Product Description
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Juan Miranda (Steiger) is a cigar-chomping, salt-of-the-earth
peasant with a Robin Hood heart. John Mallory (Coburn) is a
dynamite-tossing Irish revolutionary who has fled to Mexico to
practice his skills. Together, they're a devilishly volatile mix
of anti-establishment philosophies and violent tendencies as they
attempt to liberate political prisoners, defend their compatriots
against a well-equipped militia, and risk their lives on a train
filled with explosives.
.com
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A different sort of Sergio Leone Western, this one takes place
during the Mexican Revolution, with more politics than usual. But
there's still plenty of action, with Rod Steiger as a
cigar-chomping peasant who robs banks to liberate political
prisoners, and James Coburn as an Irish terrorist trying to flee
from his bitter past. They team up to thwart a sadistic officer
and help the cause; redemption for the more subdued Coburn
provides added depth. This contains the longer uncut version
(released in Italy) known as Duck, You Sucker, featuring more
flashbacks, more politics, and a more unsavory Steiger. But it's
terrific fun, with Ennio Morricone's moody score and Coburn's
most underrated performance. --Bill Desowitz
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Set Contains:
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Disc 1 presents Duck You Sucker in glorious 2.35:1-ratio
widescreen Techni (a "poor-man's Cinema" process that
squeezed two images into each normal 35mm frame), with a new
Dolby Digital 5.1-channel surround mix--admittedly a bane to
Leone purists who prefer the film's original mono soundtrack, but
a positive boon for 21st-century home-theater systems. In a his
lively and authoritative feature-length audio commentary, noted
British film historian and Leone biographer Sir Christopher
Frayling provides an in-depth analysis of the film, with
informative emphasis on the film's production history and factual
historical context.
On disc 2, Frayling's in-depth analysis continues in "The Myth
of Revolution" (22:10), a behind-the-scenes study of Leone's
deepening artistic maturity, as manifested in Duck You Sucker's
cynical view of political revolution. "Donati Remembers" (7:20)
is a continuation of the retrospective interview with
screenwriter Sergio Donati (who by the early '70s was urging
Leone to return to smaller-scale filmmaking), and "Once Upon a
Time in Italy" (6:00) explores the ambitious effort that went
into creating the definitive traveling exhibit of material
(props, s, costumes, etc.) from Leone's archives and
beyond, first shown at the Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage,
in Los Angeles, California, in July 2005. In "Sorting Out the
Versions" (11:37), film historian Glenn Erickson narrates a
visual survey of the various cuts and changes made to Duck You
Sucker during its tortured history of global distribution, and in
"Restoration Italian Style" (6:07), MGM director of technical
operations John Kirk outlines the painstaking effort to restore
Duck You Sucker to its original Italian premiere length of 157
minutes, resulting in the first-ever English language version
based on the film's Italian-language restoration of 1996. The
enjoyable "Location Comparisons" (9:32) provide a montage of
original Duck You Sucker film clips meticulously matched to
photos taken on the same locations in 2004 by devoted Leone fans
Donald S. Bruce and Marla J. Johnson. Also included are six
vintage promotional radio spots from the film's original U.S.
release in 1972, the original theatrical trailer, and an
accompanying 8-page booklet including cast lists, scene
selections and background history about the film. --Jeff Shannon
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