Boot Hill / La collina degli stivali (Giuseppe Colizzi, 1969)

il_timido · December 24, 2011, 6:26pm

well I promised to translate the article I wrote for an italian forum - Nocturno and not Gentedirispetto as said in another topic - but it seems it has been deleted.
I can’t remember the details of course, so I will try to make clear some points about the 4 different DVD versions available in Italy.
Unfortunately I am not in Italy now so I can not check some details.

They are:

-the first edition came on a single disc by Rarovideo
-the second edition is by Stormovie and it features 3 different cuts: italian version, international version, german super 8 version
-a new, remastered edition was made by Stormovie 1 year later than the first edition
-a remastered 99 minutes edition was announced in 2007 by Rarovideo but it never came out
-a DVD version for newspaper shops is regularly relaunched (twice at year) by Hobby&Work in the “Bud&Terence” Serie: it is the same edition as Rarovideo

They all have differences in lenght, format, opening credit, quality

The first edition by Rarovideo is non anamorphic and video format is wrong. The master used is pretty poor in quality.
Lenght: 96 minutes. Far longer than the Storm 2 DVd edition but with a very poor video quality and the night scenes are confused and competely dark.
This is the longest version available in Italy.
Video: 2:35,1 letterbox.
Audio: italian mono.
Opening credits: In italian

The double DVD set by Storm Video out in 2006 has the following features:

1° DVD

"International version"
Lenght: 82 minutes (on the backcover it is said 90 minutes)
Video: 2.35:1 widescreen 16:9
Languages: Italian 5.1, Italian 2.0, English 2.0, German 2.0
Undertitles: Italian
Extra: None

2° dvd:
"Comedy version"
Lenght: 85 minutes
Video: 1.85:1
Audio: Italian 2.0

Film “Super 8 version” (german)
Lenght: 31 minuti
Video: 4:3
Audio: Italian 2.0, German 2.0
Extra: Opening credits in italian, english, german

The most notable difference between the international version and the comedy version is the sequence were the dwarf comes out from the…camino (I don’t know how to say it in english, sorry…)
The international version is anamprphic and has a better printing quality than the comedy version. Both are, anyway, far better than the first Rarovideo edition.
The Super 8 version is just the german Super 8 with italian language added on it

The new edition announced in 2007 by Rarovideo claimed to be uncut and the most complete. with a declared lenght of 99 minutes, remastered from an original 35 mm negative
It was never put on sale

Instead, in 2007 Stormovie put out a “New integral version”:
opening and final credits in english
audio: italian, german, english mono
Video: 2,35:1
Lenght: 95 minutes (1 minute shorter than the Rarovideo shitty edition)

Unfortunately I can not check other details…my brother in China should have a rip of one of the 4 edition so I may ask him to check

tomas · December 24, 2011, 6:35pm

thanks for your Boot Hill post
i have Czech edition with length 97 min. (at least that say words on cover)

il_timido · December 24, 2011, 7:03pm

sounds interesting! is it on Ritka Video ?
I know most of czech dvd have not removable subtitles…

stanton · December 24, 2011, 7:27pm

[quote=“tomas, post:182, topic:47”]thanks for your Boot Hill post
i have Czech edition with length 97 min. (at least that say words on cover)[/quote]

If that is a Pal version, it must be the uncut version.

tomas · December 24, 2011, 7:53pm

[quote=“il timido, post:183, topic:47”]sounds interesting! is it on Ritka Video ?
I know most of czech dvd have not removable subtitles…[/quote]

no Ritka Video, as far as i know this company never has released SWs - mainly some crap movies i think
Boots Hill was released by Levne Knihy here
actually, i came across czech dvds with non-removable subtitles only on a few ocassions (some cheap ones)

it has 2,35 : 1 (16:9) it is PAL, great picture quality, italian, czech audio, removable subtitles, and its region free,
i think it is very fine edition

tomas · December 24, 2011, 8:00pm

to be totally precise, length is 1:33:35 and it starts with italian title La Collina Degli Stivali

il_timido · December 24, 2011, 8:15pm

Mmm…Levne Knihy…they released also the Simone and Matteo 2 movies…

sounds interesting…expecially for the removable subtitles. I have a lot of Ritka DVD and subtitles are all not removable.

What about the video quality? Lenght is 1.33 so it should be a bit shorter than the french release. But the price should be really good

tomas · December 24, 2011, 8:24pm

video quality is great as i wrote, well that length is somewhat shorter than cover says, ts, ts ,ts
price was i think 2 or 3 euro (i bought it in Slovakia, but it is Czech release), czech dvds are normally available in Slovakia
it is normal plastic dvd, but cover is somewhat trinity like, at least dvd menu has really a Boots Hill theme

about Ritka video, don´t know much about their releases (don´t care about them), and about their subtitle policy, actually i never bought their film…

stanton · December 24, 2011, 10:12pm

That’s without the Pal speed up about 97 min (in a fact 98 min. but let’s not be fussy), so the cover is not completely wrong. Longer than the international cut, but then the uncut version will give you a certain bonus.
Does it start after the credits with Hill being chased or with Stander dressed as clown trying to get some people into the show?

tomas · December 24, 2011, 10:25pm

[quote=“Stanton, post:189, topic:47”]That’s without the Pal speed up about 97 min (in a fact 98 min. but let’s not be fussy), so the cover is not completely wrong. Longer than the international cut, but then the uncut version will give you a certain bonus.
Does it start after the credits with Hill being chased or with Stander dressed as clown trying to get some people into the show?[/quote]

after the credits there are women dancers, then Stander introduces flying men, the music changes and Hill emerges from the darkness

JonathanCorbett · December 24, 2011, 11:09pm

I’ll check the so-called “shitty edition” as soon as possible

JonathanCorbett · December 27, 2011, 4:52pm

The longest version available starts with the clown (Zamperla, not Stander) trying to get some people into the show, the dancing girls appear about 45 seconds later.

stanton · December 27, 2011, 4:56pm

Ok, I trust you without checking …

tomas · December 27, 2011, 5:06pm

no no, the longest version available is that one with godzilla chasing Victor Buono at the end

chameleon · December 27, 2011, 5:08pm

Boots Hill IMO, would have been a better film without those stupid clowns.

stanton · December 27, 2011, 7:07pm

No no I love the scenes with the clowns. Belong to the best SWs scenes. Beautiful, fascinating stuff

tomas · December 27, 2011, 7:25pm

indeed, clown/circus theme is quintessential for the movie
normally i don´t care about circus ( big exception is tv series Carnivale - recommended), but in this case circus/western combination works perfectly for me

cochino · December 27, 2011, 8:53pm

Yeah, the midgets and clowns, basically the whole circus thing is what makes the whole movie for me. And it’s not used as comedy relief or anything like that, it adds to the creepy atmosphere in my opinion, just like the jazzy soundtrack. The more I think about it, the more I like the film. I might even have to raise it a couple of positions in my top 20.

tomas · December 27, 2011, 9:18pm

for me its a combination of several things that make it for me, but circus theme is one of them - it creates a very special atmosphere and some great scenes (for example that one with circusmen slapping each other in front of divided audience)

cochino · December 28, 2011, 1:52am

I have only seen an 80something minutes long version, which is cut. I think I should try to watch some uncut version now. Are the extra scenes really worth it?