Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		2.0
Audio		2.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

Damned Hot Day of Fire Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 16, 2019

This Mill Creek Blu-ray release of the Spaghetti Western 'Damned Hot Day of Fire,' a.k.a. 'Gatling Gun,' is currently only available as part of a double feature with 'Fort Yuma Gold.'

At the height of the U.S. Civil War, Richard Gatling (Ennio Balbo) has invented “a devastating weapon of perfect design” that is capable firing 300 rounds per minute. The weapon, which Gatling has designed to aid the North in its fight against the South, is complete and ready for deployment. It has been created in secrecy; even President Lincoln is unaware that the weapon has moved beyond the theoretical and into production. It’s all but guaranteed to win the war for the Union army, which makes it, and its inventor, a hot ticket. When Gatling goes missing, a number of people enter the hunt to take him in and collect a million dollar reward.

Damned Hot Day of Fire Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Prior to film's start, the following text appears on-screen: This film is presented in the most complete, uncut version we could assemble from various sources.. The rather drastic shift in quality is obvious. Some scenes appear a little vertically stretched and squished. Look at chapter 10 for an example. This sequence is also fairly low-res and appears heavily filtered, as is the following scene, which is severely lacking in even essential definition; it almost looks taken from a video source. Color timing fluctuates throughout as well, sometimes appearing flat and desaturated, at others fairly healthy and deep. The same goes for textural qualities. Though some segments appear flat and processed, others offer quality filmic details and well resolved textures. Print wear -- scratches, pops, dirt -- appears frequently as well. The Blu-ray is certainly an interesting case of age, wear, and the quality of cobbled together sources. It never looks great, sometimes looks horrible, and sometimes bears enough fruit in the middle ground to scrape by. Though the film was obviously not given any kind of thorough clean-up or restoration work, Mill Creek is to be commended for at least getting it out on Blu-ray in some capacity and charging a price that is reflective of the quality offered.

Damned Hot Day of Fire Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This bit of audio-relevant text also appears at film's start: Some added scenes had no English Audio track available. We have added English subtitles to supplement Italian audio. Like the video quality, the audio presentation fluctuates, sometimes sounding degraded, scratchy, and tinny, and at others offering enough essential clarity to carry the film's sonic needs rather well. But as a rule, music is muddled and absent even cursory clarity, gunshots and other action affects lack weight and detail, and dialogue is often scratchy but does image well enough towards the center. Various pops and hisses are audible throughout as well.

Damned Hot Day of Fire Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are included. The parent two-pack linked above does include a digital copy code, which must be redeemed on Mill Creek's website.

Damned Hot Day of Fire Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Damned Hot Day of Fire is a Spaghetti Western with an interesting backdrop of the American Civil War, a kidnapping, and an invention that would change the face of warfare forever in the middle of it all. There's some solid action, interesting characters, and a good pace. Mill Creek's Blu-ray is assembled from various sources. It looks and sounds fairly good in places and fairly poor in others. No extras are included. Worth a look considering the low price point of the parent two-pack.