10kbullets

The Mercenary – Kino Lorber (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy/Spain/USA, 1968
Director: Sergio Corbucci
Writers: Franco Solinas, Giorgio Arlorio, Luciano Vincenzoni, Sergio Spina, Adriano Bolzoni, Sergio Corbucci
Cast: Franco Nero, Tony Musante,Eduardo Fajardo, Franco Ressel, Álvaro de Luna, Raf Baldassarre, Joe Kamel, Jack Palance, Giovanna Ralli

Release Date: November 7th, 2017
Approximate running time: 106 Minutes 34 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: PG-13
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: N/A
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: OOP

"He Sells Death to the Highest Bidder! Sergei ‘The Polish’ Kowalski (Franco Nero, Django, Companeros), a mercenary who’s only out for himself and a few dollars, joins up with a Mexican peasant-turned-revolutionary, Paco Roman (Tony Musante, The Grissom Gang) to rob a silver mine in Texas. No longer content to toil for the rich and powerful, Roman plans to bring a new order to Mexico by force with his small ragtag gang. While Roman and Kowalski are outnumbered facing the Mexican army, they also have to contend with Curly (Jack Palance, Ten Seconds to Hell), a vengeful killer out for blood." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.5/5

The Mercenary comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 26.1 GB

Feature: 22.5 GB

The Mercenary has had a very limited home video history on DVD, and this release from Kino Lorber marked its HD debut in North America. And though no information is provided about its source, it is in very good shape, and any source imperfections are minimal. Flesh tones and colors look correct, the image looks crisp, black levels fare well, and compression is very good. That said, despite its shortcomings, this transfer is still the best this film has looked to date on home video.

Audio: 3.75/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English. The audio sounds clean, clear, and balanced; ambient sounds are well represented; and Ennio Morricone’s score sounds robust.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a stills image gallery titled Mercenario in Pictures (6 minutes 12 seconds, DTS-HD mono with music from The Mercenary playing in the background), a publicity image gallery titled Promoting Mercenario (10 minutes 20 seconds, DTS-HD mono with music from The Mercenary playing in the background), a theatrical trailer (1 minute 53 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), and an audio commentary with filmmaker Alex Cox, author of 10,000 Ways to Die: A Director’s Take on the Italian Western.

Other extras include trailers for Navajo Joe, A Fistful of Dollars, Death Rides a Horse, and Valdez is Coming.

Summary:

When Spaghetti westerns are discussed and the name Sergio comes up, we immediately think of Sergio Leone, not the other Sergio (Sergio Corbucci). And Sergio Corbucci, in total, would direct seven spaghetti westerns that are widely considered classics of this genre. Most notably, Django, The Great Silence, Compañeros, and The Mercenary All of his spaghetti westerns had a style and originality to them that set them apart from the countless clones that would ultimately contribute to the genre's demise.

Sergio Corbucci crafts an epic film that is inventive in its composition. And he helped co-write the script, which is laced with tongue-in-cheek dialog. There are also several religious references in this film, like a scene where Franco Nero’s character is captured and strapped to a cross. And Paco starts out with twelve men (Disciples) when he meets Kowalski (The Savoir).

As mentioned before, humor plays a role in the story at hand. And though The Mercenary predates films like Trinity and My Name is Nobody, the humor is more organic than the satirical spaghetti westerns that would rise to prominence in the early 1970s.

Performance-wise, Franco Nero (High Crime) in the role of Sergei Kowalski, aka the Polish, and Tony Musante (The Bird With the Crystal Plumage) in the role of Paco Roman make a formidable duo. And though Tony Musante portrays a character type that is very similar to the type of characters that Tomas Milian often portrayed in Spaghetti westerns, Tony Musante delivers a more restrained version of this type of character. And Jack Palance (Marquis de Sade’s Justine) delivers another scene-stealing, mesmerizing performance in the role of Ricciolo, aka 'Curly'.

The ever-dependable Ennio Morricone is the composer for The Mercenary. And he once again creates a score that not only enhances the story at hand but also perfectly sets the mood. Quentin Tarantino used the music cue L’Arena from The Mercenary’s score in Kill Bill Volume 2.

Though a film like The Mercenary fits firmly into the Zapata western subgenre of spaghetti westerns with its political and social commentary about revolution, Tone-wise, there are several lighthearted moments that set it apart from other Zapata westerns, which tend to be heavy-handed in their social commentary. Ultimately, The Mercenary is one of the spaghetti westerns high points and a must-see if you are a fan of this genre.

The Mercenary gets a strong release from Kino Lorber that comes with a good audio/video presentation and an informative audio commentary.