About time! Corbucci's Navajo Joe, which so far has never been available on DVD outside Japan, is finally getting an English-friendly DVD release courtesy of MGM. Release date is set May 13, no details yet on any possible bonus features - but it's MGM, and so we should be lucky that they've gone through the trouble of releasing this at all. Previously, Navajo Joe was part of a bunch of spaghetti western gems rotting away in the license clutches of MGM, apparently deemed too unprofitable to be worth a DVD release. But, while Navajo Joe is a decent film, the most prominent victim of MGM's shelving practice has always been [b]Il Mercenario[/b]. Which means: BUY this disc when it comes out! And there might finally be a decent chance to see Corbucci's true masterpiece on DVD as well.
Django is certainly a tad overrated as a film, in my opinion, but you can't fault it for its establishment of a character that was kinda different and unique in comparison to Leone's Man With No Name. Also, the setting.
Corbucci's best film is THE GREAT SILENCE, if you ask me. Which is also among the top three of the genre. And perhaps my top ten films ever.
Django was one of those movies that certainly needed a good re-interpretation, it has some good ideas, but maybe not the best execution. Miike's take is quite good and adds a lot more story than the original did.
And yes, watch The Great Silence, that one do lives to it's reputation of being a great overlooked film. You can't say no to Klaus Kinski playing a villian named "loco".
I actually just purchased Navajo Joe in a pack with three other westerns at the Great Canadian Superstore (kind of a Canadian Wal-mart) for $5! It also included Pancho Villa (Telly Savalas, Chuck Conners!), A Town Called Hell (not to be confused with High Plains Drifter) and Eagles's Wing (1979 Martin Sheen). I was pretty excited as I have not seen any of these films available previously. They are distributed by Direct Source Special Products Inc.
I think DJANGO's bloody brilliant. Lean, grimy, low-rent, yet jammed full of utterly iconic imagery that's been appropriated by other filmmakers ever since, too many times to count. Such a shame that the English dub is so wretched - watching a Western in Italian is somewhat distracting; that that is the best way to experience DJANGO is quite unfortunate. Repeat viewings of DJANGO have worked in its favor for me. My first time watching it back in the VHS days, I was rather underwhelmed - that's no longer the case.
But Django is on R1 with the Italian language track. That's the one I watched. And grew bored with.
And no offense, but most of what Django has to offer has been done by Kurosawa and Leone. Everything else it added was gristle. I thought it was overlong, formulaic and flat-out uninteresting. What aside from the gatling gun does it offer up in terms of originality?