviews of Franco Nero and assistant director Ruggero Deodato (best known for helming Cannibal Holocaust) with highlights from the film. There's also a choice 'Easter Egg' to look for on the disc's Extras menu — the theatrical trailers for the three other titles in BU's Spaghetti Western Collection. (Hint: Maneuver your DVD cursor over Django's coffin.) 11/24/02

UPDATE In April 2004 Blue Undergound released a stand-alone, 2-disc limited edition of Django as its Spaghetti Western Collection went OOP. The set included the same transfer and extras described above. The 2nd disc contained an additional short film, The Last Pistolero, starring Franco Nero. In July 2007 BU again reissued the film, in single-disc form.

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