Compañeros – Blue Underground (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1970
Director: Sergio Corbucci
Writers: Sergio Corbucci, Massimo De Rita, Fritz Ebert, José Frade, Arduino Maiuri
Cast: Franco Nero, Tomas Milian, Jack Palance, Fernando Rey, Iris Berben, José Bódalo, Eduardo Fajardo, Karin Schubert

Release Date: October 28th, 2014
Approximate running times: 115 Minutes (English Language Version), 119 Minutes 18 Seconds (Italian Language Version)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Both Versions)
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English (English Language Version), DTS-HD Mono Italian, DTS-HD Mono Italian/English Hybrid (Italian Language Version)
Subtitles: English (Italian Language Version), English SDH, French, Spanish (English Language Version)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $29.95

"Yodlaf Peterson (Franco Nero of Django) is a suave Swedish arms dealer with a love for fast money. Vasco (Tomas Milian of Traffic) is a trigger-happy Mexican bandit with a hate for suave Swedish arms dealers. But when the two men team up to kidnap a professor who holds the key to a fortune in gold, they find themselves hunted by the American army, stalked by a marijuana-crazed sadist (Academy Award winner Jack Palance) and trapped in the middle of a revolution about to explode. Can these two enemies blast their way across Mexico together without killing each other first?” – Synopsis provided by the Distributor

Video: 3.5/5 (English Language Version), 3.75/5 (Italian Language Version)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Now freshly transferred in gorgeous High Definition from the original negative."

Compañeros comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 44.8 GB

Feature: 18.8 GB (English Language Version), 23.3 GB (Italian Language Version)

Though the source used for this transfer has been cleaned up, there appears to be some mild filtering of the image. That said, when compared to Compañeros previous home video releases, this new transfer is an improvement in every way. Also, when comparing the transfers for each version, there are many areas where they are not alike; the Italian language version has stronger colors, and the English language versions look brighter.

Audio: 4.5/5

The English-language version comes with one audio option: a DTS-HD mono mix in English. This version comes with removable English SDH, Spanish, and French subtitles.

The Italian-language version comes with two audio options: a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian and a DTS-HD mono mix in an Italian/English hybrid track. This latter track presents scenes that were not dubbed in English and are presented in Italian with removable English subtitles. This version also comes with removable English subtitles for the Italian-language track.

All three audio mixes sound great. Dialog always comes through clearly; everything sounds balanced and robust when it should. Also, ambient sounds and Ennio Morricone’s score are well represented. Quality because these three audio tracks are comparable.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a poster & still gallery, Italian theatrical trailer (2 minutes 32 seconds, Dolby Digital mono with Italian text, no subtitles), English language theatrical trailer (2 minutes 27 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), two television spots (1 minute 2 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an archival featurette with comments from actors Franco Nero and Tomas Milan, and composer Ennio Morricone titled In the Company of Companeros (17 minutes 2 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English and Italian with non-removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with journalists Henry Parke and C. Courtney Joyner.

Summary:

Directed by Sergio Corbucci, whose other notable Spaghetti Westerns include Django, Hellbenders, The Great Silence, and The Mercenary.

The narrative revolves around an arms dealer and a Mexican bandit who are forced to put their differences aside and work together when it becomes apparent that they have a common goal.

The spaghetti western, like all genres, has sub-genres, and Compañeros falls into the Zapata western genre. This genre is defined by its location and time in Mexico during its revolution, and the majority of these are political in tone, most notably from a Marxist point of view. Another familiar plot device for this genre was that one main character was a Mexican bandit who was ignorant in regards to politics, while the other character, a foreigner (of American or European descent), would find a way to interject themselves into a position of power within the Mexican bandit’s inner circle and thus convince them to participate in the revolution.

The two characters at the opposite end of the spectrum that anchor this film are a Swedish arms dealer named Yodlaf Peterson and a Mexican bandit named Vasco. The Swede, as he is often referred to in the film, is looking for Vasco’s boss, a man named Mongo, a self-proclaimed general in name only. In reality, he is the leader of a gang of bandits who are using the revolution to disguise their true intentions. The Swede is looking to sell his cache of weapons to Mongo and his men. Unfortunately, along the way, it becomes apparent that they don’t have the funds to complete the transaction. From there, a plan is concocted to rescue Professor Xantos, a real revolutionary who is in prison and also happens to be the only one who knows the combination to the safe containing The Swede’s payday. Along the way, Vasco becomes a changed man and joins forces with Xantos and the real revolutionaries.

Content-wise, Compañeros has everything that any diehard spaghetti western fan would want and then some. It was made as the genre was at a crossroads, as the violent tone was exchanged in favor of lighthearted humor. Fortunately for those who long for the good old days of down-and-dirty spaghetti westerns with a mean streak, This film finds the perfect balance between what had come before and what was now in vogue. Another area where this film often excels is the way it interjects social commentary into the story at hand without ever being too heavy-handed.

When discussing the spaghetti western genre, two things instantly spring to mind: the visuals and the score. There is never a shortage of inventive or picturesque imagery in Compañeros, as every inch is meticulously framed for maximum effect. Compañeros' bookend opening and beginning sequences immediately set the tone for what is to come visually. Once again, Morricone creates a remarkable score that instantly draws you in and is impossible to forget.

Without a doubt, Compañeros's asset is the performances of its cast, who are all extremely good in their respective roles. Front and center when discussing the performance are the two leading men, Franco Nero in the role of the Swede and Tomas Milian in the role of Vasco. These two have a tremendous amount of chemistry, and it is a shame that Compañeros is the only film they appear in together. Of these two performances, the slight edge goes to Tomas Milan since his character shows more growth than Franco Nero’s. Other performances of note include Jack Palance (Marquis de Sade’s Justine) in the role of a pot-smoking mercenary with a pet vulture, Fernando Rey (Cold Eyes of Fear) in the role of Professor Xantos, and Karin Schubert (Ubalda, All Naked and Warm) in the role of a call girl. Ultimately, Compañeros is an exceptional film that firmly entrenches itself as one of the best films to emerge from the Spaghetti Western genre.

Compañeros gets a good release from Blue Underground that comes with solid audio and a pair of informative extras; unfortunately, the transfer leaves some room for improvement.

                                          English Language Version Screenshots.

                                              Italian Language Version Screenshots.

Written by Michael Den Boer