Chopping out the bits in Italian. They donāt really make much difference to the film but the cuts to the riding and stand off make no sense, so Grindhouse could have released a genuine āextendedā English language version but didnāt.
The Explosive Blu-ray isnāt very satisfactory. The print is so much better on the Grindhouse release and the remastering of the mono soundtrack sounds fantastic. Iād like to see a new cut of the film released.
Iāve never seen the Grindhouse release, but Iāve read that the print is different. Having said that, some seem to favor the Grindhouse print and others the Explosive printā¦
I canāt play Blu-rays on my PC, so I am unable to post screen-shots. However, Iām not sure why they would prefer the print Explosive used since it is lesser quality. Grindhouse cleaned it up and thereās no buzzing on the soundtrack. The only advantage of the Explosive Blu-ray is that you can view the film uncut with English audio. Iād still like to see a new release
Yup, that is literally the only thing it has over the Grindhouse version. A similar debate can be had about the Koch & Blue Underground blu-rays of Quien Sabe.
Now that just perplexes me 
The images here of the German disc look better to me than those of the US disc.
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/10143/big_gundown.html
The reviewer seems to agree, although does note the audio on the US one is better:
Grindhouse Releasing brings the first U.S. home video release of the classic on Blu-ray with a strong picture quality, but compared to 2012ās German digibook, the transfer is slightly less than satisfying. However, with a much better lossless audio presentation and a wealth of supplements, the overall package is still well-worth the asking price.
Seems like the Explosive transfer is a lot grainier and sharper, but also darker. The GH transfer could be mistaken as ābetter lookingā 
I prefer the way the Grindhouse version looks.
1 Like
Personally I love to see film grain and would take the German one in a heartbeat (at least going by the images online) for its detail. However, I understand why others might take the American one if they have a preference for a āwarmerā image.
1 Like
Grindhouse Releasing did a wonderful job on this, as the picture quality and audio are top notch. I must say Jonathan Corbett is one of my favorite bounty hunters, good with a gun and able to fist fight with the best of them. He gets the job done at any cost, often timeās defeating three or four opponents at a time single handily. What makeās him so special is how dynamic of a character he is. I kind of of missed that the first time I saw it, but certainly understand it now. I really enjoyed Cuchilloās character whoās smart, somewhat humorous and has clear motivations of clearing his name. His personality adds to the this intriguing storyline. Also to note is the fabulous acting work of Walter Barnes ( as Brockston who is such a sneaky fellow, as well as a fabulous job by Gerard Herter ( Baron Von Schulenberg) who is one of those enemies who gets on your nerves with his " custom made holster" and āknow it allā attitude) give the film some of the genreās most despicable villains.
Fernando Sancho and Nieves Navarro also make small appearances ( Sanchoās being average, and Navarro rather unique as a powerful widow.) The ranch scene is a bit slow, but unique to the genre as the genre rarely has a wealthy widow, and itās great to see Nieves Navarro on screen as she is one of the genreās most beautiful faces. The ending is just as memorable as the first time I saw it, where the bad guys are brought to justice and our ārapistā has his name cleared. Their is little not to like about this film ( maybe the scene where Milan is with the Mormon girl, which I like but it isnāt as spectacular as the rest of the film) but I would put this up against any film in the genre, especially since this was made in 1966.
1 Like
What do you think of the US cut butchering the cane field sequence and making Corbett look like a cold blooded killer?
The 95 minute directors cut isnāt has good as the 110 minute directorās cut ( presented in Italian with optional English subtitles, but nonetheless I found the film a complete masterpiece in both versions.) Corbett is a bounty hunter, and I guess to a degree bounty killers always seem to be cold blooded ( weather their killings are justified and have good intentions or not.) Something about Van Cleef is cold blooded in general, but I wouldnāt change a thing about his performance.
I canāt say the 110 minute directorās cut certainly changeās my opinion as I found the 95 minute U.S. version already one of the best of the genre, but the 110 minute directorās cut letās me see more of Sollimaās film, which I truly enjoyed. Really hard to believe it took so long to get a proper release here in the U.S. because I really do believe had most spaghettiās made it here to the U.S. the way the dollars trilogy did, the dollars trilogy would NOT be as popular here as it is. Over hear on TCM, or any mainstream television station, the films of Sergio Sollima, Lucio Fulci, Sergio Corbucci, Giuseppe Colizzi,Michele Lupo, Tonino Valerii,Enzo G. Castellari, the wonderfully underrated Gianfranco Parolini and Giulio Petroni and the mastermind Duccio Tessari were/ are rarely , if ever shown. Itās sad, more folks know the name Barack Obama then Lan Van Cleef,or Guilano Gemma.
Why is that a DC?
Lrdc was shown on TV here (US) recently but when I saw that the opening scene with the three cartridges on the log and the gunfights was missing I turned it off. It was also full-screen.
I am happy with my Koch rainbow dvd.
Always loved that bit, and it annoys me how well they edited it out.
Anyone know why the musicās pitch is severely different in each language of this film?
It might be because different regions have playback different speeds, and because of that they had to match the music up to the rest of the soundtrack. Kochās release of Gli Fumavano Le Colt is another example. I think most European dvds are sped up by about six percent or something.
Also unrelated, if anybody wanted to know if the bonus soundtrack CD for The Grindhouse release of The Big Gundown was in stereo, IT IS!
however it is not because they are European, but because in Europe they used to use PAL, see 576i - Wikipedia
Thatās the reason! Thanks for sharing that!
I ripped that CD and put it onto my ipod as soon as I got it.