Death Rides a Horse Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Death Rides a Horse Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 21, 2020

Giulio Petroni's "Death Rides a Horse" a.k.a. "Da uomo a uomo" (1967) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on this release include original trailer for the film and audio commentary by filmmaker Alex Cox. In English or Italian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

"When you've waited fifteen years to find a man, it's a shame you can only kill him once"

A kid watches how a gang of angry bandits kill his father and, after raping them, his mother and sister. Before the bandits burn down the family’s ranch, the kid is saved by a nameless stranger.

Fifteen years later. A cool looking cowboy named Ryan (Lee Van Cleef, Sabata, The Big Gundown) is released from prison after serving a sentence for a crime he did not commit. Soon after, Ryan ends up in a rundown hotel, where he shoots two men who have been sent to kill him. After the sheriff inspects the bodies, he informs his good friend Bill (John Phillip Law, Danger: Diabolik, Skidoo), a young and handsome gunslinger, that the dead men might be members of the same gang that years ago killed his parents.

Fate brings Ryan and Bill together and they realize that they are both looking for the same bandits. However, they begin challenging each other because they cannot agree who should kill them first.

Eventually, Ryan meets Burt Cavanaugh (Anthony Dawson, Dial M for Murder, Red Sun), one of the men responsible for his jail sentence, and demands that he pays him $1000 for each year he has spent behind bars. But before he can deliver the money, Bill arrives and kills him. The news that Ryan has started tracking down the men who betrayed him quickly reaches a nearby town where Walcott (Luigi Pistilli, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, A Bay of Blood), the gang’s leader, has become a prominent public official and has devised a plan that will make him and his shady friends the richest men in the area. Sensing that a reunion is inevitable, Walcott decides to alter his plan and have Ryan play an important part in it.

Directed by Giulio Petroni, who once worked as an assistant director for the great Giuseppe De Santis (Riso Amaro, Un marito per Anna Zaccheo), Da uomo a uomo a.k.a Death Rides a Horse reminds of the classic Sergio Leone films. Indeed, it is a notably violent revenge thriller with plenty of highly stylized visuals that could have easily appeared in maestro Leone’s best films.

The plot is fairly straightforward, but the atmosphere throughout the film is outstanding. The brilliant score by the legendary Ennio Morricone is primarily responsible for it as it gives the film an epic vibe that legitimizes the edgy attitudes and over-the-top violence. (Death Rides a Horse is one of only a few spaghetti westerns in which the seriousness with which violence is approached could make some viewers somewhat uncomfortable).

The two American leads are fantastic. Van Cleef looks slightly jaded but is always a few steps ahead of his opponents. Law is appropriately energetic and looking dangerous when challenged. Pistilli, a truly outstanding actor, plays the nasty gang leader to perfection. Many of the supporting actors also impress.

Petroni and cinematographer Carlo Carlini (Federico Fellini’s I Vitelloni, Roberto Rossellini’s Il Generale della Rovere) shot the overwhelming majority of the film in the deserts of Andalucia, Spain. Needless to say, the many panoramic vistas look simply spectacular.

Death Rides a Horse Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.34:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Death Rides a Horse arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The master that was used to produce the release comes from MGM and it is the same one Swiss label Explosive Media used in 2013 for this European release. Despite being old this isn't a bad master, but it is a bit rough and has some limitations. The good news is that there are no traces of problematic digital corrections, which means that the visuals have decent, sometimes even quite good, organic qualities. A lot of close-ups, for instance, reveal very nice delineation. Also, clarity is quite pleasing. During indoor footage even shadow definition can be surprisingly nice. The limitations of the master are noticeable during wider panoramic shots where depth isn't optimal. No, it is not disappointing, but it is easy to tell that it can be more convincing (see examples in screencaptures #2 and 17). The color scheme is also good, but this is another area where a proper new 2K/4K master can introduce various meaningful improvements. Here occasionally small traces of fading can be observed, plus some nuances are not as well expanded as they should be. Overall saturation, both in primaries and supporting nuances, should be superior as well. Finally, the current master has a fair number of tiny white specks and even a few scratches and blemishes. They are no distracting, but most certainly reveal the age of the master. My score is 3.75/5.00. (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).

Death Rides a Horse Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I picked up this release because the Swiss release from Explosive Media that we reviewed a while ago did not have a lossless English track. Well, I was hoping that some of the depth could be better, and it is, but now that I have been able to compare the two tracks -- which undoubtedly reproduce the qualities of the same master -- I think that a new master with redone audio could offer some improvements. Again, there is nothing problematic, but I think that there is room for some meaningful optimizations.

Death Rides a Horse Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - audio commentary by filmmaker Alex Cox.

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for Death Rides a Horse. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• Additional Trailers - additional trailers for the following titles from Kino Lorber's catalog:
  
  1. For a Few Dollars More
  2. Barquero
  3. The Return of Sabata
  4. The Mercenary
  5. Valdez Is Coming
  6. Navajo Joe

Death Rides a Horse Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The difference between the lossy track from the Swiss release and the lossless track on this release is not as big as I wanted it to be. Yes, the lossless track is better, plus I think that the encode on this release is superior, but this film needs a fresh makeover so that we can have a convincing technical presentation on Blu-ray. The current master, which comes from MGM, has good organic qualities, but its age definitely shows. RECOMMENDED, but only when you can find the release on sale.