Did a on-TV back and forth comparison of the They Call Him Marcado DVD versus the VHS rip, and the DVD does look decently better. There’s less compression noise/blocking and its a clearer image. Although the Hulu video looks way better than either in terms of clear detail, it unfortunately has that really obnoxious problem in any movement that is kind of jittery, probably because it was incorrectly deinterlaced. This really bothers me but doesn’t seem to bother some people…
Checked out the 2nd DVD which came with Los Marcados and it is over 4gb. Now I am really tempted to buy the individual DVD release of Los Marcados to see if it does not include the random 2nd film on the disc, and would be 4gb or more, which would make it look even better. Appears this double feature disc was released separately[url]http://www.amazon.com/VALENTIN-TRUJILLO-ANTONIO-AGUILAR-PACK/dp/B003MIOV7A/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1415018218&sr=8-3&keywords=cuna+de+valientes[/url], so could be a chance the individal Los Marcados DVD is a less compressed release. Wouldn’t bother me so much if it wasn’t under 3gb, that’s really compressed for a DVD
Now have a working Secam-capable VCR. The tape actually looks better than this, pretty good on the TV. I just still need to finish tweaking my capture setup which is why the screenshot is not so great, just wanted to grab a quick one to show the difference in the widescreen print versus the cropped p&s. I will probably need to get a TBC (time base corrector) before I can transfer the video, so it will probably still be a bit before I can do so. The film is in a French dub (with English credits? I wonder if this is originally a US print with French dub added. I believe the existing English version is from Australia, not US)
2 days ago I watched the first half hour in the full screen version. Your version looks great in comparison. Will wait for that one. The film itself has some weird touches, like the actor/pistolero, but upon initial inspection it doesn’t look like one of Mariscal’s best works.
Just finished “The Call Him Marcado”. Pretty dull, but the grim atmosphere, some great looking faces, the score and a touch of weirdness (villain-actor, some incestuous overtones etc.) somehow keep you watching. Thought it was a bit better than “El Tunco Manclovio”, so I will give the director one more chance with “The Hanging Judge” in the near future.
And in case anyone is interested, the French VHS runs 82min 30secs from opening title screen to finish screen, which, after accounting for the 25fps speedup, matches with the current longest English version available of 85min
Coincidentally, I became aware of Alberto Mariscal, or at least watched part of one of his movies, just yesterday. I saw the first 15 mins and the end of The Taste Of The Savage (Eye For An Eye). Surprisingly brutal. I’m going to have to read this whole thread to catch up on the director.
Maybe not so coincidentally because this was just uploaded by Gringo Western Movies yesterday so I wouldn’t have seen it on YT until yesterday.
Actually its not the first of his westerns you’ve looked at… He also made El Tunco Maclovio & El Juez de la Soga which we discussed briefly over in the Mexican Westerns thread
You’re right. I just learned his name 15 minutes ago despite seeing two of his movies . Eye for an Eye was the most extreme, at least from the 25 minutes total that I’ve seen of it so far.
Finally finished the whole movie. Cameron Mitchell had the Clint Eastwood whisper down way back then before Batman and every actor under the sun started using it. I call it ‘unmotivated whispering’ because there is usually no motive or reason to be whispering. Clint Eastwood never really whispered, it was his real voice but as he got older he obviously roughened up his voice for the screen.
. Eye for an Eye was the most extreme, at least from the 25 minutes total that I’ve seen of it so far.
I call it ‘unmotivated whispering’ because there is usually no motive or reason to be whispering. Clint Eastwood never really whispered, it was his real voice but as he got older he obviously roughened up his voice for the screen.