[Blu-ray] Latest and Upcoming Releases šŸ“€

ā€œWell, that sucks!ā€

Except that we are surely going to get Italian and French releases which will have other audio options.

yea but who knows if that includes English. Weā€™ll stay tuned

When we talk about a classic and favourite amongst many fans, I wonder how necessary an English dub is?
What I mean is, if youā€™ve seen the film dozens of times, and know the story inside out, why not watch it in itā€™s original form?
Although I have always loved ā€˜Once Upon a Time in the Westā€™, I have also been irritated by some of the English translation, which seems to be word for word from the Italian dialogue ā€¦ and rhythmically some of it just doesnā€™t sound natural, especially ā€˜Cheyenneā€™sā€™ monologues.

A few years back I watched the long Italian version without subtitles, and had no problems at all, in fact I found the film much improved ā€¦ watching as a native English speaker with only a smattering of Italian, French and Spanish, the film takes on a stronger sense of menace, and the sometimes ā€˜floweryā€™ poetic dialogue seems much more convincing in the writerā€™s original language. Plus: I didnā€™t have to endure the painful sound of Jack Elamā€™s character dubbed by another English voice, and the unconvincing studio laughter from Strode and Mulockā€™s characters.
Iā€™d urge anyone interested to give it a go ā€¦ I found it very rewarding and closer to what I assume the director had intended. Leone could hardly comment on how an English phrase was delivered or which regional accent was appropriate ā€¦ so itā€™s the Italian version for me for in future screenings. :wink:

Iā€™ve been trying to find a copy of that Italian CVC DVD for a while.

Final cover artworks for the BluRay, the Mediabook and the DVD added

https://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Grande_silenzio,_Il/BluRay

Really doesnā€™t look good in terms of English-friendliness. Also, doesnā€™t seem to be based on the 4K restorationā€¦

First time I watched Il Grande Silenzio was by pure accident, on TV back in the nineties, I didnā€™t know it was running, I didnā€™t even know about the film, just stumbled upon it zapping around, at the exact moment the film started. Had my VHS recorder running in a wink of a second. It was in Italian. And even if I can understand only bits and pieces of that language, I enjoyed it immensely. English subs or no English subs, this is one I really look forward to for Christmas night!

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Hearing rumors of a HD release of Run Man Runā€¦ :wink:

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What? :anguished: Thatā€™s so weird.

That would be great - Iā€™ve always preferred it to ā€œFace To Faceā€.

Leoneā€™s films are generally an exception since a lot of care was put into the English scripts and the English dubbing. This also seems to have been the case for the French versions as well - thereā€™s some nice footage of Leone personally supervising the French dub of DYS over on the relevant thread. Personally I like to hear the actorsā€™ original voices when I can (which is often not the case in Italian versions anyway - Franco Nero was dubbed in Italian sometimes too even though he is Italian), So personally Iā€™d take Fonda, Robards and Bronson in English for OUATITW; I believe Cardinale was dubbed in both English and Italian.

As for ā€œThe Great Silenceā€, does anyone know if the English audio features Vonetta McGee and Frank Wolffā€™s own voices?

[quote=ā€œNovecento, post:1837, topic:660ā€]
does anyone know if the English audio features Vonetta McGee and Frank Wolffā€™s own voices?[/quote]

Frankā€™s yes, Vonettaā€™s Iā€™m not sure.

Yep ā€¦ thereā€™s no mistaking Frank! ā€¦ ā€œMaureeeeeeeennnn!!!ā€ PS: Iā€™m Irish, and Iā€™ve never seen so many redheads wasted so badly. :smile:
@Novecento 99 times out of 100 Iā€™d totally agree regarding the importance of hearing the original actorā€™s voice ā€¦ but in this case, for me the Italians did it better.
Whilst on the subject of OUTW, I also think Jason Robards was a bad choice in casting - Cheyenne should be a much more flamboyant character, like Tuco or any of Fernando Sanchoā€™s 100s of bandit types. Robards is too laid back and too wordy. Having said that, itā€™s still an unrivalled masterpiece.

I havenā€™t watch TGS in a while now, but I do remember him sounding the same as in OUATITW.

Well Italy does do dubbing better than just about anywhere else - I mean they even dub native speakers!

I personally like Robards in OUATITW. I think his style fits the character far better than a Tuco or Juan character would have done. Not to knock Steigerā€™s performance, but I wish Leone had managed to get his way in having Wallach play Juan in DYS.

Frank Wolff has dubbed himself in everything Iā€™ve seen him in so far.

@Novecento ā€¦ I think Steiger is fine as Juan Miranda, however a Spanish friend claimed his accent sounded Cuban ā€¦ and what part of Ireland Coburnā€™s ā€˜Malloryā€™ comes from is a complete mystery. It is to Irish what Dick Van Dyke is to Cockney in ā€˜Mary Poppinsā€™.

Wallach would have made this a much better film, though I still have a lot of time for this one.

@Dean The only one heā€™s not dubbed himself that I can think of is ā€˜Last of the Badmenā€™ 1967 ā€¦ itā€™s one of those annoying familiar but unnamed voice actors, which leads me to the question, is there a thread on this topic, or can anyone identify the half dozen or so voice artists who turn up time and time again? Thereā€™s one guy who sounds like American actor John Forsythe whoā€™s dubbed for Craig Hill and many others ā€¦ but my pet hate is the ultra smug voice used for George Hilton and Terence Hill (ā€˜Boot Hillā€™) films ā€¦ this one reminds me of ā€˜Troy McClureā€™ from ā€˜The Simpsonsā€™. Iā€™d love to know who these guys are so I can hurl abuse at the TV the next time Iā€™m watching a SW. :wink:

So if itā€™s not utilizing the 4k restoration, then will there be a future release that does utilize it? Or will it be one of those 27ā€™ Napoleon ordeals where itā€™s only to be shown in theaterā€™s and unavailable for home viewing?

Yeah, Vonetta and Frank definitely dubbed their characters in the film.

well I assume either when someone dishes out the money for it, or has a licensing deal that involves getting THAT materialā€¦

Itā€™s seems really strange to me that after a long wait for this to be released on Blu-ray, a company decides to release a version not based on the new 4K restoration. Donā€™t they realize that as a niche product, most consumers are going to be in-the-know and will therefore probably wait for the inevitable release of the restored 4K version rather than buy this release? Or maybe they have done the numbers and Iā€™m wrongā€¦

I also wonder what the aspect ratio will be since it has apparently been incorrect on most DVD releases.

whatā€™s the correct one? 1.85:1 or more like 1.66:1 ?

1,85:1 as far as we know now.
All new releases are 1,85:1, the trailer on the old Kinowelt disc also, and Mike Siegel possesses a hard matted 35 mm copy in that aspect ratio.

The aspect ratio of about 1,56:1 on the older disc was pretty strange anyway.

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