6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
They are best friends, working togther by day & playfully carousing at night. Dominated by the Ovidio, played by the handsome Joe Dallesandro, the three young men soon evolve from well-mannered law abiding citizens to violent criminals.
Starring: Salvatore Borghese, Martine Brochard, Luigi Casellato, Umberto Ceriani, Joe DallesandroForeign | 100% |
Crime | 19% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.86:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Italian: LPCM 2.0
German, English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region B (locked)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Vittorio Salerno's "Fango Bollente" a.k.a. "The Savage Three" (1975) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of German label Camera Obscura. The supplemental features on the disc include an exclusive new program with director Vittorio Salerno and actress Martine Brochard; exclusive new video interview with Joe Dallesandro; and new audio commentary by film experts Christian Kessler and Pelle Felsch. The release also arrives with a 14-page illustrated booklet featuring Robert Zion's essay "With Sticky Fingers in Hot Mud" and promotional materials. In Italian, with optional English and German subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
Dangerous men
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.86:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Vittorio Salerno's The Savage Three arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Camera Obscura.
It is immediately obvious that the release is sourced from a fresh master because density levels and depth range from very good to excellent. In fact, early into the film daylight close-ups and larger panoramic shots look equally impressive (see screencaptures #8, 9, and 12). The darker indoor and nighttime footage also boasts very good depth with very pleasing fluidity (see screencaptures #18 and 19). There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening corrections. Grain is nicely exposed and resolved, though you will likely spot some minor fluctuations that are introduced by specific stylistic choices. So as far as the basics of the new transfer are concerned, I think that everything is handled with the proper care. What I don't find particularly convincing is the color grading which occasionally tends to destabilize the dynamic range (screencaptures #2 and 26 are good examples). Early into the film there are segments that have decent balance, or at least without any distracting anomalies, but during the second and third acts it feels like there are a number of shifts where primary color values and nuances are off. In fact, a few are the type of very awkward shifts that I have seen on recent transfers of Italian genre films graded in Italian labs where yellow, green and pink hues become too strong or too loose. Also, a few look so unnatural to me that it feels like someone might have done some work to rebalance them at least a little better (see examples in screencaptures #5, 24 and 27). It is very possible that there are also some source limitations that contribute to the issue, but in these areas the end result simply does not look organic to me. Image stability is excellent. Also, I spotted a few tiny stains, but there are no large distracting debris, cuts, damage marks, or torn frames to report. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Italian LPCM 2.0. Optional English and German subtitles are provided for the main feature.
The film was clearly redubbed but this was a regular practice for these types of genre films. In fact, I thought that Joe Dallesandro sounded quite nice and the overall balance was surprisingly consistent. Of course there are a few sequences where minor sudden spikes or drop in dynamic activity occur -- a goo example is the stabbing of the truck driver -- but they are are clearly part of the final sound design. The dialog is stable and clean, and the English translation is very good.
The main idea behind The Savage Three is that under the right circumstances a civilized society can quickly evolve into a big grinder that would ultimately start producing criminal sociopaths like its three main characters. It is certainly a realistic possibility, but the film attempts to deliver its message in such an extreme fashion that basically ends up hurting its credibility and comes dangerously close to becoming a nihilistic parody. To be honest, I really did not care much about it. On the other hand, I found the two exclusive programs that feature new interviews with writer/director Vittorio Salerno and Joe Dallesandro to be outstanding. They offer a tremendous amount of excellent information about the Italian film industry during the 1970s and Joe Dallesandro's colorful career and legacy. RECOMMENDED (but primarily for the excellent bonus content).
(Still not reliable for this title)
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