Illustrious Corpses Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Illustrious Corpses Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 10, 2026

Despite significant interest it offers one way or the other, Illustrious Corpses might be jokingly cited both for its kind of fun (if slightly disturbing) title as well as the opportunity it offers the legendary Max von Sydow to don a hat arguably silly enough to qualify for a skit on Monty Python's Flying Circus . The film's original title Cadaveri eccelenti may offer an additional bit of humor itself based on its own unexpected adjective adorning the subject. On the serious side of things, though, Illustrious Corpses is a twisty whodunit which posits a haggard policeman (played by Lino Ventura) on the hunt for a serial killer who seems to be specializing in taking out judges. One of those potential victims is in fact a martinet judge played by von Sydow, and the supporting cast also includes some memorable turns by a number of other notables including Fernando Rey and Charles Vanel.

Illustrious Corpses was released on Blu-ray several years ago by Kino Lorber, and Svet Atanasov's Illustrious Corpses Blu-ray review of that edition provides a plot summary, along with a list of supplements (this release ports over the main supplement on Kino Lorber's edition, a commentary track by Alex Cox), and Svet's reaction to the technical presentation. As I often mention, different reviewers means different opinions, and my overall score for the film is an example.

Illustrious Corpses Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Illustrious Corpses is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Radiance Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Radiance's insert booklet has the following information on the transfer:

Illustrious Corpses was transferred from multiple CRI elements as the original negative could not be located. The film was restored by the Cineteca di Bologna in 4K at L'Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, Italy with funding form the Film Foundation and the Hobson / Lucas Family Foundation.

Two brief prefatory text cards before the main feature offer a bit more information:

Restored by Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna at L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory and The Film Foundation in 2019.

Funding provided by George Lucas Family Foundation.

The 4K restoration of Cadaveri eccellenti used two first generation reversal elements and the Italian magnetic sound mix, both provided by MGM.

Two 35mm vintage prints, preserved by the British Film Institute, were used as reference for the color grading.

It might be jokingly asked whether the fact that this was sourced from CRIs or subsequently worked on by L'Immagine Ritrovata will provoke the most angst among videophiles, but one way or the other while evidently based on the same master, to my eyes this release from Radiance at least ameliorates if not outright removes some of the issues in the Kino Lorber presentation that Svet addressed in his review. Based solely on the admittedly questionable strategy of screenshot comparison, this release offers at least marginally better clarity and an at least relatively less problematic palette. Comparing screenshot 1 in this review with screenshot 1 in Svet's review is just one example. This version looks a bit brighter than the Kino Lorber release, even in some interior shots, as can be seen by comparing screenshot 2 in this review with screenshot 12 in Svet's review. There are still some rather odd undertones here, both in the yellow and green spectrums, but this is at least a step forward in the right direction and may be as far as things could be corrected within budget constraints. Some may feel a 3.5 is too generous, but having seen much less effective work based on CRIs in the past, I was actually kind of pleasantly surprised by how relatively healthy the palette looks here.

Illustrious Corpses Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Illustrious Corpses features an LPCM 2.0 Mono track in the original Italian, though as Svet noted in his review, it's obvious due to some baked in amplitude and ambience differences that some actors were dubbed into that language. Overall the track provides a solid listening experience, with all of the outdoor material offering good ambient environmental background effects, and with scoring intact and secure sounding. Dialogue is rendered without any issues. Optional English subtitles are available.

Illustrious Corpses Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Alex Cox


• Francesco Rosi (HD; 3:40) is featured in this archival interview from a 1976 French television interview. Subtitled in English.


• Francesco Rosi and Lino Ventura (HD; 4:46) is also culled from a 1976 French broadcast. Subtitled in English.


• Gaetana Marrone (HD; 28:53) is a newly produced piece with the professor, who offers sociopolitical context and various ways the film departs from the source novel.


• Trailer (HD; 3:22)


• Gallery (HD)

This Limited Edition from Radiance includes a booklet featuring new writing by Michael Atkinson along with a newly translated interview with Francesco Rosi and archival writing from him as well. The sleeve is reversible and this includes Radiance's traditional Obi strip.

Illustrious Corpses Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Gaetana Marrone's piece featured as a supplement on this disc might advisably be the best place to start for some without much contextual knowledge about the sociopolitical climate of Italy in the 1970s. That said, all of the supplements Radiance has assembled for this release help to shed light on what is already a rather interesting cat and mouse game between an intrepid policeman and his adaptable "prey". While video still shows maybe insurmountable issues raised at least by the CRI source if also arguably from what happened afterwards, this release does offer some improvements on the Kino Lorber disc. With caveats noted, Recommended.