ENZO, QUENTIN & THE BASTARDS....

How to make an Enzo G. Castellari film: Enzo and his fan... and vice versa.


Enzo in 1967...


Tarantino's version of INGLORIOUS BASTARDS reportedly will begin filming this October...


Hell No, They Won't Go!

INGLORIOUS BASTARDS (1978) is a very entertaining Italian WWII action-adventure, especially when one experiences it via the new Severin DVD presentation. Sharing Disc 1 with the film itself is the featurette A CONVERSATION WITH QUENTIN TARANTINO AND ENZO G. CASTELLARI. Watching the wildly enthusiastic Tarantino gush over the film in the presence of the serene, subdued auteur (who admits he can't wait to see his famous fan's upcoming remake) brought a smile to my face, but not as big as the one Enzo wears. I can't imagine he ever thought his 30 year old knock-off of Robert Aldrich's THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967) would be getting this kind of deluxe digital treatment and be slated for updating by one of Hollywood's most high profile names.

It's endless Enzo on this 3 DISK "EXPLOSIVE" EDITION. Along with the Quentin-Enzo duet Disc 2 contains two documentaries: TRAIN-KEPT-A-ROLLIN', with Castellari, Fred Williamson, Bo Svenson, Massimo Vanni, FX artist Gino De Rossi, the producer and screenwriters, and BACK TO THE WAR ZONE, a locations featurette guided by the still bursting with energy Enzo. Disc 3 presents Francesco De Masi's bombastic soundtrack on a bonus CD. That's a lot, but there's even more... The extras, in this case, may surpass the feature, and the package offers several hours of bliss for the Euro genre gourmet, a delightful journey into a 1970's wonderland with the people who lived and made films there, painstakingly assembled by those who obviously care. The entire package adds up to one of the more impressive presentations of an obscure, decades-old Italian genre film. The feature itself has an audio commentary by Castellari, plus the Mono English track with optional English subtitles.

This is not a review, btw. I have a lot of watching and listening to do first. That will appear on my CINEMADROME DVD REVIEW FORUM when I have finally managed to make it through the feature with the commentary on, not to mention the three documentaries. Consider it a preliminary report...

Is it a great film? After an initial viewing of the feature last night [first time ever since I missed the old DEADLY MISSION and GI BRO video versions] I can immediately say that from its colorfully rotoscoped opening credits to its closing pyrotechnical display it's a helluva good ride, Pilgrim.

(c) 2008, Robert Monell