Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 3, 2021

Sam Peckinpah's "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" (1974) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage promotional materials for the film; archival audio commentary by co-writer/co-producer Gordon Dawson; and archival audio commentary by film historians Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons, David Weddle, and Nick Redman. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The piano player

The powerful Mexican lord El Jefe (Emilio Fernández) tortures his daughter, and she admits to him that she is carrying the baby of Alfredo Garcia. El Jefe then announces in front of his private army of bounty hunters that he will pay 1 million dollars to the man who brings him the playboy’s head.

While trying to track down their man, two of El Jefe’s bounty hunters end up in a shady brothel where drinks and women are cheap. Bennie (Warren Oates, Badlands, Cockfighter), the piano player, offers to help them after they leave a $100 tip and promise to pay him more if he delivers Alfredo Garcia’s head. After the bounty hunters disappear, Benny picks up his old friend Elita (Isela Vega, Bordello), a beautiful but lonely prostitute, and the two hit the road.

Along the way, Elita tells Bennie that Alfredo Garcia is already dead and buried. While looking for his grave, the two decide to finally get married. They also plan to have a romantic night and make love under the stars, but two bikers show up and spoil their party. One of them demands that Elita sings his favorite song, while the other announces that he will make love to her before Bennie does.

On the following morning, Benny and Elita hit the road again. Some hours later, they arrive in the small village where Alfredo Garcia was apparently buried. Without knowing that they have been closely followed, they begin digging in the nearby graveyard.

Sam Peckinpah’s Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is a brutal, gritty and utterly uncompromising film that seems to promote violence as much as it condemns it. Even today, this is a film that can easily polarize casual viewers and critics.

The film focuses on Bennie’s profound character transformation and ultimately self-redemption. Through his eyes, Peckinpah delivers two entirely different views of the world, as well as life philosophies. Early on, Bennie is an opportunist whose moral standards are so low and so flexible that he is willing to do virtually anything in order to move up the social ladder. The second half of the film is purgatory -- a tragic event forces Benny to reconsider his entire system of beliefs and choose a new direction in life.

There is a lesson to be learned here, but Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is not a preachy film. Peckinpah only shows, at times with a rather intimidating directness, how the lust for money can transform men into animals and then quickly destroy them.

As far as genre characteristics are concerned -- a favorite theme for many critics who have written about Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia -- the film is essentially a western with a unique contemporary look. Peckinpah shot it on location in Mexico, and his direction is simply flawless. There are some incredibly rough but at the same time enormously poetic sequences, particularly during the second half where the film becomes very dark.

Oates is spectacular as Benny. Most of the time, he wears big, thick black glasses and drinks heavily to numb the pain deep inside -- just like Peckinpah did while he was alive. He really does look like a man that would do anything for money. Vega is also terrific as his disillusioned friend. Kris Kristofferson has a small but memorable cameo.

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

If you are reading this article I assume you already know that there was a mix-up with the first pressing of this release, which we addressed in this article. The first pressing of the release was sourced from an older master that was supplied by MGM, not the newer 4K master that was prepared by the folks at Arrow Video. Shortly after the mix-up was adressed, a replacement program was announced here, and earlier today I received a new disc from it.

The new disc is sourced from the newer 4K master, and as you could probably tell from our screencaptures there are some obvious improvements in a couple of key areas. For example, delineation and density levels are better, which is why the overall depth of the visuals is superior. In darker areas, in particular, you will see wider ranges of better defined nuances, many of which are unconvincing on the older master. Clarity is superior and a lot more consistent. The fluidity of the visuals is much, much better as well. The color scheme now boasts stronger and better saturated primaries with overall better balanced supporting nuances. Image stability is very good. There are a few darker areas where the grain can appear slightly looser than it should be, which means that there is still room for minor encoding optimizations (see example in screencapture #9), but even on a larger screen you won't encounter any distracting anomalies. Finally, some minor white specks and blemishes can be spotted, but overall the 4K master produces a much cleaner and healthier presentation of the film. My score is 4.75/5.00. (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).

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I mentioned in our review of the first pressing of this release that on my old Italian release there were very large yellow English subtitles for the Spanish lines in the beginning of the film. These subtitles were not present on the first pressing. On this pressing, there are white English subtitles in the segment where El Jefe announces that he will pay 1 million dollars for the head of Alfredo Garcia. Overall, the audio sounds a little tighter than it does on the Italian release as well.

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - vintage trailer for Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 480/60i).

• TV Spots - a selection of vintage TV spots for Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. In English, not subtitled. (4 min, 480/60i).

• Image Gallery - a collection of original promotional and production materials for Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. With music. (8 min, 480/60i).

• Trailers From Hell - an archival episode of Trailers From Hell with Josh Olson (A History of Violence). In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• Commentary One - this archival audio commentary was recorded by film historians Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons, David Weddle, and Nick Redman.

• Commentary Two - this archival audio commentary was recorded by co-writer/co-producer Gordon Dawson and is moderated by Nick Redman.

• Cover - reversible cover with vintage poster art for Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The second pressing of Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is sourced from the 4K master that the folks at Arrow Video prepared a few years ago. The first pressing, which we addressed in this article, was accidentally sourced from an older master that was supplied by MGM. My guess is that all major retailers will still have copies of the first pressing for quite some time, so to get the newly pressed disc you will have to use Kino Lorber's replacement program, which can be accessed HERE. Kudos to Kino Lorber for addressing this issue so quickly and efficiently. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.