Blu-Ray Review: The Grand Duel

In the mid-1960s, a very strange phenomenon occurred in the American-centric world of Westerns. Whilst there was already a small industry of comedy variants being made in Europe, it wasn’t until that decade that a proliferation of Italian finance, directors and producers created the stylised sub-genre of the Spaghetti Western. The unrivalled master of these multi-lingual marvels was Sergio Leone. Giancarlo Santi worked as his assistant on The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West. In 1972 he directed The Grand Duel.

On the run from a prison for the murder of the patriarch of Saxon city, Philip Wermeer (Alberto Dentice) is a wanted man with a price on his head. When he’s finally cornered it looks like the game is up. However, he’s rescued by a mysterious sheriff (Lee Van Cleef) who is convinced of his innocence. Through a number of skirmishes and escapades, the pair make their ways towards an eventual showdown with David (Horst Frank) and Adam Saxton (Klaus Grünberg).

At times feeling like an opera, The Grand Duel is a Western which harks back to the greats of the proceeding two decades. It’s one of Lee Van Cleef’s last great films and a testament to his lasting popularity and charisma. The story itself is a bit hit and miss but there’s an energy which keeps events going at a lively pace. In the end, The Grand Duel is one big set-up for a final showdown, and it doesn’t disappoint.

Extras:

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
Cowboy by Chance, an interview with the actor Alberto Dentice AKA Peter O’Brien
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