Hannie Caulder - July 5,2011

[Zen_Amako]

The VUDU copy doesn't have the audio issue, but it's only in standard definition. Hopefully the German edition is better! The cover art is a big improvement.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by hagios

Should receive these on July 9...bought from Amazon.de on June 18!

I'll look forward to hearing your report.

[hagios]

Originally Posted by Aclea

I'll look forward to hearing your report.

Received both Hannie Caulder & Bandolero (6/29/15)...nice to see it came way before estimated delivery date (7/9/15)!

I watched Hannie Caulder last night & not being that attuned, I did not notice too much difference in the loudness of the English sound mix, music, effects & the dialogue.

I also checked out snippets of Bandolero and to my untrained ear I thought this BD was lower in volume on both...sorry if that does not help you enough.

[kidglov3s]

I've just watched this for the first time, on the German disc, what a surprise! Is this the first rape-revenge film? I loved the rapport btw Culp/Welch, and thought Welch was fantastic all around. I dismissed this for years and was definitely wrong to do so.

The German disc has one of the more interesting extras I've seen in a while, a transfer of the film's 8mm digest from Walton.


(This isn't the one on the disc, the one on the disc is color/sound and I think that's for 1/4 and I think the one on the disc is 4/4).

I would love to see more of those on discs, I'm always excited when I run into one on Youtube.

[The Great Owl]

Last night, I watched my Olive Films Blu-ray of Hannie Caulder.

Raquel Welch, one of the great sex symbols of the late 1960s and early 1970s, stars in the title role as Hannie Caulder, a beautiful woman who takes it upon herself to learn to be a gunfighter after she is gang-raped by three outlaws who killed her husband. Caulder enlists in the help of a bounty hunter, played by Robert Culp (The Greatest American Hero TV series), who discourages her from dedicating her life to vengeance. The legendary Christopher Lee stars as a gunsmith who also takes Caulder under his wing. The three outlaws are played by Ernest Borgnine, Jack Elam, and Strother Martin, all of whom were accomplished supporting actors in a number of classic westerns. The portrayal of these three gunmen as bumbling buffons during most of the movie is odd, but I found that it somehow accentuates their menace in light of what they do to Caulder early in the film. Stephen Boyd stars in an uncredited role as an enigmatic "preacher" character who is dressed in black, and who could possibly be a symbol for the evil that Caulder is compelled to do during her road to revenge.

Hannie Caulder seems to have been marketed simply as an eye candy movie as far as westerns go, but it's a lot bleaker and more in-depth than one might expect. As Culp's character warns Welch's Caulder, "Win or lose, you lose, Hannie Caulder." It's an oddly affecting film in terms of depicting the true nature of revenge.

I used to own the Olive Films DVD of Hannie Caulder before I bought a Blu-ray player years ago, and I'm pleased to report that the picture quality on this Blu-ray disc is a notable step up from that on the DVD.

Sadly, I cannot speak highly about the audio presentation. In fact, this disc features the most anemic sound quality that I've ever heard on a Blu-ray, in terms of hearing the dialogue. I was compelled to keep my remote in my hand to turn up the volume during the quieter dialog moments, only to turn it back down for the louder gunfights and the music. Of course, Olive did not include subtitles for this early Blu-ray release, so those who who also have trouble hearing the dialogue are at a loss.


The original poster art for Hannie Caulder is misleading, to say the least, but I'd love to have a copy of the poster.