THE GRAND DUEL - [Blu-ray]

The Grand Duel is an archetypal spaghetti western which boasts many of the genre’s classic hallmarks including action-packed gunfights, wild stunts and an impressive climactic showdown... Genre stalwart Lee Van Cleef (The Big Combo, Day of Anger) stars as a gnarled ex-sheriff called Clayton who comes to the aid of young Philipp Wermeer (Alberto Dentice), a fugitive framed for the murder of a powerful figure called The Patriarch. Clayton helps Philipp fend off attacks from bounty hunters in a series of thrilling shootouts before the two make their way to Jefferson to confront three villains known as the Saxon brothers, and reveal who really killed The Patriarch. A complex tale of revenge penned by prolific giallo writer Ernesto Gastaldi (Torso, The Case of the Scorpion's Tail), The Grand Duel benefits from a beguiling central performance from Lee Van Cleef and assured helmsmanship from Giancarlo Santi (assistant director to Sergio Leone on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West). Add to this brew a memorable and tuneful score by composer Luis Bacalov (Django, Milano Calibro 9) and the stage is set for one of the grandest of all the Italian westerns. SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS • New 2K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative • High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation • Uncompressed mono 1.0 LPCM audio • Original English and Italian soundtracks, titles and credits • Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack • New audio commentary by film critic, historian and theorist Stephen Prince • An Unconventional Western, a newly filmed interview with director Giancarlo Santi • The Last of the Great Westerns, a newly filmed interview with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi • Out of the Box, a newly filmed interview with producer Ettore Rosboch • The Day of the Big Showdown, a newly filmed interview with assistant director Harald Buggenig • Saxon City Showdown, a newly filmed video appreciation by the academic Austin Fisher • Original Italian and international theatrical trailers • Extensive image gallery featuring stills, posters, lobby cards and home video sleeves, drawn from the Mike Siegel Archive and other collections • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Kevin Grant and original reviews