The Forgotten Pistolero / Il pistolero dell’Ave Maria (Ferdinando Baldi, 1969)

One must also remember that the bitrate of a blu-ray is still many times better than any of these most-used streaming services so it’s HD with a lot of low-bitrate problems.

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If its encoded properly from a good source and a fairly high bitrate, its pretty hard to tell a big difference. But it needs to be played directly without any transcoding - a lot of people will end up with a transcoded stream because either their connection or hardware can’t handle a direct playback, which makes it look degraded…

I’ve done a lot of personal comparisons of encodes I did myself direct from blu ray and as long as its encoded well with high bitrate, I can’t really see any difference.

But if its encoded poorly, then it will also look bad compared to blu ray. And a lot of the HD stuff on Amazon comes from not great transfers, although they are HD

But also, a lot of these titles on Amazon don’t have any blu ray releases and aren’t very likely to - at least not any time soon. Except maybe the Japan blus which these streams may be coming from.

I mean, Il giustiziere di Dio is on Amazon right now in HD…
https://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Giustiziere_di_Dio,_Il

And you can find these available for download if you look… :wink:

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I would love to see an HD El Puro turned up on Amazon someday. :mask:

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so many italian western in HD are pooping up on amazon prime video these days… it’s incredible.

the video quality is close to blu ray and a lot better than the dvds (even the koch media ones)

I wish I lived in the U.S. … amazon canada has nothing.

I guess I need some kind of VPN but I don’t feel like paying for that.

I wonder what company is actually remastering these movies ?!

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One of my favourite SW’s.

One of the most beautiful soundtracks.
An anguished young man (Leonard Mann), who is living a quiet life, until truth, and reality, come calling. A wake-up call to what is important.
Should the Peter Martell character have left the Mann character in blissful ignorance?

As always, beautiful Almeria scenery, and the heavenly Lucianna Palluzi.
Add the much missed Peter Martel, and Leonard Mann in (in what INMO is his best performance), and I think that this is one for my top 20.
Regarding the short running time… I think the time was filled well.
Bravo for this film.

Everyone please say well.

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I’m not totally sure and I haven’t done any direct comparisons yet but I think some of them may be sourced to the Japanese blu rays

Some of the Japanese blus are decent, some appear to just be upscales, but from what I’ve seen the transfers usually aren’t the best & appear similar in quality.

I have noticed at least one of these titles has a distributor in Italy, so it could actually be someone with access to actual prints taht haven’t been licensed for release

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Just finished this last night, really great movie. I loved the depiction of late nineteenth-century Mexico, and the action was incredibly well done.

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For me, this is Ferdinando Baldi’s best. It has it all - a good story, great action, an excellent score, and an unforgettable finale.

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I now rate it as a 8/10 together with Baldi’s Django, Prepare A Coffin. Both have very interesting plots with fine acting. The music is very good in both, but of course extra nice in The Forgotten Pistolero.

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Actually found out about when you mentioned it as one of your favorite Spaghetti Westerns. I was looking for one to watch when I stumbled on your post, so thanks for the recommendation!

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Happy I could help!

I absolutely love ‘The Forgotten Pistolero’ - short, sweet, and a perfect combination of unforgettable music, intricate character-study, family intrigue, feminine and scenic beauty. and bloody revenge - all in true ‘Spaghetti’ style…

Unlike many Spaghetti Westerns, there is something intrinsically beautiful about ‘The Forgotten Pistolero’.

This precious gold nugget is definitely in my top 11…

If the opening theme (by Roberto Pregadio) doesn’t pull you in, then nothing will…for it perfectly epitomises the savage, incomparable world of Spaghetti Westerns…

A great film, with which to introduce a newbie to the Italian ‘Opera of Violence’

I defy anyone not to be whistling for a week after hearing the main theme… :grinning:

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I love the opening scene in this, but after that it feels like an inferior take on The Return of Ringo… When it comes to Leonard Mann, I like Vengeance Trails the most. Probably alone with that opinion :slightly_smiling_face:

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Different opinions are what make this site wonderful… :+1:,

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I purchased the UK release of Vengeance Trail not long ago but haven’t got around to watching it yet. I will have to add it to my weekend list of viewing.

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Well, both are closely based on ancient Greek epic and drama (the Odyssey, pretty much all the plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides that get down and dirty with the House of Atreus). Perhaps that gives them a similar “feel” - all those slaughterous homecomings …

That said, I love both movies, and find them plenty different! If FP has a fault - and it doesn’t bother me - it’s that the pacing gets a bit cluttered. But so much is unforgettable - Mann’s Orestes clone having his repressed memories woken by that bell, Martell’s tormented and emasculated ex-servant (it’s his film). And as you say, that opening is stunning.

Love the flik personally, just inside my revised top ten, the soundtrack is stunning

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I am not ashamed to say it is #3 on my top 10 and there it will stay. Of course, I don’t hold the works of Leone, outside of For a Few Dollars More, or the works of Corbucci in quite as higher regard as others do so that moves it dramatically up the list right there.

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I would kill for a BluRay of this

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I thought one was in the works but it doesn’t seem to be materializing.