Django (1966)

The movie opens with our hero (played by Franco Nero) dragging a coffin behind him while trudging through the West. He rescues a woman from Mexican bandits, then finds himself in the middle of war with a huge pile of gold at stake. This is the famous film in which a man is forced to eat his own ear. Great stuff.

Django is currently only available in the neon-colored box set, The Spaghetti Western Collection, which also comes with three lesser-known Spaghetti Westerns, Giulio Questi's unofficial sequel Django, Kill (1967) starring Thomas Milan, Sergio Sollima's Run, Man, Run! (1968) also with Milan, and Sergio Martino's late entry Mannaja: A Man Called Blade (1977) starring Maurizio Merli. These beautiful, widescreen discs come with scholarly liner notes, still galleries, interviews, lengthy trailers and various documentaries, the most interesting of which is a 1960s-era look at the Spaghetti Western phenomenon. It includes behind-the-scenes footage of Run, Man, Run! and Corbucci's The Great Silence as well as interviews with Corbucci and actor Chuck Connors!

Note: Django received a Blu-Ray release in 2010.