Yep, incredibly entertaining to me. The main theme is one of my all-time favorite scores.
The Deserter is a personal favourite of mine. A great ‘dirty dozen’ western. The only problem is that it hasn’t been given a good DVD release yet. I have two DVDs:
The first one is the Australian Reel Corporation release and the other is the US East West Entertainment release, which includes Dead Aim/Lucky Johnny. As far as I know, the Reel Corporation release is identical to the transfer used by El Paso and I can confirm that the transfer used by East West is the same one used by Mill Creek.
It’s difficult to determine which one is better since both have advantages and disadvantages. Scenes included in the Reel Corporation DVD are not in the East West DVD and scenes included in the East West DVD are not in the Reel Corporation DVD. The Reel Corporation release has much nicer picture quality but one of its major flaws is that the audio has been altered to miss out all the bad language. So, whenever someone swears, the audio just goes silent.
Picture quality comparison:
Reel Corporation DVD:
East West DVD:
Reel Corporation DVD:
East West DVD:
Reel Corporation DVD:
East West DVD:
Reel Corporation DVD:
East West DVD:
Reel Corporation DVD:
East West DVD:
It also looks like there’s a different pan and scanning used on each disc, as there information missing seems to vary depending on the source, seen best in the 4th pair of screenshots. Anybody know if a composite has been made?
I haven’t found one, yet!
I really hope this gets a remastered release.
I think I’ll make one myself someday.
I have a fully uncut letterbox widescreen version now.
You make me green with envy. Where did you get it? The version I have is horrible.
Green with envy as well. I have a widescreen version, but it’s horrible: if the camera moves, the entire image becomes smudgy, as if somebody is trying to wipe it out
Yes, it is Nikša (read: Niksha), common name in Dalmacija (Dalmatia), variant of Nicola.
Anyway, now you can watch the doc about the guy on youtube: Tko je taj Nikša Fulgosi? (2014) - YouTube
It’s in Croatian off course, but it looks like he really existed for sure! 
It was on ebay for a fiver. Bought it as soon as I read the description. Mine doesn’t become smudgy. It’s a pretty good rip. It has the same cover as the Brazilian DVD, so it might be a fandub.
I was so irritated watching the East West/Reel Corporation DVDs because of all the missing footage and censorship. It’s great to finally watch the film in its entirety with decent picture quality.
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Looks like a VHS rip in 1,85:1 (instead of 2,35:1). I have the German version (98 min) in similar quality from a TV showing.
Definitely a fandub of the German version then.
The German version has a TV logo and is not uncut.
There seems to be a lot of discussion about this film (Deserter)…I’ll need to check it out one day…
All I’ve been able to find, is a poor quality re-production ‘Youtube’!
I did…however, visit the location with ‘Richard’, a.k.a. ‘Toco Tours’ in 2009…! (I sincerely hope that Richard and Co. are enjoying life to the full… ‘thank-you for all the wonderful tours’!)
Toscano.
One day is early enough. There are hundreds of better westerns.
I recently stumbled upon an alternative English dub with (what I presume to be) Bekim Fehmiu’s real voice. It’s understandable why he was re-dubbed by another voice actor as he appears to be struggling. I’m curious whether anybody has more information about this. Perhaps the version commonly found in box sets is the US version and since this is taken from a UK tape, it might be the European one (unless he was dubbed for later video releases).
I’m only familiar with the fandub version, which used a cheapo Aussi release for the Eng track … sounds like Fehmiu is struggling alright, either that or the voice artist should have been sacked.
When oh when is there going to be a decent release of this movie !?
PS: Just had a browse for online vids, to see if I could hear different dubs - they all appear to be the awkward version. So, interested to hear more about the release you have?
Pretty damn brutal western that like the hero takes no prisoners. It is very much like Ulzana’s Raid. Apaches are the bad guys here and you want them dead. The story itself is a revenger without a one main villain. All Apaches are to blame (Winnetou you’d better hide). It is one of those movies that is somewhat underwhelming in its execution, you still expect more, some big scene, but it never comes. On the other hand you get some really tough minor powerful dark scenes here and there. I disliked only the ending that was a typical American morality that does not let you leave in a hopeless state of mind. 4/5