Fernando di Leo Crime Collection [Blu-ray] [Import]

When I first heard these films would hit Blu-Ray, I was pretty excited since these Di Leo films are among his best and are some of my all time favorites. It was going to be great to see these films in definitive home video editions! Sadly, these new transfers don't look very good at all. They are swimming with digital noise and artifacts that may have been film grain at one point but is now a mass of swirling fuzz. The further away from the TV you get, the better the image appears to look.

The major letdown of the set, however, are the weird, split-second video glitches on the Blu-Ray disc of The Italian Connection (that can be seen in this photo I took here [...] ). Another similar glitch can be seen during the lumberyard fight, and then at least 5 more instances are seen during the final junkyard scene. I'm pretty sure this isn't an isolated incident, so if you've encountered these video glitches throughout the disc, please let Raro know that they need to correct this. They seem to not be willing to fix this problem at the moment and replied with this message to me:

"Thanks for pointing out the problem with the Italian Connection blu-ray. Unfortunately, at this point there's not much we can do to correct the disc. If you're dissatisfied with the collection you can return it and we'll issue you a refund. Alternatively we can send you the single DVD of the Italian Connection, so that you have a clean copy. Again, thank you for your feedback and ongoing interest in RaroVideo."

I'll most likely be returning my Blu-Ray set for a refund and sticking with the original Italian Raro DVDs that still look surprisingly great upconverted on my HDTV. It's a bummer. I want to support Raro because they are consistently releasing interesting and desirable Italian films that are English friendly. But, with their track record of quality already down the tubes, it's hard to recommend blind buying anything they release (Before this, they had issues with their DVD versions of The Boss and Dorian Grey). My fingers are crossed that they can overcome this and drastically improve their quality control.

Originally posted on [...]

In the past year or so I've really gotten into Italian cult cinema, mainly Giallo, but I've also become a growing fan of actresses such as Barbara Bouchet and Marisa Mell. When I learned a Bouchet film was going to be released on Blu-ray in this four film series I jumped on it, especially at the price point of $23.99 (what I pre-ordered it at). Having seen none of these films before and still being rather new to the Euro-Crime genre I didn't know what to expect. Having watched them all I'm glad I took the plunge.

Transfer wise there's no complaints from me, then again I'm not overly picky about picture and sound like some people are. I've watched and enjoyed enough bad VHS rips that for me it's more about the entertainment value than the quality, quality is just a bonus. But here the quality appears to be top notch to me, definitely better than I'm sure these films have ever looked before.

Film wise my personal favorite out of the four was The Italian Connection, for me it had the best combination of non stop action and story, Mario Adorf is simply awesome, never a dull moment. The other three films are also entertaining in their own rights, although I was a little disappointed in Caliber 9, Bouchet's role was pretty minimal and as one of the more hyped films in the collection I actually found it a little boring at times, Mario Adorf and the limited amount of Bouchet carried that one for me.

Anyone whose a fan of these films or this genre should be more than happy with this set. The current price of $24.99 is simply a steal for these four films on Blu-ray.

3.5 stars for average entertainment value of the films.
5 stars for the value of the set itself.
Average 4 stars.

These 4 Fernando Di leo movies are amont The best eurocrimes movies ever. My preference goes to Calibre 9, a nearby masterpiece.
The whole box is a treat: The hi-def transfers are perfect, great bonuses all over... Raro video made a good choice and a truly great work.
Highly recommended.