Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		3.5

The Grand Duel Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 27, 2019

One of the nice things about the Blu-ray format’s “maturity” is that various labels and/or licensors can return to films that had arguably less than stellar releases “the first time ‘round”. While Mill Creek Entertainment’s two-fer of The Grand Duel / Keoma came out at least relatively recently (2012), my colleague Martin Liebman found both films on the disc had at least some technical deficiencies ( Keoma evidently more so than The Grand Duel ) in that edition. While Marty hedged his critique of the release at least a bit by trumpeting the fact that two movies were included and the list price was incredibly low (it’s virtually a “giveaway” currently on Amazon), he also stated upfront in his The Grand Duel / Keoma Blu-ray review, “Do the movies deserve more? Absolutely.” As if to answer that now seven year old query (and answer), Arrow Video has (once again?) come to the rescue, offering sumptuous new editions of each film (released separately, as is probably preferable to many consumers) with much improved video and audio, and with some very appealing supplementary material. (In perusing our database, it seems that Mill Creek evidently also released The Grand Duel as a standalone as a Wal-Mart exclusive in 2013.)

For those wanting an overview of the plot mechanics of The Grand Duel, I refer you to Marty's The Grand Duel / Keoma Blu-ray review. As with my Keoma Blu-ray review, however, I'll also add my two cents' worth, though the fact that The Grand Duel is resolutely the more formulaic (if no less enjoyable) of the two films previously released by Mill Creek Entertainment may play into the relative brevity of my additions here.

As some of the supplements on this disc get into, in a way it's more instructive to look at The Grand Duel within the filmography of Lee Van Cleef, rather than its temporal placement in the 1960s - 1970s Spaghetti Western cycle, as some of the supplements on the Keoma disc suggest may be helpful in understanding that film. Van Cleef's persona is a really interesting one to contrast and compare between his domestic (i.e., United States) output and his European offerings, and he's firmly in his well established mold of the squinty eyed justice seeker who at least occasionally may traffic in moral shades of gray, and who is here tasked with helping to clear a man incorrectly accused of murder. It's a fairly standard set up, but the film is often incredibly kinetic, offering almost lunatic levels of action that approach gymnast territory at times.

The Grand Duel Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Grand Duel is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the restoration:

The Grand Duel (Il Grande Duello) is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 with Italian and English mono audio. The original two-perf Techniscope 35mm camera negative was scanned in 2K resolution on a pin-registered Arriscan at Augustus Color, Rome. Picture restoration work was completed at L'Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, picture instability and other instances of film wear were repaired or removed through a combination of digital restoration tools and techniques. The film was graded on Digital Vision's Nucoda Film Master at R3Store Studios, London.

The mono Italian and English language tracks were remastered from the optical sound negatives at L'Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna. The audio synch will appear slightly loose against the picture, due to the fact that the dialogue was recorded entirely in post-production, as per the production standards of the period. Occasional instances of heavy flicker and damage remain, in keeping with the condition of the elements.

All original materials used in this restoration were made available by Surf Film and Augustus Color.

Marty was considerably better pleased with the video quality of The Grand Duel on the Mill Creek Entertainment release than he was with regard to Keoma, and so the difference in quality between the versions may be less pronounced in this case. That said, the Arrow version offers a mostly sumptuously suffused palette (one that may be just a tad warmer than the Mill Creek version), and generally excellent detail levels. The Arrow version is considerably gritty looking, with an often very heavy grain field. There are some rough moments, as is perhaps alluded to in that sentence kind of buried in the audio comments, above, though to my eyes they're fleeting and due more to what almost look like dupe elements having been used (despite the lack of any attribution, above). There are sudden downgrades in clarity and a weird skewing of the palette at a few junctures (circa 12:31 and 24:45 are two examples, though the first includes a brief optical dissolve that may play into the downgrade), with things suddenly tipping pretty dramatically toward brown and sepia tones, and with an uptick in an already heavy grain field and uneven contrast. As can be gleaned from some of the screenshots accompanying this review, there are several black and white interstitial moments scattered throughout the film, and some of these also look fairly rough at times. The bulk of the presentation is enjoyably robust, however, though if there are still any grain haters left in the viewing audience, they'd probably be best advised to stay away from this presentation. I'm officially scoring this at 4.0 to temper expectations, but in my personal estimation this improves on the Mill Creek version, so consider my "unofficial" score a 4.25.

The Grand Duel Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Grand Duel features English and Italian language tracks in LPCM Mono. This is one of the rare instances (in my experience, anyway) where there are some clear differentiations in the sound quality between the two. To my ears, dialogue especially sounds hotter on the Italian track, but the music is considerably more muffled and boxy sounding (listen, for example to the closing "honky tonk" number that plays under the final credits, and toggle between the English and Italian language tracks to hear what I'm talking about). The English language track has a more full bodied accounting of the music, but dialogue doesn't seem to be quite as far forward in the mix to my ears. Fidelity is fine on both tracks, and, as per Arrow's verbiage above, synch is almost comically loose in both languages.

The Grand Duel Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• English and Italian Versions with language appropriate credits are offered.


• Audio Commentary by Stephen Prince is a bit more of a "dry" listen than the frequently bantering interplay between C. Courtney Joyner and Henry C. Parke on Keoma, but Prince delivers a wealth of production and biographical data here.


• An Unconventional Western (1080p; 31:40) is a new interview with director Giancarlo Santi.


• The Last of the Great Westerns (1080p; 25:37) is a new interview with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi. If this is the last of the great westerns, what does that say about Arrow's more or less simultaneous release of Keoma? (I'm joking.)


• Cowboy by Chance (1080p; 35:32) is an interview with actor Alberto Dentice, AKA Peter O'Brien.


• Out of the Box (1080p; 29:02) is a new interview with producer Ettore Rosbach.


• The Day of the Big Showdown (1080p; 21:07) is a new interview with Assistant Director Harald Buggenig.


• Saxon City Showdown (1080p; 15:32) is a newly done appreciation of the film by Austin Fisher.


• Two Different Duels (1080p; 15:38) is an interesting side by side comparison of this version and a longer German version.


• Game Over (1080p; 9:12) is (in the words of Arrow) an "obscure" science fiction film short starring Marc Mazza.


• Marc Mazza: Who Was the Rider on the Rain? (1080p; 12:32) is a video essay by Mike Malloy devoted to the actor.


• Original Trailers

  International Trailer (1080p; 2:56)

  
  

  italian Trailer (1080p; 2:56)

• Image Galleries

  Stills, Posters and Press (1080p; 3:00)

  
  

  Lobby Cards (1080p; 5:40)

  
  

  Super 8mm, Home Video and Soundtrack Sleeves (1080p; 2:40)

Arrow has also provided its typically well appointed insert booklet. Kevin Grant contributes In the Grand Tradition of Leone, and Roberto Curti has compiled some contemporary reviews. Bernard Villiot also has a page devoted to his short Game Over, entitled Play It Again Marc.

The Grand Duel Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Grand Duel may not have all of the structural artifices of Keoma (though it does have a few of its own), but the murder mystery aspect plays out compellingly enough, and the action elements are really fun, if at times on the gonzo side. This new Arrow release has an intermittently heterogeneous appearance, and there are some interesting differences in the two audio options, but technical merits overall are solid, and as usual Arrow has assembled some really interesting supplements. Recommended.