In a way I look at this as an āanthology westernā
Yes very much so. Like the concept of that, wish more anthology ones had been made.
the first time I watched it, thatās exactly what I thought it was. I didnāt even know there was any kind of link between the various bad guys until the 2nd time I watched it.
Cool movie but what a bummer thereās no English audio available. I watched it with Italian audio and English subs which followed the German audio track. Pretty strange to see text that clearly did not match the audio at times.
Last nightās re-visit of choice.
I remembered this fondly but it was a fair while back that I saw it. So, how does it stand up after all these years? Well - as I remembered, it is really 4 distinct stories only loosly hung together once at the beginning, and I will mark them individually out of the traditional 5 for each - as some were more successful than others imo.
Some bits seemed better, and some worse than I remembered.
For instance, I had forgotten how much back-story there was in the first act, remembering only the desrt stuff. It was great to see the village-based shenanigans and to feel some sense of sympathy for the older man who doesnāt want to give up what heās struggled all his life to achieve - albeit some of it by unfortunate (for him) dubious means. 4 coins in the well for this.
The second act is a taut and well filmed scenario built around a card game. Another successful act with other stuff going on in and around it - the father selling his daughter for a $10 stake and the shocking end result getsā¦ 4 aces up the sleeve for this winning hand.
Act three wasnāt as good as I remembered, but still had me in the zone. Despite a crooked preacher (oh joy) using the religious stuff to justify his own barbaric form of justice, this started to feel a bit too contrived and lost some credibility points compared to the sparcer feel of the other two chapters seen. But hey as spag stuff goes it aināt so bad - creative and freshā¦ but only 3 candles on the spag alter for this part.
Hmmmmā¦ act four. Not much had faded over the years regarding Milianās presence here. His get-up - a shock of white albino hair and suited and booted to match, except for the dark glasses 8) would be hard to forget. But, imo this is by far the weakest section of the four. I noticed Luciano Rossi got a small part in this, and canāt have helped thinking that he would have been the better choice for the role - natuarally white blonde he wouldāve made a more natural and restrained choice for the albino character. Milian takes what has been til now, a moodily underplayed relatively low-key affair, to ridiculous hammy heights - frothingly over-acting everywhere he goes and with everything he touches - from coins to gals, but not even having the good grace to die effectively.
Oh well - 1 gold coin and a box of bricks.
So, all in all, - it is fresh, and different to the usual, and not so usual, spag fare - even to those episodic revenge films such as DRAH, One after Another and Vengeance. Itās successfully atmospheric and entertaining for the most part, and even when less successful it still has the decency to entertain.
Still a goodie!
Donāt know how I missed that write-up above by the sexy Rev but itās spot on, as ever. Death Sentence is among the very finest the genre has to offer in my 'umble. Iāve nagged Arrow Video a few times now via Twitter and their own site to get them to acquire Death Sentence and give it the blu-ray release it deserves, to which Iāve received a couple of āThanks for the suggestion!ā's. Doesnāt sound especially hopeful I grant you, but if it ever happens Iām claiming full credit; certainly more credit than Mario Lanfranchi, anybody in the movie or, indeed, Arrow Video. Iāve earned it, I feel.
I need to see this big time, does anyone know of a region free dvd or blu ray in an english friendly version? thanks.
You can get the region 2 DVD with English subtitles here for way under 10 bucks:
Indeed, but remember to use the SWDB referral link, kick some love upstairs while we shop :
https://www.amazon.de/Django-Unbarmherzig-wie-die-Sonne/dp/B001F2PFXO?tag=italowestern-21
One of my favourite spaghettis. I like this film much more than many in the siteās official top 20, e.g. Face to Face, Death Rides a Horse, Run, Man, Run, etc. Hopefully someone releases the English dub someday.
I would love to see this in english friendly.
You should get the Cine Plus disc if you havenāt already. At least it has English subtitles. If the region is an issue, just hack your DVD player! Itās easy to find codes online.
The Koch Media release has English subs as well.
Cause it is the same disc.
Thoroughly enjoyed my re-visit of this one. still holds up really well. I only wish there was an english dub release somewhere out there. The German DVD has english subs but they are awful.
Has anyone ever ordered from a dvd company called Asian Cult cinema? About a week ago, Asian Cult Cinema had a copy of āDeath Sentenceā with English subtitles on a region free dvd? Is this new? Anyway I ordered one, and it arrived in todayās mail. I watched it this afternoon and was blown away. What a film!, Lanfranchi gives us four acts, with four different villains, lotās of gunplay, and little room for anything else. First act shows us Cash chasing a man named Diaz who is both a rancher, and a murderer. I was kinda left with the question as to weather or not Diaz was really a villain, and that Cash was not a hero by any means. The second act shows us Cash confronting a card player named Mendoza. Mendoza wants to humiliate his enemies, and a card game is played between the two men ( with their lives at stake!) It is a bit slower, but very tense and grim. The third act is the most violent, and our wicked preacher (Celi, a laughing, foul mouthed, annoying man) finally meets his match. The most violent of the acts, featuring the villain I personally hated the most. The fourth act featureās Tomas Milian in an outrageous, blonde, albino look, who seems to like gold and women with blonde hair. ( Not really sure Milian is motivated by gold, I just think he wants the women with blonde hair)The white suit fits him well though, and Milian is his usual rowdy, unpredictable self. The scene where Cash rises from the graveyard is just perfect, and I would put it in my top five favorite spaghetti western sceneās. Essential viewing for any spaghetti fan. Essential. The English subtitles worked well, but I wish Wild East would take over If I have get is the English subtitles, Iāll take it.
Can you post a picture of the disc and sleeve? Whatās the label?
It must be this one:
http://asiancult.com/product_info.php?products_id=7259
Looks very much like a very expensive bootleg rip off the Cine Plus-release which can be had for virtually no money on amazon.de.
No one should be restricted by dvd regions unless they live in 1999
I decided to order the CinePlus DVD, hope itās decent.
Iāve hacked all the DVD players Iāve owned. Regions have never been an issue for me, either.