Doc West (2009/Lionsgate DVD)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C-     Telefilm: C-

 

 

Terrence Hill has had a long and interesting career.  The Italian star actor has appeared in films like Visconti’s The Leopard (1963, now on Blu-ray), My Name Is Nobody, the Trinity films and some Django sequels, with most of those successes being in the Western genre.  Doc West (2009) has him playing the title gambler, hunting down the men who stole his winnings in this awkward Revenge Western made for TV.

 

The shorter version of an even longer production, odds are slim it would work longer, but the attempt to be old fashioned holds back any potential this Italian production has.  Paul Sorvino also shows up, but even he cannot make this work.  That’s a shame because all we get is a safe package deal with a genre that is dead and needs totally reinvented each time out to work.  This will be the curio intended, but is otherwise an all around disappointment.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is soft and has motion blur, but it is supposedly shot in 35mm film, but does not always look that way.  Color is also an issue.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is really stretches out the simple stereo recording which is not exactly state of the art, making the combination no so gritty and not too effective.  Extras include a trailer gallery, but that is all.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo