Four of the Apocalypse

Starring:Fabio Testi, Lynne Frederick, Michael J. Pollard, Harry Baird, Adolfo Lastretti, Bruno Corazzari, Giorgio Trestini, Donald O'Brien, Tomas Milian, Salvatore Puntillo, Claudio Ruffini, Goffredo Unger, Lorenzo Robledo, Charles Borromel
Director: Lucio Fulci
Studio: Anchor Bay
Product Type: DVD

Description

Once Upon A Time In Italy, a generation of visionary filmmakers hijacked the genre of the American Western. Suddenly, standard stories of cowboys and Indians became a hyper-stylized opera of immoral heroes, ruthless action and extreme violence. These startling new films became known as Spaghetti Westerns, and movies have never looked or sounded the same since!

In BULLET FOR THE GENERAL, Gian Maria VolantE9 (of A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS fame) co-stars with Klaus Kinski in one of the most politically daring and viciously intense westerns ever made. The legendary Franco Nero stars in TEXAS ADIOS, a tale of lawmen out for justice where vengeance knows no borders. And Spaghetti Western icon Tomas Milian stars with Fabio Testi and Michael J. Pollard in FOUR OF THE APOCALYPSE, the brutal revenge epic directed by Maestro Of Gore Lucio Fulci. The action-packed COMPAD1EROS brings together superstars Tomas Milian and Franco Nero for the first time ever, along with acclaimed director Sergio Corbucci (DJANGO), a stunning score by Ennio Morricone and a jaw-dropping performance by Jack Palance. Franco Nero returns in the mind-blowing KEOMA, directed by Enzo Castellari and considered to be the last true masterpiece of the entire genre. These five classic films are all presented totally uncut, uncensored and loaded with exclusive Extras for the absolute ultimate in Spaghetti Western mayhem!

Customer Reviews:

if you like spaghetti westerns... you best be owning this box, yo!.......2007-05-13

5 awesome westrns, my personal favortie is 'Bullet for the General" but they are ALLL GOOOOOOD. So c'mon, Vamos a Matar Compañeros!!!

5 classic Spaghetti Westerns given the Anchor Bay treatment!!!.......2007-03-29

If you like Spaghetti Westerns,you'll love this great 5-DVD Box Set from Anchor Bay Entertainment!!! "Once Uopn A Time In Italy" includes beautiful film transfers of "A Bullet for the General","Companeros","Four of the Apocalypse","Keoma" and "Texas Adios" all in the original widescreen ratios!!! Plus some great DVD extras!!! Two thumbs up!!! Five stars!!! A+

a great collection of spaghetti westerns and all widescreen.......2006-05-06

as i have said before i love westerns and i love spaghetti westerns also. the five movies here are among some of the best.the extras for this set are very good and there are plenty of them.
1.a bullet for the general=5 stars
2.companeros=4 stars
3.four of the apocalypse=3 stars
4.keoma=4 stars
5.texas adios=5 stars

Good Collection of Italian Westerns.......2005-06-25

According to British author Christopher Frayling in his biography of director Sergio Leone, in the wake of the international success of "A Fistful of Dollars" the Italian film industry spawned dozens of "spaghetti" westerns. I don't know if the collection represented here are the best of the bunch but they are a decent cross-section of the genre. Though none of these film's approach the masterworks of Leone they, for the most part, distinguish themselves stylistically from Leone's work. What is also interesting is that Franco Nero is the star of three of these entries but shows range by assaying different character types in each of them.
"A Bullet for the General"-Tale of Mexican banditos led by Gian Maria Volonte in a robust performance. Events and the arrival of a mysterious American cause Volonte to question his mercenary mindset. Film has an interesting political bent. Four stars.
"Companeros"-Lighthearted story of Swedish gunrunner(Nero) and Mexican mercenary(Tomas Milian) who form an uneasy alliance to free socialist professor(Fernando Rey) from American prison and bring back to Mexico so he can reveal the combination of an impregnable safe containing a fortune. Film also has a socialist bent but it's not too heavy-handed. Jack Palance has a creepy turn as an American bounty hunter. Four stars.
"Four of the Apocalypse"-This is probably the most enigmatic of the bunch. Film concerns a circumstantial alliance between a card shark, a pregnant prostitute, a drunk, and a man who claims to commune with the dead set in Utah. Though the film contains some poignant scenes there are also scenes of gratuitous violence that to me nullify the film's attributes. Judge for yourself. Three stars.
"Keoma"-Moody film about a half-breed gunslinger (Nero) returning from the Civil War to find his town overrun by the plague and controlled by a despot. Excellent character study and example of Nero's range as an actor. Four stars.
"Texas, Adios"-Probably the film most reminiscent stylistically to Leone but the most conventional. Story concerns Texas lawman (Nero) travelling to Mexico with his brother to apprehend the man who killed his father. Nero is solid but the story is kind of routine. Three stars.

terrific quality.......2005-03-25

If you've been exploring the world of spaghetti westerns at all, you've no doubt come across some pretty poor transfers. Stuff obviously made from worn out, scratched up and dirty film. You often have to be philosophical about it -- if you want to see some of these old movies, it's a matter of putting up with the ragged quality or do without. This set from Anchor Bay, on the other hand, is really something. They have done a fantastic job of restoring and transferring. The extra features are really nice as well -- interviews with Tomas Milian and Franco Nero. None of these movies is going to replace The Good the Bad & the Ugly as my all time favorite movie, but I really enjoyed getting to see them. I highly recommend this set.

Average customer rating:

Not so great...different though...
Fulci + Spaghetti Western + Chaco = How could you go wrong
Fulci Goes West
Four of the Apocalypse
A Film of Great Depth~Gore Fans Will never Get It...a shame!

Four of the Apocalypse
Starring: Fabio Testi , Lynne Frederick , Michael J. Pollard , Harry Baird , and Adolfo Lastretti
Director: Lucio Fulci
Manufacturer: Starz / Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

The Great Silence
Keoma
Django (2-Disc Limited Edition)
Django Kill - If You Live, Shoot!
A Bullet for the General

ASIN: B00005R24L
Release Date: 2001-12-18

Product Description

UNCUT. UNCENSORED. UNSEEN FOR OVER 25 YEARS! THE LEGENDARY LOST SHOCKER FROM THE DIRECTOR OF ZOMBIE AND THE BEYOND. Having survived a vigilante slaughter, four hard-luck strangers - gambler Stubby Preston (Fabio Testi), a pregnant prostitute (Lynne Frederick), the town drunk (Michael J. Pollard) and a madman who sees dead people (Harry Baird) - escape into the lawless frontier. But when they meet a sadistic bandit named Chaco (Tomas Milian), the four are plunged into a nightmare of torture, brutality and beyond. In a land that screams with the pain of the damned, can four lost souls find redemption and revenge? Due to its graphic violence, FOUR OF THE APOCALYPSE was banned worldwide and never seen in America. Meanwhile, fans - and Lucio Fulci himself - considered it to be one of the greatest films of the maestro s career. This presentation of FOUR OF THE APOCALYPSE is complete and uncut, featuring scenes omitted from all previous English language releases. Because these scenes were never dubbed into English, they are presented here in Italian with English subtitles. Includes a 5x7 Theatrical Poster Replica

System Requirements:
Starring: Fabio Testi, Michael J. Pollard, Lynne Frederick, Harry Baird, Tomas Milian
Director: Lucio Fulci
Running Time: 104 Min.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Customer Reviews:

Not so great...different though..........2007-06-18

I bought this alongside "Great Silence" after viewing "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly", my favorite again, during a resurgence of interest in Spaghetti Westerns.
"Silence" was great (see seperate review) but this one didn't deliver on the hype that surrounded it. I applaud it for it's mostly UN-western approach being a tale of four individuals traveling from a dangerous situation in one town with literally the clothes on their back to the next and their encounters along the way.
Chief of which is Tomas Milian's Chaco playing the role of the Western equivalent of a deranged psycho hitchhiker. This is when the film is at it's best, but alas all too briefly.
After this high the movie seemed to drag for me until the no-surprise finale that could have been done better.
There was a lot of build-up to this I had either heard or read. Like most items of the type you need to see them for yourself. "Great Silence" measured up..."Four of the Apocalypse" didn't.

Fulci + Spaghetti Western + Chaco = How could you go wrong.......2007-04-01

This is a neat film. It's by no means as violent and portrayed. When the alleged gore is shown, notice the actor for he has been in a lot of Spaghetti Westerns which was kinda neat. Tomas Millian is great as Chaco. "Do you see how Chaco Shoots?", and other lines are cool. This is more of a drama if you ask me. Not a lot of action or shoot outs. But it's an entertaining fils. The music is interesting to say the least.

Fulci Goes West.......2006-02-16

Fulci's always gonna be remembered for his horror flicks, but his films outside the genre are worth checking out. Usually they're just downright silly like Conquest and Contraband(though I have to admit that I found them both quite entertaining). Fulci's stab at a western isn't all that bad. It's not gonna rank among the best westerns of all time, but it's decent and shows that Fulci had potential in this genre. The always reliable Fabio Testi is a snooty, selfish card shark that, through a twist of fate, hooks up with a drunk, a looney "I see dead people" guy and the required prostitiute with a heart of gold(pregnant of course). Basically they're all just trying to get to a town 200 miles away, but get delayed when Tomas Milian stops them in the desert, drugs them, rapes the girl, cripples the drunk and steals their stuff. A long trek follows, Fabio vows to kill Milian and falls in love with the chick. Fabio spends 90% of the film without a gun, but when he gets one he kicks it into badass mode. Milian as usual, is great(a damn shame he isn't known in America), and though you may not recognize the name, you'll recognize Michael Pollard. This was made before Fulci discovered that sticking splinters in peoples' eyes could pack a theater, so don't go into this expecting Fulci gore. Sure, it's bloody in some spots and was considered extreme for the day, but pretty lightweight compared to what Fulci would eventually do with his horror flicks. A good film. It's a little slow, but it's got decent performances, it's well shot, and Fulci even gives us a scene with a baby that manages to conjure up some emotion(!). But I'm sure this film wouldn't fly in America. It may be a western, but it certainly comes across as European though. The average John Wayne fan's probably not gonna dig this much. I'd strongly suggest it for diehard Fulci and spaghetti western fans.

Four of the Apocalypse.......2005-02-23

Three hippies and a brother run away from a bad scene in a lawless town. They meet Charlie Manson in the desert, who turns them onto some peyote. The trip turns into a bummer and Charlie Manson turns cruel.
Only the names were changed, baby. There are four refugees and one requisite Bad Guy in FOUR OF THE APOCALYPSE, a rambling yet entertaining spaghetti western from the Italian Lucio Fulci, who is best known for directing such Italian horror classics as A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN and DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING.
The Manson reference comes from something Tomas Milian, who plays the evil Chaco, said. (All bad guys in Italian westerns never have a last name, or much of a first name, either.) Milian said he took a make-up cue from Charles Manson, who had notoriously carved a swastika in his forehead, and drew a blood red cross beneath each eye. Constrained by time and driven by Method, it seemed the thing to do, and it works.
Chaco is a brutal character, and he's involved in a couple of grisly scenes, cut from the original English release, that have been restored with subtitles on the dvd. The scenes may have been a little much for audiences in 1975, but they're unlikely to raise many eyebrows three decades on. A little skin flayed here, a little cannibalism there. Been there, done that, excuse me while I stifle a yawn.
The characters in FOTA, a gambler (Fabio Testi), a prostitute (Lynne Frederick), a town drunk (Michael J Pollard), a mentally challenged mortuary assistant (Harry Baird) and a few plot points may have been ripped from current headlines, but the movie also borrowed heavily, with attribution, from the works of Bret Harte. Most of act three, which is by far the strongest and most coherent section of the movie, is taken directly from Harte's "Luck of the Roaring Camp."
FOTA is cobbled together and not all the pieces fit. As Milian tells us, he was available for only six days of filming, so his character sort of drifts in and out of the movie without undue rhyme or reason.
I liked FOUR OF THE APOCALYPSE, even though I feel compelled to admit, sheepishly, that it's not a very good movie. The plot is all over the place and the climatic revenge theme should have been torn down and rebuilt from scratch. On the other hand, the acting was a notch above that found in most spaghetti westerns and I found myself involved with and caring about the characters. Also, from the parched deserts to the snowy mining camp, this movie looked good. With reservations, a moderately strong recommendation.

A Film of Great Depth~Gore Fans Will never Get It...a shame!.......2005-01-20

This truly is a movie of great depth and beauty. Gore Fans will surley tear this apart. This film possess to much class for the gore fanboy. What a shame that some Fulci fans criteria for a good movie is a high body count. For open minded film buffs this film is a must.

We are blessed to hear a soundtrack that is very unique for a western. Some critics complain about the soundtracks music in reviews, making it out to be quaint seventies fare. What would they prefer? The standard spaghetti western music? Today's computer generated techno refuse?

The music works very well with this film. It is a little like America or Pink Floyds Meddle--Obscured by Clouds period, but it has its own unique voice.

This film can stand on it's own compared to "Once Upon A Time In the West", "For a Few Dollars More". It does not have the shear sprawling power created by Sergio Leon or groundbreaking Morricone soundtrack, but it makes up for it in its focus on friendship and heartfelt emotion. The Camera work is very impressive. Fabio Testi does a great job! No wonder he is so big in Italy.

Too bad Fulci pandered to gore fans in his later work, but it may have been the only work he was given, futhermore, he most likely needed to eat.

The picture looks great on a Hi Def 16x9 monitor! The use of a diffusion filter is very noticable in this film, the effect was quite common for the mid-seventies.

Give it a try!

Average customer rating:

Four of the Apocalypse
Starring: Harry Baird , Lynne Frederick , Tomas Milian , Michael J. Pollard , and Fabio Testi
Director: Lucio Fulci
Manufacturer: Blue Underground
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Blue Underground | Cult Movies | Genres | DVD | Video

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DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000PC6Z3Y
Release Date: 2007-07-24

Description

Uncut. Uncensored. Unseen For Over 25 Years!
The Legendary Blood-Soaked Western From The Director Of ZOMBIE And THE BEYOND

Having survived a vigilante slaughter, four hard-luck strangers - gambler Stubby Preston ( Fabio Testi of THE BIG RACKET), a pregnant prostitute ( Lynne Frederick of SCHIZO), the town drunk ( Michael J. Pollard of BONNIE AND CLYDE) and a madman who sees dead people ( Harry Baird of THE OBLONG BOX) - escape into the lawless frontier. But when they meet a sadistic bandit named Chaco ( Tomas Milian of RUN MAN RUN), the four are plunged into a nightmare of torture, brutality and beyond. In a land that screams with the pain of the damned, can four lost souls find redemption and revenge?

Product Description

Brand new, factory sealed, 2 DVD edition manufactured in Hong Kong. Full screen color image. Original English dialog with optional subtitles in Chinese and English which do not appear unless you go to the subtitles menu and turn them on. On screen menus are in English and are easy to use. Cast includes Glenn Ford, Charles Boyer, Ingrid Thulin and Yvette Mimieux. Directed by Vincent Minelli. The following review appears in the Internet Movie Database: "I just caught this on TCM and it's the first time I've seen it since my teens. Either my maturity has given me a better appreciation for it or it has gotten better over the years, now that we're bombarded with so much garbage. I've carefully read all the comments here, and there's a common thread. Most take exception to the casting of Glenn Ford and classify the film as one of Minnelli's lesser efforts. It's not that I'm Glenn Ford's greatest fan, but I think he gives one of his finest performances here and is one of the movie's strengths. One doesn't have to be 21 to be a playboy; what he portrays, quite convincingly, is a mature dilletante. Minnelli's direction is typical of his late melodrama period that started with The Bad and the Beautiful. His style is jittery, baroque, and light years away from his airy musicals. The Four Horseman ranks right up there with some of his best later work, like Home From the Hill, Some Came Running, and The Cobweb. He has a particular flair for car scenes which started with his first Gothic, Undercurrent, in 1946. He gets one of the finest performances I've ever seen out of that limited actor, Charles Boyer. His scene with the gifted Paul Lukas where they mourn the deaths of their children is powerful and touching beyond words. My recommendation: SEE THIS GOOD, OLD FASHIONED, REALLY BIG MOVIE. P.S. Check out the magnificent, huge Andre Previn score."

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