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Fort Yuma Gold / Damned Hot Day of Fire (Gatling Gun) – Mill Creek Entertainment (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Dates: Italy/France/Spain, 1966 (Fort Yuma Gold), Italy/Spain, 1968 (Damned Hot Day of Fire (Gatling Gun))
Directors: Giorgio Ferroni (Fort Yuma Gold), Paolo Bianchini (Damned Hot Day of Fire (Gatling Gun))
Cast: Giuliano Gemma, Dan Vadis, José Calvo, Ángel del Pozo, Andrea Bosic, Nello Pazzafini, Benito Stefanelli, Antonio Molino Rojo, Jacques Herlin, Furio Meniconi, Riccardo Pizzuti, José Manuel Martín (Fort Yuma Gold), John Ireland, Robert Woods, Ida Galli, Claudie Lange, Gérard Herter, Tiziano Cortini, Ennio Balbo, Roberto Camardiel, George Rigaud, Rada Rassimov (Damned Hot Day of Fire (Gatling Gun))

Release Date: March 12th, 2019
Approximate running times: 99 Minutes 49 Seconds (Fort Yuma Gold), 100 Minutes 13 Seconds (Damned Hot Day of Fire (Gatling Gun))
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Both Films)
Rating: NR
Sound: LPCM Mono English (Both Films)
Subtitles: N/A
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $14.98

"Fort Yuma Gold - After the end of the Civil War, the fanatic Southern Major Sanders (Jacques Sernas, La Dolce Vita) continues to fight and plans to attack Fort Yuma, home to a gold reserve. A captured Confederate soldier (Montgomery Wood, A Pistol for Ringo), agrees to lead Union solders to stop Sanders but their real mission and the charms of the beautiful Connie Breastfull complicate the situation and could cause more bloodshed. Damned Hot Day of Fire - The creator of the Gatling gun and his famous invention have been kidnapped and are being held from the Union for a million dollar ransom. Hoping they won't fall into the hands of the Confederates, Captain Chris Tanner (Robert Woods; Battle of the Bulge, 4 Dollars of Revenge) must find and stop the villianous Tarpas (John Ireland; Spartacus, All the King's Men)." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 2.5/5 (Fort Yuma Gold, Damned Hot Day of Fire (Gatling Gun))

Fort Yuma Gold and Damned Hot Day of Fire aka Gatling Gun come on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 43.6 GB

Feature: 21.7 GB (Fort Yuma Gold), 21.7 GB (Damned Hot Day of Fire (Gatling Gun))

There has not been any cleaning for these two transfers; there is print debris, scratches, and other source imperfections. Flesh tones and colors are inconsistent, image clarity is also lacking, black levels are mediocre, and there are compression-related issues.

Audio: 1.5/5 (Fort Yuma Gold), 2.5/5 (Damned Hot Day of Fire (Gatling Gun))

Fort Yuma Gold comes with one audio option, a LPCM mono mix in English.

Damned Hot Day of Fire (Gatling Gun) comes with one audio option, a LPCM mono mix in English. It should be noted that there is some dialog in Italian and it comes with non-removable English subtitles.

Both audio tracks have not been cleaned up; they both have source-related imperfections. Dialog is not as crisp as it should be, and range-wise, they both are lacking, sounding flat and at times muffled. That said, as bad as both tracks are, the audio track for Fort Yuma Gold is the weaker of the two audio tracks.

Extras:

This release comes with no extra content, just a menu where you can choose either film.

Summary:

Fort Yuma Gold: Directed by Giorgio Ferroni, whose other notable films are Mil of the Stone Women, The Trojan Horse, and Night of the Devils. Fort Yuma Gold is one of four Spaghetti westerns that Giorgio Ferroni directed; the other three are Blood for a Silver Dollar, Wanted, and Two Pistols and a Coward.

The narrative revolves around a captured confederate soldier who assists union soldiers to prevent an attack on Fort Yuma.

By 1966, the Spaghetti western genre was reaching the apex of its popularity, with hundreds of films being made a year. And though there have been some films that stand apart from the rest, the limited number of scenarios leads to a feeling of deja vu. Case in point: Fort Yuma Gold, a film that has two Spaghetti western staples: gold and setting the story during the Civil War.

Besides directors who became known for their work in the Spaghetti western genre, there are also actors like Giuliano Gemma (Day of Anger) who are synonymous with the spaghetti western genre. From 1965 to 1969, Giuliano Gemma appeared in 12 Spaghetti westerns. Though I have not been overly impressed by most of his performances, when it comes to physical action, he always more than holds his own. Performance-wise, the rest of the cast ranges from adequate to good.

Another area where Spaghetti westerns often excel is their scores. Though there are two composers listed, Ennio Morricone and Gianni Ferrio, Ennio Morricone's contributions are recycled from the score he wrote for Malamondo. Gianni Ferrio’s notable film scores are Massacre at Grand Canyon, A Bullet for Sandoval, Death Occurred Last Night, The Bloodstained Butterfly, and Death Walks at Midnight.

When it comes to action sequences, this is one area where Fort Gold Yuma always delivers. The most memorable moment is a torture scene where the protagonist is restrained and forced to look up at the sun. This scene also plays a role later on when the protagonist, who has regained their sight, fakes their blindness to get the upper hand on his captors.

Despite the familiarity of the premise and its cliched characters, it is an engaging story that does a good job holding your attention. Also, pacing is very good, as it does a great job balancing action and exposition. And a solid shootout finale that takes place during a mine shift is a very satisfying climax. Ultimately, Fort Yuma Gold is a well-made and entertaining Spaghetti western that fans of this genre should enjoy.

Damned Hot Day of Fire (Gatling Gun): Damned Hot Day of Fire (Gatling Gun) is one of four spaghetti westerns directed by Paolo Bianchini; the other three are God Made Them... I Kill Them, I Want Him Dead, and Hey Amigo! A Toast to Your Death.

The narrative revolves around a wrongly accused man who has been accused of a crime he did not commit and sentenced to death. In order to clear his name, a friend arranges for his temporary release from prison so he can find the inventor and the missing weapon.

Despite Damned Hot Day of Fire (Gatling Gun) having a solid premise and an opening where things start off strong, it is a fairly routine Spaghetti western with no big surprises. Also, there is not enough action and too much exposition.

When it comes to the cast, it is filled with many recognizable faces from European genre cinema of the 1960s and 1970s. That said, the weakest link, performance-wise, is Robert Woods (The Other Side of the Mirror) in the role of the protagonist, a man named Chris Tanner. His performance lacks the charisma that the best spaghetti western leads all have. The most memorable performance is by John Ireland (Run, Man, Run) in the role of Trapas, the ringleader behind the kidnapping.

From a production standpoint, despite there being more negatives than positives, There are a few standout moments, notably a nighttime graveyard shootout. Another strength is Piero Piccioni’s (10th Victim) score, which does a good job enhancing the mood. Ultimately, Damned Hot Day of Fire (Gatling Gun) is a by-the-numbers film that falls into the lower tier of the Spaghetti western genre.

Though this release can be found cheaply, its horrendous audio/video presentation makes it an easy pass.