The Four of the Apocalypse appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This turned into a largely satisfying presentation.
For the most part, sharpness looked fine. Occasional soft shots materialized – a factor abetted by some gauzy photography - but these remained infrequent, so the movie usually delivered positive delineation.
I saw no issues with jaggies or moiré effects, and edge haloes failed to appear. Grain leaned natural, and outside of a couple gate hairs, I witnessed no print flaws.
As happens with many Westerns, the movie’s palette leaned toward a sandy/arid feel, with only sporadic instances of more vivid hues. Though the colors lacked much impact, they nonetheless worked acceptably well.
Blacks felt largely deep and dense, while low-light shots displayed positive clarity. Nothing here dazzled, but the image held up well over the decades.
I didn’t expect much from the LPCM monaural audio of Apocalypse, and the soundtrack indeed seemed less than inspiring. That said, it worked better than usual based on my other experiences with 1970s Italian productions.
Like virtually all of those, Apocalypse featured re-recorded dialogue, and that meant the lines usually came across as somewhat unnatural. Speech tended to seem reedy but remained intelligible.
Music appeared generally decent, and effects showed adequate reproduction. Some louder elements suffered from distortion, but these didn’t seem severe. This felt like a track typical of the audio from this era and genre.
As we shift to extras, we locate an audio commentary from author/critic Kat Ellinger. She brings a running, screen-specific discussion of story and characters, genre domains, cast and crew, and her thoughts about the film.
We don’t get much production info here, as Ellinger sticks with the topics I mention above. She does so well, especially as she digs into how the movie connects to the rest of director Lucio Fulci’s career.
In general, I do prefer tracks that mix interpretation, cast/crew notes and specifics about the shoot. Still, Ellinger does more than enough right to make this a good track.
Under Apocalypse Now, we get a 15-minute, 16-second introduction from critic Fabio Melelli. Once again, it feels odd to term this an “introduction”, as like prior Melelli reels, it acts more as a production/cast/crew overview. Still, it becomes an informative piece.
It Takes Four spans 35 minutes, two seconds. It provides a chat with production manager Roberto Sbarigia.
We learn about his career as well as his work on the film. Sbarigia delivers a useful collection of memories.
With Do You See How Lucio Shoots?, we find a 42-minute, 35-second reel. It delivers comments from author/critic/Fulci expert Stephen Thrower.
“See” acts as an appreciation for the film, though that doesn’t mean Thrower focuses on praise. He digs into various aspects of the production as well as themes/interpretation in this solid piece.
The Rhythm Devils Play goes for 37 minutes, 11 seconds. It brings remarks from musician/disc collector Lovely Jon.
Here we find info about the movie’s music as well as composers Franco Bixio, Fabio Frizzi and Vince Tempera. Jon gives us worthwhile information.
In addition the film’s trailer, we get an Image Gallery with 36 publicity elements. It becomes a good compilation.
A Spaghetti Western from horror icon Lucio Fulci, The Four of the Apocalypse offers enough twists to elevate it. While not a thoroughly impactful tale, the movie nonetheless succeeds much of the time. The Blu-ray brings largely positive visuals as well as acceptable audio and a mix of bonus materials. This turns into a fairly good Western.
Note that The Four of the Apocalypse comes only as part of a four-film collection called “Savage Guns”. This set also includes fellow Westerns I Want Him Dead, El Puro, and Wrath of the Wind.
