Django the Bastard – Synapse Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1969
Director: Sergio Garrone
Writers: Sergio Garrone, Anthony Steffen
Cast: Anthony Steffen, Rada Rassimov, Paolo Gozlino, Luciano Rossi

Release Date: August 13th, 2019
Approximate running time: 99 Minutes 1 Second
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: PG
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $24.95

"Anthony Steffen (The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave, Killer Fish) stars as the mysterious stranger named Django, a ghost-like figure who walks into a dusty western town with vengeance on his mind. As he finds the men he’s looking for, he places a cross with the person’s name and death date in the middle of the street before enacting violent revenge! Is Django truly an unstoppable human army-of-one, or an avenging immortal angel of death?" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "remastered in high-definition widescreen from a beautiful original 35mm negative element."

Django the Bastard comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 22.7 GB

Feature: 22.2 GB

The source used for this transfer is in very good shape, and any source-related damage is minimal. The image looks crisp, the colors look correct, the black levels remain strong throughout, there are no issues with compression, and the image always looks organic. When compared to the transfer used for VCI’s Entertainment DVD release for this film, this new transfer is a massive upgrade that’s superior in every way.

Audio: 4.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English with removable English SDH. The audio is in excellent shape; there are no issues with hiss or distortion. Dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and range-wise, this track sounds very good.

Extras:

Extras for this release are limited to an audio commentary with film historian Troy Howarth.

Summary:

Directed by Sergio Garrone, whose other notable films are The Hand That Feeds the Dead and Lover of the Monster. Alternate titles that Django the Bastard has been released under include The Strangers Gundown and Django the Avenger.

The narrative revolves around a mysterious stranger who tracks down the men who left him for dead and exacts his vengeance upon them.

By the late 1960s, the Spaghetti western genre had reached its apex with Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West. And though the Spaghetti western genre would have a brief resurgence because of films like They Call Me Trinity and My Name is Nobody, these Spaghetti westerns that came later in this genre cycle were the polar opposite of the films that came before them.

That said, though, the Spaghetti western genre would go through a major transformation after Once Upon a Time in the West. There are few films that came out after Once Upon a Time in the West that keep the violent tone that this genre is most remembered for. Case in point: Sergio Garrone’s Django the Bastard.

On the surface, though, Django the Bastard does not stray too far away from the elements that have become synonymous with the Spaghetti western genre. To simply write Django the Bastard off as yet another film trying to cash in on The Man with No Trilogy would be doing Django the Bastard a great disservice.

Nowhere does Django the Bastard set itself apart from other Spaghetti western films more than when it comes to its use of Gothic horror elements. The narrative revolves around a mysterious stranger named Django, whose ability to disappear into the shadows lends itself to the theory that he’s actually a ghost. And even when there are moments in the finale that imply that he may actually be flesh and blood, the ambiguous ending once again reinforces the theory that there’s something supernatural about his presence.

When discussing the most celebrated Spaghetti westerns, they all feature grand entrances for their protagonists. And Django the Bastard’s opening sequence follows in this tradition. After shots of what appears to be an empty town, the camera finally reveals the protagonist, who puts a makeshift cross into the ground. This cross then angers the men playing cards in the salon, who then come outside to face Django.

Though the score at times sounds like a score, that’s trying to mimic Ennio Morricone. It is still a very effective score that perfectly captures the mood of the story at hand. The atmospheric visuals do a superb job reinforcing a foreboding mood, and the action set pieces are well executed.

Without a doubt, Django the Bastard’s greatest asset is Anthony Steffen’s (The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave) emotionless portrayal of Django. His subdued performance perfectly reinforces the mysterious aura that surrounds Django.

Another performance of note is Luciano Rossi (Death Walks at Midnight) in the role of Jack Murdock, the deranged younger brother of an army major who betrayed Django. Though this role, like most of the others that he played, was a secondary one, he made a career out of portraying psychopaths, like the character he portrays in Django the Bastard.

From a production standpoint, there’s not an area where Django the Bastard does not excel. The revenge-themed premise is well executed; it is briskly paced, and key moments of the narrative have ample time to resonate. Another strength of the narrative is how effectively it uses flashbacks to fill in Django’s backstory. Ultimately, Django the Bastard is a diamond in the rough in the crowded Spaghetti western genre, which, at its peak, was churning out over 100 films per year.

Though light on extras, Django the Bastard gets a strong audio/video presentation from Synapse Films, recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer