For a Few Dollars More appears in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Like Fistful of Dollars, this flick came with more problems than I’d like.
The movie came with an “overcranked” feel that implied that someone cranked up artificial sharpness too much. Superficially, some scenes looked good, but too much of it seemed awkward and off.
Edge haloes came along for the ride, as those became a mild but persistent partner. No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects materialized.
Grain felt heavy and clumpy, as that side of the image didn’t come across as natural. The movie tended to wobble too much and small but moderately frequent specks cropped up along the way.
The palette went with the same slant toward arid tones and subdued blue/teal I saw with Fistful. The color seemed adequate but without great range.
Blacks continued to lean crushed, while shadows were fine outside of the usual overly dense “day for night” shots. Although More gave us a watchable presentation, it definitely could use an upgrade.
While more expansive than the conservative remix for Fistful, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 came with its own ups and downs. On the positive side, the soundscape did open up more than I heard for its predecessor.
This meant music that spread across the front as well as a fair amount of directional dialogue. Effects use the forward domain in a moderately engaging manner as well.
Surrounds played less of a role but they added decent ambience at times and also kicked to life more actively on occasion. As expected, this meant information from the rear channels during the action scenes.
Audio quality turned into a weaker link, but not entirely due to the usual culprit: the iffy nature of recordings for 1960s Italian films. As always, the movie came only with looped dialogue, and this meant lines that seemed thin and unnatural.
On the other side of the coin, effects showed largely positive reproduction, but they felt too accurate because many clearly came from more modern re-recordings. That didn’t turn into a consistent rule, as plenty of stems appeared to emanate from the 1960s.
When the newer effects appeared, they stuck out like the proverbial sore thumb. While this did mean positive quality, the elements didn’t match the rest of the track well and they turned into a distraction.
Music worked fine, as the score showed reasonable clarity, albeit without great dimensionality. The audio’s mix of pluses and minuses left it as a “C+”.
The Blu-ray also delivered the movie’s theatrical monaural track, albeit via a lossy Dolby Digital presentation. This seemed tinny and thin much of the time.
As we head to extras, we launch with an audio commentary from film historian Sir Christopher Frayling. He provides a running, screen-specific look at story and characters, genre areas, cast and crew, production elements, the movie’s release/legacy and his view of the flick.
Like other Frayling chats, this one proves largely useful but erratic. He tends to fade at times, but otherwise the discussion becomes mostly positive.
We get more from the film historian via the 19-minute, two-second Chrisopher Frayling Archives. A companion piece to a similar piece on the Fistful of Dollars BD, he leads us through his collection of Sergio Leone memorabilia in this entertaining reel.
A New Standard lasts 20 minutes, 14 seconds. It features Frayling again.
The featurette discusses the film’s structure and Leone’s evolution since Fistful, production and stylistic choices, story/characters and some interpretation. While fine on its own, “Standard” largely feels redundant after the commentary, as it only comes with a few new notes.
We finally hear from someone other than Frayling via Back for More. It goes for seven minutes, eight seconds and involves actor Clint Eastwood.
We learn about Eastwood’s return for the sequel and different recollections of the shoot. Despite the brevity of the chat, I appreciate that we get info from Eastwood, and he provides worthwhile memories.
Tre Voci goes for 11 minutes, five seconds. This one delivers remarks from producer Alberto Grimaldi, screenwriter Sergio Donati and actor Mickey Knox.
Across these interviews, we learn about aspects of their involvement with More. They add some good thoughts to what we already know.
The Original American Release Version (5:18) shows a few differences made for that cut. It becomes a decent little summary.
A collection of Location Comparisons goes for 12 minutes, 16 seconds and shows places used for the shoot as they appeared in the movie along with how they looked in the early 2000s. Some commentary would be nice but this still turns into a decent extra.
Advertisements complete the disc. We find two trailers along with 12 radio spots.
As much as I liked A Fistful of Dollars, its sequel For a Few Dollars More improves on it in every possible way. The second chapter in the ‘Man With No Name’ trilogy offers a bolder, friskier and more engaging Western. The Blu-ray comes with mediocre picture and audio as well as a positive array of supplements. The movie deserves an upgrade.
