Cheap box sets

Hey Prairiedog…I am currently holding that Mill Creek set in my lap as I type this.Hmm,ok…let’s see what we got here.Now,i am just going by memory here,so rather than list which ones ARE letterboxed,I am gonna’ list the ones that,if memory serves me correctly are NOT letterboxed;
AND GOD SAID TO CAIN(pretty awful picture quality,and it is cut)
APACHE BLOOD
BOOT HILL
CHALLENGE TO WHITE FANG
DEATH RIDES A HORSE
FIGHTING FISTS…
FISTFUL OF LEAD
HIS NAME WAS KING
IT CAN BE DONE AMIGO
JESSE AND LESTER
SUNDANCE AND THE KID

Ok…here are the ones that I am pretty sure ARE letterboxed;
BEN AND CHARLIE
DJANGO KILL(it’s listed as DJANGO KILLS,on the back)
FOUR OF THE APOCALYPSE
JOHNNY YUMA
KEOMA
MANNAJA
THE PRICE OF POWER
RUN,MAN,RUN

Thanks for the info man. I am still sleeping on those Mill Creek releases (3 months and counting!) I actually just picked this up from Best Buy today for only $12.99:

The Blu-Ray known as Westerns Unchained (Westerns Unleashed on the menus, I think we all know what prompted the title change on the covers!), is definitely cheap and would normally be considered a box set, if it were not for all 25 movies being presented on a single disc! Yes, there are some compression issues, but most of these films aren’t available on other PD sets. The manufacturer is listed as Golden Star, but I can tell from the “disclaimer” on the back that these are made by the same people that were previously known as VideoAsia (Spaghetti Western Bibles). I will give complete titles, stars, and specs tomorrow…but I can tell you now that the main reason I bought this was for the inclusion of 1967’s Hallelujah for Django starring George Hilton, Hunt Powers, and Walter Barnes. To my delight it is presented in it’s orginal 2.35:1 anamorphic ratio(picture is a little rough), but to my knowledge this is the first appearance of this title on home video in North America!

I know this just came out a couple of weeks ago, but has anyone had a chance to look at Django Unleashed[url]http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B009H3LOFQ/thehawfam-20[/url]? It has three films on it — Boot Hill, Johnny Yuma and Sartana vs. Trinity — none of which actually seem to be Django movies, but I’m curious to know how the films look and if the disc is worth picking up for the nine bucks they’re asking.

As promised, here are the specifications of the Westerns Unchained Blu-Ray:

  1. Lola Colt, Faccia a Faccia con El Diablo (a.k.a. Black Tigress)(1967)- Lola Falana, Peter Martell. D: Siro Marcellini. 16:9 (1.85:1)
  2. Long Days of Vengeance (I Lunghi Giorni Della Vendetta)(1967)- Giuliano Gemma, Francisco Rabal. D: Florestano Vancini. 16:9 (2.20:1 maybe)
  3. California (1977)- Giuliano Gemma, William Berger. D: Michele Lupo. (credits are 2.35:1, but then is cropped to 1.85:1 or less)
  4. Execution (1968)- John Richardson, Dick Palmer. D: Domenico Paolella. 16:9 (1.66:1)
  5. Kill Django…Kill First (1971)- Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, Aldo Sambrell. D: Sergio Garrone. (looks like “fake” widescreen to me, also missing credits)
  6. One After Another (Uno Dopo L’altro, a.k.a. Day After Tomorrow)(1969)- Richard Harrison, Paul Stevens. D: Nick Nostro. 16:9 (2.35:1)
  7. Adios Gringo (1965)- Giuliano Gemma, Evelyn Stewart. D: Giorgio Stegani. 16:9 (2.35:1)
  8. My Name is Pecos (Due Once di Piombo)(1967)- Robert Woods, Norman Clark. D: Maurizio Lucidi. 16:9 (2.35:1)
  9. May God Forgive You…But I Won’t (Chiedi Perdono a Dio…Non a Me)(1968)- George Ardisson, Anthony Ghidra. D: Vincenzo Musolini. 16:9 (2.35:1)
  10. The Last Killer (L’ultimo Killer)(1967)- George Eastman, Anthony Ghidra. D: Giuseppe Vari. 16:9 (slightly cropped from 2.35:1)
  11. Twice a Judas (Due Volte Giuda, a.k.a. They Were Called Graveyard)(1969)- Antonio Sabato, Klaus Kinski. D; Nando Cicero. 16:9 (2.35:1)
  12. Train for Durango (Un Treno per Durango)(1968)- Anthony Steffen, Mark Damon. D: William Hawkins (Mario Caiano). 16:9 (slightly cropped from 2.35:1)
  13. Go with God, Gringo (Vayas con Dios, Gringo) (1966)- Glenn Saxson, Lucrethia Love. D: Edward G. Muller (Edoardo Mulargia). 16:9 (2.35:1)
  14. Ringo’s Big Night (La Grande Notte di Ringo)- William Berger, Edoardo Fajardo. D: Mario Maffei. 16:9 (2.35:1)
  15. Pistol for a Hundred Coffins (Una Pistolo per Cento Bare, a.k.a. A Gun for One Hundred Graves)- Peter Lee Lawrence, John Ireland. D: Umberto Lenzi. 16:9 (2.35:1)
  16. Prey of Vultures (La Preda e L’avvoltoio)(1972)- Peter Lee Lawrence, Orchidea De Santis. D: Rafael Romero Marchent. (windowboxed, looks about 1.66:1)
  17. Finger on the Trigger (El Dedo en el Gatillo)(1965)- Rory Calhoun, Aldo Sambrell. D: Sidney Pink. 16:9 (cropped from 2.35:1 to about 2.1:1)
  18. His Name Was King (Lo Chiamavano King…)(1971)- Richard Harrison, Klaus Kinski. D: Don Reynolds (Giancarlo Romitelli). 16:9 (2.35:1)
  19. One Damned Day at Dawn…Django Meets Sartana! (Quel Maledetto Giorno D’inverno…Django e Sartana All’ultimo Sangue) (1970)- Hunt Powers, Fabio Testi. D: Miles Deem (Demofilo Fidani). 16:9 (1.85:1)
  20. Django Defies Sartana (1970)- George Ardisson, Tony Kendall. D: William Redford (Pasquale Squitieri). 16:9 (1.85:1)
  21. Django and Sartana are Coming…It’s the End (1970)- Hunt Powers, Chet Davis. D: Dick Spitfire (Demofilo Fidani, Diego Spataro). 16:9 (letterboxing looks stretched)
  22. He Who Shoots First (Django Sparo per Primo)(1966)- Glenn Saxson, Evelyn Stewart. D: Alberto De Martino. 16:9 (2.35:1)
  23. Halleluja for Django (La Piu Grande Rapina del West)(1967)- George Hilton, Hunt Powers. D: Maurizio Lucidi. 16:9 (2.35:1)
  24. Murieta (a.k.a. Revenge of Sartana)(1965)- Jeffrey Hunter, Arthur Kennedy. D: George Sherman. 16:9 (1.85:1)
  25. Ringo- Mark of Vengeance (Ringo, il Volto Della Vendetta)(1966)- Anthony Steffen, Frank Wolff. D: Mario Caiano. 16:9 (1.85:1)

I understand Westerns Unchained is rife with compression artifacts because all the movies are compacted onto one disc. Is that the case? Just how bad are we talking here?

Thanks for the list lostprairiedog, quite a few movies I haven’t seen before and all in 16:9, for such a low price I’ll be definitely getting it.
Don’t know when I’ll be able to watch it though, no blu-ray player or TV licence yet!

I’m also interested at how badly the movies are compressed… I can’t imagine they look good at all with 25 movies on 1 disc :o

The compression is most likely the same as on those DVDs with 4 or 5 films on one disc.

Okay, the blu-ray is really hit or miss so I am going through it as I type, these numbers match the list above:

  1. Pretty good picture overall, does have a constant logo in the bottom right hand corner that says “Iris Mediaset”
  2. and 3. Bad artifacting
  3. Picture a little soft, but is mostly in Italian w/ no subtitles, also playback problems in some spots, on my ps3 at least.
  4. Not too bad.
  5. A little artifacting, but doesn’t render picture unwatchable.
  6. More artifacts, not too bad, also a few seconds where playback is a little problematic. I know what you’re thinking, but these problems seem to end here.
  7. Kinda soft, not bad.
  8. Great picture.
  9. Real decent transfer.
  10. Excellent transfer.
  11. Some artifacting, not too bad.
  12. Nice transfer.
  13. Good picture, a few artifacts.
  14. Very watchable transfer.
  15. Gorgeous, no problems here.
  16. Good.
  17. Real nice.
  18. Okay.
  19. Super artifact-y.
  20. Decent.
  21. Excellent transfer.
  22. Some artifacting, but extremely watchable.
  23. Relatively poor.
  24. Lots of artifacts.

So it seems as if this collection starts off a little problematic, has a great middle, and ends a little shabby as well. No matter how I look at it, it seems well worth the $12.99. Obviously we’re not talking about film presentations that are up to the standards that we are used to with Blu-Ray. And yes, some compression issues do abound. But overall, its pros outweigh its cons. 4&7 appear to be the only ones that were a little funny on the playback, but that seemed to be only in a few spots near the beginning of those movies.

Thanks for going through that movie by movie for us! I’m still on fence about whether I’ll get it, but it’s not like it costs a fortune, so I probably will.

I’ll probably bite…if I can find it for less than $10 :wink:
Hell,I don’t even own a Blu Ray player.

[quote=“bladerunnerblues, post:211, topic:786”]I’ll probably bite…if I can find it for less than $10 :wink:
Hell,I don’t even own a Blu Ray player.[/quote]
I’d be willing to drag out my brother’s ps3 if I could find it for that much xD

Thank you for the info lostprairiedog. Seems to me they just downloaded bunch of avis from Cinemageddon or other similar places and put them on the disc. So 'll pass considering they can all be downloaded for free with the same (or probably even better) quality. :stuck_out_tongue:

Too bad Cinemageddon is invite-only. I understand they want to keep a handle on their user numbers, but that just keeps us on the outside from getting access to the good stuff.

I think Sherp’s a member of Cinemageddon (other forum members are as well). PM him and ask. He might be willing to invite you.

I will give that a shot. Thanks for letting me know!

I have some invites if anyone has trouble registering, but usually if you keep checking the site spaces will open up and you can register yourself.

I do check regularly, but since it’s more or less at random intervals, I’m never sure if I’ve missed a window or not. Whatever the case, if you were willing to share an invite with me, I’d be grateful. And I promise to seed!

Sure, just PM me your email address.
The registration windows become open as they get rid of old/unused accounts…there is a limit on the number of accounts. The culling may not be daily but it is pretty regular.

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