The Mercenary / A Professional Gun / Il mercenario (Sergio Corbucci, 1968)

last.caress · January 1, 2017, 2:31am

Blu-ray has a release date of 01 May 2017, according to Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mercenary-Blu-ray-Franco-Nero/dp/B01MQGB9NP/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=spaghetti-21&linkId=12cad5b2848f9d8133900747b1f89fd8

Drifter · January 7, 2017, 4:07am

I emailed 88 Films; Region B only, f.y.i.

AvatarDK · January 7, 2017, 2:53pm

Yep, most of 88 Films blu-ray releases are Region-locked.

Admin · September 15, 2017, 2:01pm

USA BluRay arriving November 7, Amazon pre-order links are up. We appreciate using the SWDb’s Amazon links:

Dean · November 14, 2017, 8:39pm

I couldn’t resist…

I had to get this blu-ray just to hear Cox’s commentary. Assumption confirmed, he sounds sick of his life all way through I take it @stanton wasn’t available.

Novecento · November 20, 2017, 4:19am

I love hearing/reading Cox’s opinionated take on things.

I think I’ll be getting a copy of this too (just need to tip someone off for a nice xmas gift)

Dean · November 20, 2017, 8:12am

I rarely agree with him but it’s strangely compelling and funny.

Admin · May 9, 2018, 8:33pm

Rewatched it again tonight, after a long while. I still love it to pieces. One of my all time favorite movies. Such characters, such a script, such scenes!

The_Man_With_a_Name · May 9, 2018, 11:49pm

It improves the more I watch it, too. I need to revise my top 20.

Dean · May 10, 2018, 6:51am

It has to be the most Leone-ish non Leone spaghetti ever made.

aldo · May 10, 2018, 10:27am

Or the least Corbucci, Corbucci western - I too am a big fan of this one, what’s not to like!
The one line of dialogue that kills me, is in the final showdown scene - I’m sure it’s not intended to be funny, but Franco Nero’s rich accent saying, “Hello Curley”, is so camp, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Wondered what the opinion is on picture quality between the Koch Media and recent 88 Films BD release? … I will have to pick this up soon.

Admin · May 10, 2018, 10:47am

so I watched the Koch Blu, not knowing the 88 Films one (but suspecting the same source?), I think it looks alright even though the quality clearly varies from scene to scene. There are moments where the image has a strong greenish tint, other scenes are visibly of inferior quality. Overall it’s a nice presentation albeit lacking detail you’d expect from a really expensive 4k restoration…

Dean · May 10, 2018, 11:05am

Here’s a Kino vs Koch. I presume 88 is the same: TOP 15 Best DVD Releases of 2019 - Select a Good Movie to Watch

aldo · May 10, 2018, 11:15am

Thanks for that - the Koch extras are tempting, otherwise there’s very little noticeable difference between the two releases.

Dean · May 10, 2018, 11:17am

Yeah if you’re obsessed with extras like I am, Koch wins.

But if you need an Alex Cox fix… Kino is your best bet

stanton · May 11, 2018, 11:56am

Yes, to a certain extent.

The plot would have fitted Leone’s style better than Giu la testa, But directed by Leone the runtime would have been doubled. He would have played out all these amazing ideas eternally.

But then, Il mercenario is filled with so much extraordinary scenes, which are directed unlike Leone ever did, and it has fantastic big action scenes, while the big action scenes by Leone in FoD and in Giu la testa really suck.

Dean · May 11, 2018, 12:55pm

Haha, I was placing bets with myself as to when you’d respond to that comment

stanton · May 11, 2018, 4:23pm

Glad you won …

Admin · May 11, 2018, 4:27pm

One other thing that has surely been discussed a gazillion times, but: I find the way the movie deals with the politics to be genius. One, it depicts a revolutionary as a true peon who needs a capitalist mercenary gringo to tell him what a revolution is, two, it illustrates the revolutionary war through a gun metaphor by telling a story about arms trade in the early 1900s… what are your thoughts?

Dean · May 11, 2018, 5:16pm

I’m feeling lucky, I might start buying scratchcards at this rate.