Studio: Direct Source Spec Prod Release Date: 06/15/2004 Rating: R

Violent but exceptionally intelligent Italian classic.

Along with Sergio Leone's Clint Eastwood trilogy, Sergio Corbucci's Django, starring Belgian hunk Franco Nero as the gritty mercenary who drags a coffin behind him, was one of the most influential spaghetti Westerns. After mowing down armies of bad guys with his machine gun (which he brandishes in classic two-fisted tough-guy fashion--from the hip), he stages a daring gold heist from a Mexican military fortress and then plots to double-cross his bandito partners. Corbucci, who cowrote the story, fashions an unrelentingly violent tale of rival gangs squeezing the life out of a muddy, bloody border town, reveling in the sadism of the genre. The film opens with a woman strung up and lashed by a group of lascivious bandits, only to be saved by even more sadistic gunmen who plan to burn her alive, and Django fan Quentin Tarantino borrowed the scene where a vindictive general slices the ear off a corrupt preacher for Reservoir Dogs. While not as stylish as Leone's operatic epics, Django pushed the borders of violence into all-new territory, and the film was banned outright in England and cut in the U.S. It spawned 20 unofficial sequels before Nero returned 20 years later for the only legitimate sequel, Django Strikes Again. In the meantime, Nero followed up this grimy antihero role with a turn as the singing medieval superknight Lancelot in Camelot! Also features a short interview with Nero. --Sean Axmaker

A maniacal killer, Jason (Nino Castelnuovo), takes control of a western border town, shielded by his father's wealth. Tom (Franco Nero) returns to his oppressed village and is joined by his half-brother Jeff (George Hilton) in a fight against Jason and h

My Name is Nobody is a spoof of spaghetti Westerns, but it's also a legitimate, highly regarded entry in the genre. Its pedigree is purebred, as it was executive produced by the maestro of spaghetti Westerns, Sergio Leone, as a personal farewell to the genre that he helped to create. It's a transitional film, cheekily acknowledging the impact of The Wild Bunch and Sam Peckinpah (whose name is seen on a gravestone in one scene) and the popularity of Terence Hill, whose comedic "Trinity" films represented the last gasp of the once-glorious spaghetti Western. All of these elements are beautifully combined in the amusing tale of Nobody (Hill), an ambitious young gunman in 1899 who idolizes a legendary gunslinger Jack Beauregard, played by Henry Fonda in his final Western (and his second for Leone, after the classic Once Upon a Time in the West). Before Beauregard can retire in peace, Nobody sets up a final showdown of epic proportions, and the great Ennio Morricone enhances the abundance of memorable scenes with one of his most playfully inventive scores (including a comical use of Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries"). Tonino Valerii fully deserved his director's credit, but Leone also made significant contributions (including the opening scene), and the result is a delightful and surprisingly resonant film that Steven Spielberg later called his favorite Leone production. It's easy to see why: Like many of Spielberg's films, My Name is Nobody qualifies as both art and entertainment. --Jeff Shannon

SERGIO SOLLIMA'S 'SPAGHETTI WESTERN' CLASSIC!

The legendary Tomas Milian (FOUR OF THE APOCALYPSE, TRAFFIC) stars as Cuchillo, a knife-throwing thief on the run from murderous bandits, sadistic American agents, his hot-blooded fiance (Chelo Alonso) and a sheriff turned bounty hunter (Donal O'Brien), all of whom are gunning for a hidden fortune in gold that could finance the Mexican Revolution.

Co-writer/director Sergio Sollima (REVOLVER, VIOLENT CITY) packs this epic Western with bold politics, shocking violence, bravura performances (including John Ireland as General Santillana) and a brilliant score by Bruno Nicolai and Ennio Morricone. RUN MAN RUN has been fully restored from original vault materials and is presented uncut and uncensored for the first time ever in America.