Clint Eastwood: Man With No Name Trilogy [Blu-ray] [Import]

1. In a nutshell:

Picture quality:
- "Fistful": 8/10
- "Few More": 9/10
- "Good, Bad, Ugly": 7/10
Region Free!
Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English, Spanish, French (German/Italian also on "Good, Bad, Ugly")
Extras: seem to be the same as on 2-disc DVD sets.
NB: extraordinary audio commentary by Leone expert Christopher Frayling!

In my view this box set is a bargain (I ordered my copies for $29).
If you like these Leone films, then this 3-piece set should be a no-brainer.

2. For sprocket hole addicts (myself included):

All films of this "trilogy" (of course it wasn't intended as such) were shot in "Techniscope" (i.e. 2 perforation holes instead of 4, as in "Cinemascope" ) hence cutting stock costs in half - unfortunately same goes for picture resolution. Therefore a slightly lesser picture quality than in usual Cinemascope Blu-ray transfers is the result. But this only adds to the intentional grittiness of Carlo Simi's production design. Much better prints are not likely in the future.
Still these Blu-ray prints of the three movies differ in their picture quality with "Few More" being the best (except some minor visible stain at TC 00:04:09-56, Chpt. 2) followed by "Fistful" and "Good, Bad, Ugly" (due to excessive DNR processing).

Alternatives for the 3-disc box set?
- "Fistful" - you can also look for the Italian BD release from RHV (Ripleys Home Video; Region Free) available from bol.it.
- "Few More" - this BD is available seperately (for the price of this entire set!)
- "Good, Bad, Ugly" - you could wait for an enhanced BD version, but who knows when this will be around? "Good, Bad, Ugly" of course could use some improvement...
- Fox have put out a 4-disc BD set also including "Hang 'em High" available from amazon.co.uk (RC? / picture quality? / audio?)

Overall these BDs look great - a definite improvement over DVDs - and are great fun to watch!! Audio commentary by Christopher Frayling (author of: "Spaghetti Westerns: Cowboys and Europeans from Karl May to Sergio Leone", 1981) impressively marks the difference between informative vs. talkative (yes, Sir!) and provides you with everything you always wanted to know about these Leone films but didn't know whom to ask... brilliant!!

Great movies that still hold up today, with some of the best commentary tracks, by Christopher Frayling. The image quality is pretty good too. Sergio Leone was truly a unique director like no other and these three movies demonstrate as much. All characters are magnified through his careful attention to detail, and Ennio Morricone's music is timeless.

This is a must-have collection for any man, or any lover of film. Sergio Leone invented the so-called "spaghetti western" -- Mexican western -- with this trilogy. Eastwood became a Hollywood star thanks to the huge boost that these Mexican films gave him. The movies introduce a silent, intelligent American drifter with a lightning-fast draw and dead-on accuracy, plus a knack for getting in over his head and back out again. The films are often remembered for their stunning dramatic effect, but it should be noted that Leone had a witty sense of humour and if you watch these films carefully you should be delighted by it. Right down to the fact that the boys in his films are pretty-faced and the adults are worn with wrinkles; the tragedy of adult sacrifice. His satircal edge and drama are as well balanced as the elements of realism and tall tale. As fun to watch as they are striking in believability, as sorrowful as they are touching, this is a classic series not to be missed!

On this package, two of my DVDs were actually from the "Best of Eastwood" collection. I don't know if this was a mistake in packaging or if they ran out of the right kind. But the visual quality seems good, and so I am satisfied with the error. With the collection as I received it, there are no real extra features as such. The eddition of prieviously edited out scenes was a mistake; they were taken out for good reason. They are great to see, enjoyable for a real fan of Leone's like myself, however I would have liked it better to have had a version of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" without those scenes in it.

But to have three of the best westerns ever made ("The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" being THE best), I am happy.