6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
In 1916, a Mexican rebel named Cordoba steals six cannons from the forces of General Pershing who's been sent to bring order to the Texas-Mexico border. Pershing assigns a soldier named Rod Douglas to retrieve the cannons. Douglas recruits a trio of misfits and they, along with a Mexican officer and an enigmatic woman, travel 200 miles south to Cordoba's mountain fortress. Explosions and gun battles soon erupt.
Starring: George Peppard, Giovanna Ralli, Raf Vallone, Pete Duel, Don GordonWestern | 100% |
War | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
None
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Paul Wendkos' "Cannon for Cordoba" (1970) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The only bonus feature on the release is an exclusive audio commentary recorded by critics Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
A good fire can make even the most stubborn men talk
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Cannon for Cordoba arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.
The release is sourced from an older master that was prepared on behalf of MGM. While the film definitely could look a little fresher and lusher, I like its current appearance a lot. For example, delineation, clarity, and depth are just a notch below where I think they could be if the release was sourced from a proper new 2K master. I also noticed a few highlights that could have been balanced better, though most of the outdoor footage looks lovely. In darker areas, black crush is not an issue, though this is another area where minor adjustments might be good to have. Color balance is very good. Yes, saturation levels can be tweaked, but the entire film has the right color temperature. Only a few ranges of blues and reds/pinks can be rebalanced, but without trading the blues for turquoise or the greens and browns for some other foreign primaries. Image stability is good. I noticed a few white nicks, but there are no distracting large cuts, debris, warped or torn frames to report. (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).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are no provided for the main feature.
The current track could use a good remastering job. There is nothing particularly wrong with it, but its age shows, so I had to turn up the volume quite a bit to be able to hear all exchanges. This is not always easy because there are some minor fluctuations, general unevenness, and plenty of thick accents. So, for this track, there should have been optional English SDH subtitles. There are no encoding anomalies to report.
Grab a copy of Cannon for Cordoba for your collection while it is still available. This is the one and only spaghetti western Paul Wendkos directed and I think that it is as good as some of the classic spaghetti westerns that were shot on the other side of the Atlantic. George Peppard leads with such impressive authority and style in it that I wish he would have been cast to do more similar genre films with some of the big Italian directors that made them. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from an older but solid master that was supplied by MGM. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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