Regular readers may know that the MMC! household is pretty Godzilla crazy. Couple that with Father’s Day passing not long ago and you can guess how happy we were to discover Cressa Beer’s The Godzilla Kid (2019), a very entertaining Spaghetti Western/kaiju/father and son mash-up prepared as a bumper for the 2019 Cinepocalypse Film Festival. Described by The A.V. Club‘s Randall Colburn as the “year’s best Godzilla movie,” The Godzilla Kid features a stop-motion Baby Godzilla riding a T-Rex across the frontier on a giant monster-hunt, then pulls an adorable switcheroo. Be sure to stick with the film through its credits to enjoy one last hilarious gag and check out Beer’s YouTube page for more Godzilla-inspired fun!
Spaghetti Westerns
The Specialist (Sergio Corbucci, 1969)
HIS SPECIALTY IS VENGEANCE!
French pop superstar Johnny Hallyday is Hud, a solitary gunfighter devoted to avenging the murder of his brother falsely accused of robbing a bank and hung by the townsfolk of Blackstone, Nevada. Riding into town, Hud finds himself caught between the town’s plotting elite, their by-the-book sheriff, and the gang of bandits outside of town led by the one-armed El Diablo.
Sergio Corbucci and cinematographer Dario Di Palma create a stylishly cynical revenge Western unlike any other. Featuring memorable scene-chewing performances by Gastone Moschin and Mario Adorf and roles by the beautiful Françoise Fabian, Sylvie Fennec, and Angela Luce, The Specialist is a strange, disillusioned parable presented here in an exclusive high definition restoration from the original Techniscope negative.
Special Features:
- Brand new restoration from the original 35mm Techniscope camera negative
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
- Original Italian and English soundtracks in uncompressed PCM mono audio
- Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack
- A Man Called Hud – brand new interview with star Johnny Hallyday
- Hooray for Pollywood – brand new interview with star Francoise Fabian
- Archived interview of director Sergio Corbucci
- US, European, and international trailers
- Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Austin Fisher
The Mercenary (Sergio Corbucci, 1968)
HE SELLS DEATH TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER!
After his iconic role as Sergio Corbucci’s Django, Franco Nero teamed up once again with the Spaghetti Western’s “other Sergio” to become The Mercenary. Nero plays Kowalski, a Polish mercenary who sells his expertise to a band of Mexican outlaws led by Paco Roman (Tony Musante), and aids them as they seek to support the revolution and themselves. When the Federal Army closes in, loyalties and political philosophies become strained between Kowalski, Paco, and their beautiful revolutionary ally Columba (Giovanna Ralli). Jack Palance joins Corbucci’s fabulous cast as Curly, Kowalski’s dandified rival and cutthroat villain. With a memorable score by Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai, The Mercenary is a political statement with loads of commercial appeal, presented here in an exclusive high-definition restoration from the original Techniscope negative.
Special Features:
- Brand new restoration from the original 35mm Techniscope camera negative
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
- Original Italian and English soundtracks in uncompressed PCM mono audio
- Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack
- Brand new interview with star Franco Nero
- How to Make a Revolution – featurette on the film’s production including interviews with Franco Nero, Tony Musante, Sergio Corbucci, Nora Corbucci, Luciano Vincenzoni, and Eugenio Alabiso
- US, European, and international trailers
- Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Austin Fisher and Howard Hughes
Make Mine Criterion! 