Death Rides a Horse Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Death Rides a Horse Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 25, 2013

Giulio Petroni's "Da uomo a uomo" a.k.a. "Death Rides a Horse" (1967) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Swiss label Explosive Media. The supplemental features on this release include original trailer and TV spots; promotional materials; and video interview with director Giulio Petroni and assistant director Enrique Berger. The release also arrives with an illustrated booklet with writings on the film. In English, Italian, or German, with optional English and German subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Left to die

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, Giulio Petroni's Death Rides a Horse arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Swiss distributors Explosive Media.

The high-definition transfer has been struck from an older master and there are some inherited limitations -- such as light color fading and minor sharpness fluctuations -- but no attempts have been made to resharpen it. Unsurprisingly, from start to finish light grain is always present, though it isn't always evenly distributed. Generally speaking, detail is pleasing, but there are select darker sequences where definition fluctuates. This is also true with some larger panoramic shots. Still, image depth is quite nice, while clarity is definitely improved. Overall image stability is good, but there are tiny flecks, scratches, and even a few burn marks that are visible. To sum it all up, the Blu-ray release represents a decent upgrade over the R1 DVD release, but there is clearly room for additional improvements. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Death Rides a Horse Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English Dolby Digital 2.0, Italian Dolby Digital 2.0, and German Dolby Digital 2.0. For the record, Explosive Media have provided optional English and German subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

A lossless track would have been preferable, but the lossy English track actually has surprisingly good fluidity. Only when the music becomes prominent it feels like depth could be better. Otherwise the shootouts and the dialog sound quite nice. Also, there are no pops, cracks, audio dropouts, or serious distortions to report in this review.

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

Note: All of the supplemental features are placed on the second DVD included with this release. The disc is encoded in PAL.

• Trailers -
  
  1. Lee Van Cleef Westerns - a large collection of original trailers for cult spaghetti western films. (47 min).
  2. Death Rides a Horse - original English-language trailer for Death Rides a Horse. (2 min).
  3. Death Rides a Horse - two English-language TV spots for Death Rides a Horse (1 min).
  4. Trailers for other Explosive Media releases. (16 min). In English.

• Vengeance Rides a Horse - in this video interview, director Giulio Petroni and assistant director Enrique Berger discuss the business climate in Italy at the time when Death Rides a Horse was shot, Sergio Leone's cult films and their influence on director Petroni, the professional relationship between Lee Van Cleef and John Phillip Law, the soundtrack by Ennio Morricone, etc. In Italian, with optional English and German subtitles. (36 min).

• Bildergalerie - a large collection of promotional materials for Death Rides a Horse. With music. (10 min).

• Booklet - illustrated booklet with writings on the film. In German.

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

Death Rides a Horse is yet another very stylish release from Swiss label Explosive Media. Even though there is room for improvement, I think that fans of the film will be pleased with the current upgrade as there are no traces of harmful digital corrections. As usual, this is a Region-Free release which can be played on all North American Blu-ray players, including the PS3. RECOMMENDED.