The Grand Duel
[Blu-Ray]

Description

The Grand Duel is an archetypal spaghetti western which boasts many of the genre s classic hallmarks including action-packed gunfights, wild stunts and an impressive climactic showdown... Genre stalwart Lee Van Cleef (The Big Combo, Day of Anger) stars as a gnarled ex-sheriff called Clayton who comes to the aid of young Philipp Wermeer (Alberto Dentice), a fugitive framed for the murder of a powerful figure called The Patriarch. Clayton helps Philipp fend off attacks from bounty hunters in a series of thrilling shootouts before the two make their way to Jefferson to confront three villains known as the Saxon brothers, and reveal who really killed The Patriarch. A complex tale of revenge penned by prolific giallo writer Ernesto Gastaldi (Torso, The Case of the Scorpion's Tail), The Grand Duel benefits from a beguiling central performance from Lee Van Cleef and assured helmsmanship from Giancarlo Santi (assistant director to Sergio Leone on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West). Add to this brew a memorable and tuneful score by composer Luis Bacalov (Django, Milano Calibro 9) and the stage is set for one of the grandest of all the Italian westerns. SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS * New 2K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative * High Definition Blu-rayTM (1080p) presentation * Uncompressed mono 1.0 LPCM audio * Original English and Italian soundtracks, titles and credits * Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack * Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack * New audio commentary by film critic, historian and theorist Stephen Prince * An Unconventional Western, a newly filmed interview with director Giancarlo Santi * The Last of the Great Westerns, a newly filmed interview with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi * Cowboy by Chance, an interview with the actor Alberto Dentice AKA Peter O'Brien * Out of the Box, a newly filmed interview with producer Ettore Rosboch * The Day of the Big Showdown, a newly filmed interview with assistant director Harald Buggenig * Saxon City Showdown, a newly filmed video appreciation by the academic Austin Fisher * Two Different Duels, a comparison between the original cut and the longer German cut of The Grand Duel * Game Over, an obscure sci-fi short film from 1984 directed by Bernard Villiot and starring The Grand Duel s Marc Mazza * Marc Mazza: Who was the Rider on the Rain?, a video essay about the elusive actor Marc Mazza by tough-guy film expert Mike Malloy * Original Italian and international theatrical trailers * Extensive image gallery featuring stills, posters, lobby cards and home video sleeves, drawn from the Mike Siegel Archive and other collections * Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin * FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Kevin Grant and original reviews

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