Find a Place to Die appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though a little iffy at times, this usually became a good presentation.
Sharpness fared well most of the time. Some softer elements appeared on occasion – particularly during some moderately fuzzy interiors - but the majority of the film offered appropriate delineation and accuracy.
No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. In terms of print flaws, the image showed a handful of specks but usually remained clean, and grain felt natural, if a bit heavy.
As befit the setting, Place went with a sandy palette. These tones didn’t demand much of the Blu-ray, but the disc reproduced the arid hues with positive fidelity.
Blacks looked fairly dark, though they could crush a bit at times. Shadows showed decent to good clarity as well. Nothing about the image excelled, but given its age and origins, it seemed satisfactory.
Duel came with both Italian and English LPCM monaural soundtracks. Given that the film came as an Italian production, normally I’d view the Italian audio as the default.
However, a comparison made it clear that the movie used English dialogue during much of the shoot – which made sense with an American lead actor. Lip-synch usually lined up better during the English version, so I used that as the go-to edition.
In terms of quality, Place brought us dated but decent audio. Actually, the dialogue sounded better than expected, as the looped material seemed more natural than usual.
Typically, these dubbed Italian films come with genuinely artificial integration of speech, but Place did decently in that regard. No, the lines didn’t seem as natural as they would had the dialogue been taken from the set, but the lines seemed relatively natural and suffered from little edginess or other issues.
Music felt fairly peppy and full, while effects appeared more than adequate. Some louder elements like gunfire displayed a smidgen of distortion, but in general, the material seemed clean enough. This became a perfectly acceptable track for an older Italian production.
A few extras appear, and we get an audio commentary from film historian Howard Hughes. He provides a running, screen-specific discussion of cast and crew, sets and locations, genre domains and various production elements.
Of the four commentaries in this “Blood Money” set, Hughes delivers the most traditional of the bunch, by which I mean he mainly sticks with topics connected to the creation of Place. Of course, he gives us broader notes than that – usually about the careers of cast/crew – but Hughes digs into the movie’s making more than his peers.
I don’t intend that as a criticism of the other three, but I do find it a relief to finally get a track that really digs into the actual movie in question. Hughes provides an informative take on the subject matter.
Three featurettes follow, and Venus and the Cowboys goes for 11 minutes, 45 seconds. This offers an introduction to Vengeance from journalist/critic Fabio Melelli.
Here we get some background for the film as well as production elements and genre issues. Melelli gives us a mix of worthwhile notes, even if some of the material repeats from the commentary.
Sons of Leone spans 18 minutes, 10 seconds. It offers an archival interview with director Giuliano Carnimeo.
The filmmaker discusses his career and his work on Place. We find a satisfying overview here.
Finally, Traditional Figure lasts 31 minutes, 17 seconds. Here we get notes from musician/disc collector Lovely Jon.
This piece offers a look at Place composer Gianni Ferrio and the film’s score. We find an appealing chat here.
An Image Gallery includes 35 stills. These show publicity elements.
Essentially a riff on the Magnificent Seven concept, Find a Place to Die brings a fairly mediocre Western. While watchable, it tends to lack drive and excitement. The Blu-ray brings generally positive picture along with acceptable audio and a collection of bonus materials. Nothing about Place makes it a bad movie, but it also doesn’t turn into anything memorable.
Note that this release of Find a Place to Die comes only as part of a four-film package called “Blood Money Volume 2”. In addition to this movie, it brings three other Spaghetti Westerns: $10,000 Blood Money, Vengeance Is Mine and Matalo.