Brothers Till We Die – 88 Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1978
Director: Umberto Lenzi
Writers: Umberto Lenzi, Tomas Milian
Cast: Tomas Milian, Pino Colizzi, Isa Danieli, Sal Borgese, Luciano Catenacci, Solvi Stubing, Guido Leontini

Release Date: February 24th, 2020
Approximate Running Time: 97 Minutes 46 seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVCC
Rating: 15 (UK)
Sound: LPCM Mono English, LPCM Mono Italian
Subtitles: English (Italian Language)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: £15.99 (UK)

"Brothers Till We Die is a hard-as-nails crime flick with the very great Tomas Milian (Syndicate Sadists, Django Kill) doing double duty as lookalike brothers – Il Gobbo ('the Hunchback') and Er Monnezza, both of them up to no good. A robbery is planned but the boys are betrayed; you'd better believe that revenge is on the way, served up as only Lenzi can." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.75/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, “HD transfer in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio."

Brothers Till We Die comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 34.6 GB

Feature: 24.9 GB

The vagueness about the source, leads me to believe that this is a dated master. The image generally looks crisp, colors and black levels fare well, there are no issues with compression, there’s no issues with noise reduction and issues related to digital tinkering are minimal.

Audio: 4.25/5

This release comes with two audio options, a LPCM mono mix in English and a LPCM mono mix in Italian. Both audio tracks are in great shape, dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced and range wise ambient sounds are well represented. There are two subtitle options for this release. English subtitles for the Italian language track and English subtitles for the English language track that translates an Italian newspaper.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a trailer for Brothers Till We Die (3 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an Introduction by Mike Malloy, director of Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the ’70s (11 minutes 17 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Franco Micalizzi titled Master of Funk (19 minutes 32 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with English subtitles), an interview with composer Antonello Venditti titled Heart of Rome (18 minutes 51 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with English subtitles), an audio commentary with film historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson, reversible cover art, a slipcover and a twelve-page booklet with an essay titled Of Hunchbacks and Men: Poverty, Crooks, and Derelicts in Umberto Lenzi’s Brothers Till We Die written by Francesco Massaccesi.

Summary:

Throughout cinema’s history there have been many standout actor/director combinations. And arguably one of Italian cinema’s greatest actor/director collaborations was Tomas Milian and Umberto Lenzi. In all, they work on a total of five films, culminating with Brothers Till We Die.

Content wise, though Brothers Till We Die has all the core elements that have become synonymous with Poliziotteschi (Italian crime films) cinema. The result is a tongue in cheek film that’s polar opposite of bleak tone associated with Poliziotteschi cinema. Another area where Brothers Till We Die differs from most Poliziotteschi cinema, is its lack of social commentary. There are no sides in Brothers Till We Die, just shades of grey.

Without a doubt, Brothers Till We Die’s greatest asset is Tomas Milian (The Big Gundown, Don’t Torture a Duckling). And in Brothers Till We Die, you get two times Tomas Milian, who portrays two of his most celebrated characters, the Hunchback and Monnezza. He delivers delirious performances that are overflowing with enthusiasm and fully embrace the absurdity that unfolds.

Though, Umberto Lenzi is often dismissed as a work-man director who lacks an auteur touch. Brothers Till We Die is another solid example of how good of a director he actually was. Not only does he take full advantage of every composition. His ability to create tense action set pieces is second to none. Ultimately, Brothers Till We Die is a very satisfying mix of humor and mayhem.

Brothers Till We Die gets a first-rate release from 88 Films that comes with a strong audio//video presentation and a wealth of extra content, recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer