Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Bad Man's River Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 25, 2016

Gene Martin's "Bad Man's River" (1971) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Video. The only bonus features on the disc are original trailers for two westerns starring Lee Van Cleef. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature Region-A "locked".

"What do you look for first in a man?"

Roy King (Lee Van Cleef, Sabata, The Big Gundown) and his men rob a bank and soon after board a train. It is there that Roy meets the stunningly beautiful Alicia (Gina Lollobrigida, Woman of Straw, Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell), who quickly convinces him that he is the man she has been waiting for her entire life. After the two marry, however, she steals his money and disappears without a trace. Roy meets his ‘wife’ again but instead of killing her decides to help her and her next ‘husband’, the Mexican scoundrel Francisco Paco Montero (James Mason, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, Odd Man Out), pull off a job worth one million dollars.

Bad Man’s River is an odd project. It is directed by Spaniard Gene Martin (real name Eugenio Martin) whose plan apparently was to copy the formula that made so many Italian spaghetti westerns successful -- have a few big stars commit to his project and then work from a script that mixes equal doses of action and humor. Martin was very successful with the first part, but failed with the second.

It is difficult to tell exactly why the script did not turn out as intended, but Martin worked on it with Philip Yordan (Johnny Guitar) and one thing that becomes clear immediately after the opening credits roll is that the two apparently had very different ideas how to balance the action with the humor. Indeed, as the film progresses one is left with the impression that its stars are frequently left to make the best out of disappointingly underdeveloped scenes. A few times the witty jokes help with the transitions, but there are many scenes where the stars seem uncharacteristically eager to get to the next scene because the chemistry between them is very problematic.

The big action scenes in the third act -- where Roy and his partners clash with the Mexican Army -- are also underwhelming. The locations are very good, but the choreography makes the shootouts look as if they were extracted from a lost Monty Python film. The silliness would have worked, but with an entirely different and far more consistent script.

Despite the massive inconsistencies, the film is still watchable. There are a few genuine surprises and Lollobrigida and cult Danish star Lone Fleming look simply terrific. Given how impressive the cast looks on paper, however, it is difficult not to think what could have been if the script was better and the direction more convincing.

It is worth mentioning that the score for the film was created by Waldo de los Rios, who collaborated with Narciso Ibanez Serrador on the very atmospheric horror thriller Who Can Kill a Child?. Rather surprisingly -- or not so much given the nature of the production -- the music never helps the desired by Martin atmosphere.

Bad Man's River Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.47:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Eugenio Martín's Bad Man's River arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is struck from a pre-existing master that is quite inconsistent. Select well-lit close-ups can boast rather decent depth, but there are many wider panoramic shots where definition and fluidity is problematic. Different traces of fading can be seen in the lower end of the frame that further impact density. The good news is that there are no traces of recent degraining and sharpening adjustments. As a result, even though the film does not look as healthy and fresh as it should, it does have a relatively pleasing organic appearance. There are no traces of color boosting, but stability isn't convincing. Color saturation also should be better. Image stability can be improved as well -- there are minor bumps here and there and a few uneven transitions. Lastly, there are flecks and minor scratches throughout the entire film. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Bad Man's River Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are not provided for the main feature.

The audio has not been recently remastered. Despite a few minor fluctuations, however, clarity is quite good. Depth is also decent, but it is easy to tell that there is quite a bit of room for improvement. Some light background hiss occasionally sneaks in, but there are no audio dropouts or notable distortions. English SDH subtitles should have been provided because some of the actors have rather thick accents and it isn't always easy to follow their lines.

Bad Man's River Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailers - two original trailers.
  
  1. Sabata.
  2. Barquero

Bad Man's River Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is difficult to tell exactly why Gene Martin's Bad Man's River does not work as well as it should. It has a terrific cast, but there is so much in it that simply does not feel right. I suppose it is a film that can be recommended to Lee Van Cleef and Gina Lollobrigida fans, but everyone else is guaranteed to be frustrated with it. The technical presentation is rather inconsistent and the only bonus features on the disc are two original trailers.