Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Day of Anger Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 4, 2015

Tonino Valerii's "Day of Anger" a.k.a. "I giorni dell'ira" (1967) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video U.S. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailers for the film; deleted scene; video interviews with the Italian director and screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi; and video interview with Italian cinema expert Roberto Curti. The release also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring new writing on the film by spaghetti western expert Howard Hughes, illustrated with original archive stills. In English or Italian, with optional English subtitles. Region A/B "locked".

"When you shoot a man, you've got to kill him, or sooner or later he's going to kill you."

The film opens up in the dirty town of Clifton, Arizona, where the young and naive Scott Mary (Giuliano Gemma, The Bastard, Crime of Love) works as a garbage man to make ends meet. Scott dreams of becoming a great gunslinger, but can’t even save enough to buy himself a pair of decent boots.

A stranger named Frank Talby (Lee Van Cleef, Sabata, The Big Gundown) arrives in town and gives Scott a dollar after he takes care of his horse. Later on, he also offers Scott a drink and warns a local bully to stay away from him. Moved by his kindness and generosity and impressed by his quick hands, Scott begs Frank to teach him how to be a gunslinger. Initially Frank refuses, but then allows Scott to follow him around and eventually buys him a gun.

Around the same time Frank also meets Wild Jack (Al Mulock, The Hellbenders), a former associate, who owes him $50,000. Before he dies, Wild Jack reveals to him that his money is with some of Clifton’s most prominent residents, and that they invested them wisely to become even richer. When Frank visits a few of them and demands that they pay him back, they hire a killer (Giorgio Gargiullo, Plot of Fear) from out of town to get rid of him.

In the ensuing chaos the angry Frank is forced to prove that he means business and quickly ends up destroying half the town. Then he takes over the town and proceeds to clean it up completely so that no one questions his authority. Initially Scott supports his mentor, but eventually he realizes that he has gone too far and confronts him.

The opening credits specify that Day of Anger is based on Ron Barker’s novel “Der tod Ritt Dienstags”, but in two different video interviews included on this release director Tonino Valerii and screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi confirm that this isn’t true. Indeed, according to Valerii and Gastaldi only a couple of scenes in the film were inspired by the novel, but Barker was credited to please the film’s German producers.

Van Cleef and Gemma are fantastic as the two gunslingers that come to realize that despite their mutual admiration they will never be able to trust each other. Both also undergo dramatic character transformations and in the process repeatedly kill, but the reasons that force them to do so are drastically different. A large portion of the film is dedicated precisely to these contrasting reasons and the manner in which they erode the foundation of their complex relationship.

The finale is hardly surprising, but it is very effective. Sergio Leone’s influence, for instance, is easily felt in the film’s visual style, but the energy and atmosphere are certainly unique. Riz Ortolani’s soundtrack is also a lot edgier than the ones the great Ennio Morricone composed for Leone’s early westerns, but it is every bit as brilliant.

Included on this release are two versions of the film with three different audio tracks: The longer Italian release version, I giorni dell'ira, which runs at approximately 114 minutes, and the shorter international version, which runs at approximately 87 minutes. The Italian release version is dubbed in English and Italian, while the international version is dubbed only in English.

Day of Anger Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Tonino Valerii's Day of Anger arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video U.S.

Two versions of the film are included on this release:

1. Longer Italian release version, I giorni dell'ira, dubbed in English and Italian (01.53.51).
2. Shorter international version, available in English only (01.26.10).

I chose to view the longer Italian release version of the film with the English track.

I like the technical presentation a lot. During close-ups as well as during panoramic shots image depth is excellent while clarity is consistently very impressive. Contrast levels also remain stable. Color saturation and stability are very good -- there is a wide range of very healthy, vibrant and very natural colors. There are absolutely no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments. Rather predictably, the film has a very solid and very consistent organic appearance (screencaptures #2 and 5 should give you a good idea what type of organic appearance to expect). Overall image stability is excellent -- there are no transition issues or general stability issues. My one and only criticism pertains to the presence of a few minor flecks and blemishes that pop up here and there, but the film really does look magnificent on Blu-ray. All in all, this is a wonderful restoration of Day of Anger which more than likely will remain the film's definitive presentation on the home video market. (Note: This is a Region A/B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you need to have a native Region-A, Region-B, or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Day of Anger Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0 (for the longer Italian release version), Italian LPCM 1.0 (for the longer Italian release version), and English: LPCM 1.0 (for the shorter international version). For the record, Arrow Video U.S. have provided optional English subtitles for each version of the film. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

English LPCM track (Italian release version): The audio during the opening credits is quite thin, but I assume that this is indeed a source limitations as there are no distortions and fluidity is very good. However, on my disc, which is only a screener not a market version of this release, I had to raise the volume I bit more than I usually have it set on my receiver. Furthermore, occasionally there are some tiny pops that can be heard in the high-frequencies. For example, a few such pops can be heard around the 00.09.18 mark. They are not distracting, but their presence can be felt. Riz Ortolani's score easily breathes throughout the entire film; the guitar solos, in particular, sound terrific. The dialog is stable and rather easy to follow, but the dubbing has had an impact on the overall depth and crispness. This should not be surprising, however, as the dubbing on many of these European westerns that were produced during the late '60s and '70s could be quite uneven. The minor lip-synching issues some viewers are likely to notice are also inherited. Finally, there are no audio dropouts or digital distortions to report in this review.

Day of Anger Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailers - three original trailers for Day of Anger. In English, not subtitled. (6 min, 1080p).

• Deleted Scene - a unique scene not included in the longer Italian version of the film. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• Interview with Director Tonino Valerii - in this archival video interview, Tonino Valerii explains how Day of Anger came to exist, and discusses the film's financial success, its screenplay, the casting of Lee Van Cleef and Giuliano Gemma (initially, the Italian director apparently wanted to cast Lou Castel, but he proved too expensive), etc. The interview was conducted by Roberto Curti in 2008. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (11 min, 1080p).

• Interview with Screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi - in this video interview, screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi discusses his contribution to Day of Anger, the novel by Ron Barker that supposedly inspired the film (which apparently it did not), the timeless appeal of the spaghetti westerns, the filming of My Name Is Nobody, etc. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (14 min, 1080p).

• Interview with Roberto Curti - in this video interview, Italian cinema expert Roberto Curti discusses Tonino Valerii's body of work, and specifically his westerns, the important role Sergio Leone had early in his career, the casting of Giuliano Gemma as Scott Mary and the mythological references in Day of Anger, etc. In English, not subtitled. (44 min, 1080p).

• Cover - reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Reinhard Kleist.

• Booklet - booklet featuring new writing on the film by spaghetti western expert Howard Hughes, illustrated with original archive stills.

Day of Anger Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I like the new restoration of Tonino Valerii's Day of Anger a lot and I think that fans of the film who have previously experienced it only via the now OOP DVD releases will be hugely impressed as well. The film itself does not need my recommendation, it is a genuine spaghetti western classic with a truly outstanding soundtrack by the legendary Riz Ortolani. Now, can we get similar restorations of Giorgio Ferroni's Blood for a Silver Dollar and Duccio Tessari's Kiss Kiss... Bang Bang? VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.