Just dug out my old laserdisc...

[Lil Brutto]

just found this on youtube; claims to have the full beating scene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCQp9rnsuEk

That is indeed the full length beating scene spliced together by LeoneNut, the guy who has offered "fan" edits of SL films in the past.

[Jordan Krug]

So, I picked up the new fox/mgm blu ray of FAFDM at walmart for 9.95...

A couple of interesting things :

-There's a new feature on it (this does not appear on any of the older dvd's) about Frayling's collection of posters - I quite enjoyed it, it goes into a lot of detail about the various ad campaigns.

-It has 2 trailers in 1080- both the british versions which feature all of the alternate footage (different takes and some new angles as well, very cool to see these in high def

-The 5.1 mix FIXES the thunderclap when Eastwood lifts his head after lighting his cigar at white rocks but is STILL completely out of sync. Very easy to compare when you switch to the mono mix (which still has the wrong thunderclap position) which is in sync. Gunshots, doors closing etc all out of sync in the 5.1

- Picture is sharper than the italian blu-ray but the cuts remain and it looks digitally sharpened, resulting in some ugly digital noise. I think I prefer the italian BR as it looks a bit more natural.

[Lil Brutto]

...I think I prefer the italian BR as it looks a bit more natural.

Me too.

[Jordan Krug]

After watching through the movie - now I think the mono might be out of sync in spots - the very end of the scene where Eastwood shoots the apples off the trees - the last shot of van cleef (last shot of the scene) is accompanied by a "twang". In the 5.1 the twang occurs right on the cut to Van Cleef - in the mono the twang starts before the cut - which to me looks out of sync because the joke of the twang should be right on the cut to Van Cleef.

Sigh. One of these days I'm going to use both versions to create a proper 1080 english cut using the italian picture.

[Sensitive Mule]

I recently got the box set version of the trilogy on LD (same as separate releases), and have been going through the films on my favorite outdated format.

AFOD is uncut, print is overall in good shape with similar color to the restored 35mm print. Audio is the best available quality for the English mono track as everything else is lossy ac3 and EQ'd to remove noise. The noise here is very minimal and it's only in the last half of the final reel that some intrinsic transfer noise comes through. Wonderful audio. The video master for this was reused for the initial DVD with some minor cleanup. The audio was scrubbed of detail for the DVD mono.

FAFDM is a mixed blessing. The picture is good, coming from a worn print source. It looks overall to be the same source as the MGM DVD, and a 1967 United Artists edited release print. The "third eye" shot of Mortimer's first bounty is excised.  Also missing is the end of the scene where Col. Mortimer gets his bounty, with the mention of Manco being cut right out. The thunderclap/face reveal is correct. Indio only shoots once through the door in his prison escape, with the other shots from the reverse angle cut. His extended laugh is present. The correct night to dawn color timing is present. The beating scene is heavily cut, with most not even having the punching sounds intact.
Audio is again great, despite the censoring. The video seems to be more open than the correct 2.35, more like a 1.8 or 2.0:1 framing.

GBU uses an Italian print seemingly, as all the onscreen title captions for the characters are in Italian. The picture is good, but cropped too closely for more of a 2.5:1 ratio. Audio is excellent.

MGM usually took IPs or available prints and synced them to higher generation audio at this time. The PCM audio here may have come from the English dub master.

The 35mm archival print of FAFDM I saw a few years ago (2010 or so) was said to be the only one MGM had. It was heavily damaged, and I was braced for an edited 1967 release print. What instead played was a beautiful yet heavily worn print that was fully complete. I cannot remember exactly if Indio's laugh or the beating scene was intact (pretty sure the laugh might have been there, but not the beating). So where exactly these sources came form I don't know. Also, FAFDM was restored by Triage from the Techniscope negative for MGM, and used for the remastered DVD/Blu so who knows what exactly has gone on with the film.

[Jordan Krug]

Thanks for your detailed review. It appears that the best version of fafdm is the recently released German blu ray (even though it is basically a glorified patchwork quilt of various sources). Other than the thunder crash still being out of sync, picture wise it is complete.

[Lil Brutto]

GBU uses an Italian print seemingly, as all the onscreen title captions for the characters are in Italian. The picture is good, but cropped too closely for more of a 2.5:1 ratio. Audio is excellent.

It is a commonly held belief that MGM used an Italian print due to the Italian onscreen titles. However, the opening credits and end title are in English, the beating scene is the International cut, the sequence where Blondie says, "Sorry, Tuco" is intact, and Tuco yells, "Just a dirty son of a bitch!" instead of " "Sei il figlio di una grandissima puttana!"

I don't know what the explanation is for this. It is indeed a release print (as reel change markers are present) and the color timing is consistent throughout the film so it doesn't look like multiple sources were used.

[dave jenkins]

A version of GBU with the Italian titles for the three characters used to play on U.S. television. I might be mis-remembering this, but it seemed to me they were introduced by their English titles, but supplied with their Italian ones at the end of the picture.

[Lil Brutto]

I think you're right. I recall the version on VHS did the same; using a combination of English and Italian titles.

[cigar joe]

ditto I remember that also.

[Sensitive Mule]

I just went through and spot compared the LDs for GBU against the original DVD and SE.

The initial LD has Italian captions but is the US international version.
The remastered LD has English captions that were simply subbed into the same transfer. (Same damage marks in video and audio) Has less video noise and overall slightly better color. Also correct framing as the older laser is a bit cropped. Note: Some idiot forgot the English subs on the Italian extra scenes.
The original DVD is the same as the remastered LD but with better picture. 16:9!  However the sound is lossy ac3 which has been EQ'd and scrubbed to be cleaner, thus losing detail and effect.

I'm pretty sure MGM used a International interpositive as their source, which would have had Italian onscreen captions meant to be subbed out for the language of whatever country a print was being made for, just like the dubs.

See what happens when you own 6 copies of GBU alone? 

[Lil Brutto]

I don't think the 1990/93 and 1998 LDs are from the same transfer. The 1990/1993 LD is a release print with reel change markers but the 1998 LD doesn't have any reel change markers. The 1990/1993 LD is also cut; the opening scene as well as the dining scene are significantly shorter. I don't recall the film damage between the LD versions being the same either.