Vengeance Is Mine appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This turned into a largely satisfying presentation.
For the most part, sharpness looked fine. Occasional soft shots materialized, 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 a bit heavy, but that seemed to reflect the source, and 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 Vengeance, and the soundtrack indeed seemed less than inspiring. That said, it worked better than usual based on my other experiences with 1960s Italian productions.
Like virtually all of those, Vengeance featured re-recorded dialogue, and that meant the lines usually came across as somewhat unnatural. Nonetheless, they fit the action a bit better than usual and lacked the thin/reedy tones I often find.
Music appeared generally decent, and effects showed adequate reproduction. Some louder elements suffered from distortion, but these didn’t seem severe. Though I didn’t think it merited a grade above a “B-“, this still turned into a better than expected mix given the generally iffy quality of older Italian tracks.
A few extras appear, and we get an audio commentary from film historians Adrian J. Smith and David Flint. They provide a running, screen-specific discussion of genre domains, cast and crew, and some production elements.
For the most part, the commentary offers a look at Spaghetti Westerns and their connection to Vengeance. While we don’t learn a ton about the creation of Vengeance itself, Flint and Smith mesh well and make this a lively an engaging discussion of the genre topics.
Four featurettes follow, and Crime and Punishment goes for 13 minutes, five seconds. This offers an introduction to Vengeance from journalist/critic Fabio Melelli.
Melelli discusses connections to $10,000 Blood Money, story/character domains, cast/crew and production areas. Melelli sheds some light on these subjects.
Cain and Abel spans 25 minutes, three seconds. It presents archival interviews with actor Gianni “Gary Hudson” Garko and screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi.
Here we learn about their careers and work on this movie. We find a nice collection of notes.
Next comes In Conversation, a 15-minute, 34-second segment. It delivers an interview with composer Nora Orlandi.
She tells us how she approaches scores as well as aspects of her career. Orlandi creates an involving chat.
Movie After Movie goes for 16 minutes, 42 seconds. It presents an interview with producer Mino Loy.
As expected, Loy touches on his career and Vengeance. This becomes a worthwhile discussion.
In addition to the film’s trailer, we conclude with an Image Gallery. Its 22 frames display various promotional materials.
As a tale of antagonistic brothers, Vengeance Is Mine follows a well-worn path. Nonetheless, it tells its story well and becomes an engaging mix of action and drama. The Blu-ray boasts fairly positive picture and audio along with a mix of bonus materials. Chalk up Vengeance as a better than expected Spaghetti Western.
Note that this release of Vengeance Is Mine 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, Find a Place to Die and Matalo.