Tense and terrifically paced, Robert Enrico's The Old Gun (1975) remains a potent thriller more than 40 years after its theatrical debut. This influential import garnered heaps of praise in its native France, winning three Cesar Awards the following year between nine total nominations, but has remained fairly obscure around these parts; in fact, MGM's new Limited Edition DVD marks its domestic home video debut. This visceral revenge tale serves up heaps of action during a nightmarish second half, smartly cutting to multiple flashbacks that deepen our understanding of Julien Dandieu (Philippe Noiret) and the reaction to his family's untimely demise at the hands of German soldiers in 1944.

Plot-wise, it's very simple: skilled surgeon Julien sends his wife Clara (Romy Schneider) and daughter Florence (Catherine Delaporte, and played by Caroline Bonhomme in flashbacks) away to their chateau as German forces are pulling out of Montauban, but tragedy strikes when the chateau is raided and more than a dozen innocents are brutally murdered. To its credit, The Old Gun feels comfortable enough in its own skin and paces everything out extremely well: the first half provides plenty of build up before everything goes south, and more than an hour ticks away before the first bullet is fired in revenge. From there, Enrico's film borders on Rambo-style theatrics...but it feels more natural, since Julien's on home turf and surrounded by dozens of secret passages, nooks, and strategic vantage points.

My only minor gripes with The Old Gun pertain to the film's almost comically bipolar highs and lows, never more evident than in three separate occasions: the idyllic "family bike ride" that bookends the entire film, and the horrifically graphic deaths of Julien's wife and daughter (which are also spoiled on the DVD packaging and the film's original poster art, so don't shoot the messenger). For these reasons and several others, first-time viewers may find The Old Gun shamelessly manipulative as our hero plows through soldier after soldier in his calculated, God-like revenge...or just another example of the "Lost Lenore" trope that's become all too popular during the last several decades. But as a whole, The Old Gun isn't easy to dismiss: the story unfolds at a good clip, the performances and cinematography are terrific, and its second half balancing act of dream-like imagery and pulpy entertainment feels just about right.

Again, this little-seen gem has been granted its domestic home video debut as part of MGM's Limited Edition line of DVDs; unlike a 2007 Region 2 DVD, this version appears to take its cues from a more recent (and fully remastered) region-free Blu-ray. MGM's disc is about as plain-wrap as they come: the static menu interface offers no setup options or chapter selections, although your "Chapter Skip" button will advance the film at 10-minute intervals. It's housed in a plain black keepcase and, obviously enough, includes no extras. But hey, at least the film's good.

It's tough to evaluate The Old Gun from an A/V standpoint, as I don't own any previous editions for direct comparison. Former DVD Talker Svet Atanasov noted in his 2007 review of a Region 2 DVD that the source material was in good condition but lacked the crispness associated with a complete restoration; I'm also aware of a region-free Blu-ray that's advertised as a "remastered edition", but could not find any reviews of it online. My best judgment is that this Limited Edition MGM DVD is indeed sourced from the remastered edition: image detail is crisp, color saturation and black levels are stable, and of course there's very little print damage to speak of. In fact, the only trouble spots are during a few nighttime and dimly-lit sequences, which may be source material issues and nothing more. I'll give this 1.66:1 transfer the benefit of the doubt: it looks quite pleasing overall, and certainly better than expected.

Past editions of This Old Gun featured up to three language tracks (the original French/German, plus separate German and English dubs), but MGM's Limited Edition DVD only features the original French/German track in Dolby Digital 2.0. This is a capable mix with a surprising amount of depth and detail at times, which pairs well with the film's jarring splits between softer moments and horrific action. Dialogue and music are crisp and, as a whole, This Old Gun is almost mixed a little too loud....but at least nothing gets buried in the action. Forced English subtitles are included; they're garish yellow but easy to read, although they often display odd flickers of interlacing when fading in and out.

The Old Gun is rough around the edges, but it's usually for the right reasons: this entertaining, visceral thriller unfolds nicely and is impossible to look away from once the story gets going. Portions of the on-screen violence are blatantly excessive (especially the deaths of Julien's family); these don't do the film any favors, but its careful pacing and bursts of tension more than make up for such flaws. MGM's Limited Edition DVD has no supplements but is still a welcome surprise: The Old Gun has been absent in the US until now and, though limited to 480p, a region-free Blu-ray (with extras) also exists if you're interested. Either way, this forgotten gem comes Recommended.