The man with the coffin

Django (1966)

In the future I guess Django will eventually become synonymous for Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained (2012), which has very little to do with this movie, apart from the name and a small cameo by Franco Nero. So this is my feeble attempt to bring some life to this classic so that it's not totally forgotten. This one has quite a many similarities to Sergio Leone's classic A Fistful of Dollars (1964), a mysterious stranger comes to a small town torn between two groups of criminals and kicks the hornet's nest. So the basic idea is quite a clear copy, but so was A Fistful of Dollars (1964) from Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo (1961), so it's a bit easier to look past that. Otherwise this is a movie that stands surprisingly well with the others. Sure, it doesn't quite raise to the same level, but still well deserves a spot in the history of spaghetti westerns. Franco Nero is brilliant as Django, the coffin-dragging gunslinger. And speaking of the coffin, what's inside results in one of the most memorable scenes in the history of spaghetti westerns. At this point of his career, before he became the second big name in spaghetti westerns, Sergio Corbucci coming from mostly comedies implemented a lot of humour into the story. That humour is the key why this movie works so well. Had it taken itself too seriously it would have just turned out to be a sad ripoff from a popular movie, but as it doesn't it gets to have a voice of it's own. Don't get me wrong, it's not all laughs, there's still surprisingly good drama in there as well. And another thing that sets this one apart is that Corbucci's West is not the same dry and hot West of Leone, it's a muddy, dirty and cold God forsaken land. That creates a nice contrast on the comedy and drama. Sure the plot is rather predictable and some of the acting is quite bad, but those are things you should already expect in a spaghetti western. The theme by Luis Bacalov gets stuck to your head and some of the shots by Enzo Barboni are quite brilliant. So all in all it's a great spaghetti western and does what is expected brilliantly.
85%

The greatest western ever made

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

While thinking about which movie is the best western ever made, this movie popped right into my mind and I started to think how easy it actually was to pick the best western. I could never name the best drama ever made or action movie or horror movie or comedy for that matter, I just wouldn't be able to choose between the top 5 or 10 of them. But the best western, there was no hesitation. Saying that this is the best spaghetti western would already be a bold statement, I know quite a few people who would argue in great length that The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) is the best and to a point I would agree with them. But the western genre is a lot bigger than just the spaghetti westerns, so saying this is the best western ever seems a bit crazy. Some might argue that the classic American westerns are the best westerns, like TheSearchers (1956) or High Noon (1952). Some people say the best is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid(1969) and some argue it's Unforgiven (1992). Those are all brilliant westerns and true masterpieces in their own right, but for me it's this movie above all others.

I'll try to explain why I think so. I apologize for the spoilers, but really if you haven't seen this movie, stop reading now and go watch it! First of all this movie looks amazing, every shot is framed with perfect detail and I could take any frame out of this movie and put it up on my wall as a piece of artwork. Backing up the beautiful pictures is the music by Ennio Morricone which is among the best he has ever made for any movie. The cast is spot on perfect. Claudia Cardinale does probably the best performance out of all the women in the history of westerns. Charles Bronson is perfect as the man on a vendetta, a person who has something inside... something to do with death. Jason Robards as Cheyenne is probably the most intriguing character, while he's the comic sidekick, he's also most of the time the voice of reason and a force to be reckoned with. In complexity his character is a great balance for the archetypes of the other characters. Henry Fonda as Frank is the ultimate villain, bright blue eyes which hide evil inside. Not only those main characters, but the supporting cast is quite brilliant as well, like Gabriele Ferzetti as Morton the polio ridden railroad tycoon or Lionel Stander as the barman teaching Jill the ways of the wild west. Add to those a surprisingly intriguing story and you have a brilliant movie. I mean sure the story is somewhat thin, but so it is in most of the westerns, so in that standard this is in a league above others.

Then again most of those things above could be said from other westerns as well. Like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), beautifully shot, brilliant and maybe even better music, great cast and an intriguing story. But what for me puts this one above it is driving motives behind the characters, in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) it's money, the whole movie is about money or well gold in this case. This movie has way more complex motives, there's of course the money for Frank and for Cheyenne at start but he has another motive as well, cleansing his history and to do something good for a change. Then there's Harmonica whose motive is revenge and Jill whose motives are love, money and the hope of a better future. All of them thrive to make a difference in their own way either for themselves or for others. That for me is far more interesting than just one driving force of a motive. And I'm still not saying that The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) would be in any way a bad movie, it's absolutely brilliant, but when you compare two masterpieces you must go into the tiniest of details.

Another thing which sets this one apart from the rest is the ending which is just pure cinematic perfection. And I'm not talking about the epic standoff between Harmonica and Frank, I'm talking about what happens after that. When Harmonica returns there's that moment when you hope for a happy ending, but soon realize that would have never been a happy ending. The ending is more than just about Jill, Harmonica or Cheyenne, it's about how the industrialism ended the whole western lifestyle. That shot at the end with the tracks of “civilization” being stretched across the wild frontier, Cheyenne lying there dying and Harmonica riding away from the future is by all standards a perfect finale. The ultimate ending, not only to the story of the film but also to the wild west and the whole western genre.

100%

Night Visions Colt Concert 2013

4 nights of spaghetti westerns from glorious film prints (well some of them were quite worn down to be honest). That's what I call a great film festival! So I tried to cram every film to my schedule, which I would have managed otherwise as I have three of them on DVD. But unfortunately I'm getting too old for these marathons so I had to leave 2 night screenings out as I just couldn't stay awake anymore. Still, I saw some amazing movies and here's a recap of them.

 

Sartana (1968)

First of all I must confess, I have never seen a Sartana movie even though they seem to have been quite popular and there is quite a many of them. Ye I know and I dare to call myself a spaghetti western fan... But well, better late than never. At the beginning I was rather troubled as this didn't look like a spaghetti western at all and the music surely didn't sound like one either. But luckily it found its tracks towards the end and there were some quite brilliant scenes. The music though didn't really strike me at any point, but the visual side was well in hand towards the end so it didn't really matter that much. Also at the beginning I was quite confused to say the least, the plot seemed to make no sense at all. Some stage coaches were robbed and everyone was killing everyone and that was about all there was. It didn't really become that much clearer towards the end, but the general idea was that everyone betrays everyone for a case of gold which everyone tries to steal in one way or another and there's some big conspiracy and this undertaker and oh fuck it, I give up. All I know is that amongst it all there's Sartana, this mystical seemingly bulletproof gun slinging “pall bearer” who at least seems to know what's going on. All the while you are just completely puzzled and mostly wondering did the body count hit one hundred already and where do all these “henchmen” come from. But it didn't really matter as the movie was still a blast. I can see why Sartana spawned so many sequels, spinoffs and even ripoffs as it's an intriguing character and this first movie was quite a great one even though it took a while to get going.

76%

Django Unchained (2012)

Tarantino's newest turned out to be a bit uneven but still highly enjoyable ride. It had a lot more drama in it than you'd expect from a Tarantino movie, but it was actually a good thing as the movie is cracking jokes at quite a touchy subject for the Americans so it kept it from turning into a total farce. First the things that didn't work. It's the first Tarantino movie I thought could have maybe been a tad shorter, though thinking about it afterwards I can't think of anything to leave out. Would have to see it again to say for sure, but that's definitely a good thing as I really want to watch this one again. The soundtrack is mostly good, though it wasn't as brilliant as I would have expected and what made it even worse was the rap. It's not your usual western soundtrack with the likes of Jim Croce or Anthony Hamilton and Elayna Boynton in it, those worked quite well actually, but the rap, oh come on. Jamie Foxx wasn't exactly great either, but then again he's being overshadowed by Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson in pretty much every scene in the film. Partly the fault of the script as he's not given those moments where an actor can shine, he's the unsung hero amongst these great crazy characters, but partly also because he's not really in the same league as the others. Speaking of the others, I was also a bit disappointed that Christoph Waltz has a very similar role as in Inglorious Basterds (2009) and Samuel L. Jackson is also playing in a familiar turf. They are of course brilliant at what they do, but would have hoped to see something completely new and different from them as well. Leonardo DiCaprio on the other hand is definitely out of his element and does an amazing job at it, I'd call it his best performance since What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993). Also need to note Don Johnson who was a nice surprise as well. For a Tarantino movie those above are a surprisingly lot of things which I didn't really like, but in the end they didn't really matter that much as the rest of this movie was pure dynamite. Also as an old spaghetti western fan I was going crazy with all the references and nods towards the classics of the genre.

85%

The Hellbenders (1967)

Like I've said before Sergio Corbucci is the second best spaghetti western director right after Sergio Leone, so the chance of seeing one of his classics on the big screen was something I was surely not going to miss, even though I've seen this already couple of times before. Anyway this movie is quite an oddity amongst spaghetti westerns, mostly because of the story. It's a story about a Confederate colonel, his three sons and a woman who after the Civil War steal a ton of money from the Union in hopes of rebuilding the Confederate in the Southwest. The problem is getting the money to safety so they have a plot where they hide the money in a coffin and play a role of mourning family on their way to bury their family member. Even though they have a great disguise things of course don't go as planned as they get trouble from Union search parties, cowboys, indians, bandits and even between each other. The movie starts with a bang, but then slows down and that's pretty much my only gripe with this one, it's rather slow paced. Then again as tensions build between the group and outsiders and also within the group, the pace most of the time fits it quite well. I loved Morricone's score and the movie looks great. Joseph Cotten is brilliant in the role of the colonel not willing to let the past go. Rest of the cast is not that strong, but they are mostly fine. This one is a must see for every spaghetti western fan out there as kind of a different subject done in the spaghetti western style. And it's definitely not a bad movie even if you're not that into spaghetti westerns.

82%

Light the Fuse... Sartana Is Coming (1970)

My second Sartana film I've seen and after this I must say I really need to watch the others as well as this was just plain stupid but still tons of fun. Again the plot is far from clear and simple, sometimes it just doesn't make any sense at all, but again there's some gold and apparently counterfeit money and everyone is after them. And I really mean everyone, there's so many side characters and double crosses that I honestly lost count. Sartana is still bulletproof and seems to know everything before everyone else. There's some very nice spaghetti western moments, even though the plot with a smaller body count could just as well be from some detective thriller. About the body count, towards the end it just goes crazy with a huge shootout with organs pissing fire and brimstone! The music was rather good and supported the mood nicely most of the time. It's not a great movie as it's rather uneven and well it just goes a bit too stupid some times, but still it was surely entertaining and well worth the watch. And damn that Alfie is a strong little toy.

74%

Joshua the Black Rider(1976)

Joshua, played by Fred Williamson, is a civil war veteran who returns home from the war only to find his mother killed. He then goes on pursuit of the five men responsible. This is a very straight forward western with only one spice to the mix, the lead character is black. That unfortunately doesn't make this weak effort any better as it's simply put boring. The photography was quite good and there were some nice sceneries caught on film from time to time, but not exactly in the same league as the stylistic spaghetti westerns. Music was just bad and annoyingly repetitive. You can see that Tarantino took quite a few influences from this movie as well, but at least he had the skills to make them work. Some of the ways Joshua decides to kill the murderers were just stupid beyond belief. And I couldn't really understand the motives of the kidnapped woman, first you get kidnapped and raped by a bunch of murderers and then you act like they are the nicest bunch of people around. Anyway I guess it was worth the watch mostly out of curiosity, but I'm sure I won't be revisiting it either.
35%

The Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe (1973)

I didn't see this one at the festival, but as I have it on DVD I decided to revisit it and put a review here as it was in the festival lineup. This is another oddity amongst the spaghetti westerns as it adds kung-fu in the gun slinging. Chin Hao is a Chinese immigrant who travels to the wild west in hopes of becoming a cowboy. He soon finds out that the west is not a hospitable place for foreigners and he of course needs to kick some cowboy ass to prove his worth. He gets a promising job as a rancher, but soon finds out that the cattle is actually Mexican slaves. Righteous man as he is he then turns against the slavers and ends up in some serious trouble. The plot is rather straight forward with not much finesse to it, but that's what you'd expect from a movie like this. Funny thing is that Klaus Kinski is billed as the star of this movie on the title credits and he actually appears in the movie not much longer than 5 minutes. Well that's exploitation for you. Chen Lee plays the main character and does a solid job even though the role is incredibly stereotypical. This movie was surprisingly bloody even compared to the others of its kind and the action was quite good, even though I'm still puzzled why everyone were such bad shooters. Then again it wouldn't make much of a kung-fu movie if the guy is shot down before he can hand out a single punch or a kick. I liked the score by Bruno Nicolai, very spaghetti western style, even though the action was quite different it still fit it very well. Even though the entertainment values were high, it still got a bit tedious at times. Well worth the watch though.

67%

They Call Him Cemetery (1971)

Feel good western of the festival. It's a story about two naive big city snobs who come to the wild west to visit their father. As they are rather dumb they end up pissing off a group of bandits and end up in some serious trouble. Luckily they meet a mysterious stranger with incredible gun skills, called Cemetery, who decides to help them out. However the bandits hire their own mysterious gunslinger called Duke and there of course needs to be a standoff. It seems that Gianni Garko is the actor of this festival as he's the main character in this one as well, in addition to the Sartana movies. That's a good thing as he's a great character for the parts, kind of like a mix between Clint Eastwood hardness and Terence Hill charm. Comedy is the name of the game in this movie and it surely doesn't take itself too seriously. Some of the jokes are rather bad to be honest, but most of them end up digging a few laughs out of you and as the mood is so light it's a great feel good spaghetti western. I absolutely loved the theme song by Bruno Nicolai, one of the all time bests, even though it's played so often I didn't mind the repetition. The movie has it's flaws and at parts it kind of stalls from the fun swing it has, but in the end it left me with a good feeling.

75%

Cut-Throats Nine (1972)

This is not really a spaghetti western, even though most spaghetti westerns were done in Spain. I guess you could call this a paella western, a Spanish western. This movie is grim to the bone and a highly nihilistic view of the west. It's a story about a cavalry sergeant, his daughter and a group of seven sadistic convicts who survive an ambush by a bandit gang. They are left without transportation in the middle of nowhere, while the sergeant tries to get the prisoners to their destination keeping his daughter safe from them and the bandits chasing them. If that wasn't enough trouble, he needs to figure out which one of the prisoners raped and murdered his wife. This was by far the most brutal western of the festival, both graphically and emotionally. There's not much hope in the world this movie builds and to be honest it got a bit tedious after a while. Even though it was a refreshingly different amongst the others in this festival, I can't really say I liked it that much. It's rather straight forward and lacking finesse to the point it becomes unintentionally funny. I did like the story however and in better hands it might have become an intense thriller, now it's just focusing on the exploitation aspects of it too much. I mean it's definitely not a bad movie, but can't really say it's a great one either, if you want to see a darker and more brutal western then this is a must see for you.

66%

The Grand Duel (1972)

Another one I didn't see at the festival, but as I have it on DVD I'll put it up here as well as it was in the festival lineup. This one is kind of like a Hitchcockian murder mystery in a spaghetti western disguise. I guess that's thanks to the writer Ernesto Gastaldi who's more known from writing a handful of giallo classics. Lee Van Cleef plays Sheriff Clayton who helps a man framed with murder. A powerful trio of Saxon brothers want the man dead, but the sheriff has other plans in his mind. The cast is solid and while Lee Van Cleef surely runs this show the others aren't that bad either. I especially liked the Saxon brothers. The movie includes some fairly surreal flashbacks, but other than that it's rather straight forward direction. And even though you can guess the mystery before the end there's still a twist which will make you second guess enough to keep the "surprise" even somewhat as a surprise. The title of the movie may be a bit misleading, but I guess it references the end which indeed you could see as a grand duel. I love the main theme by Luis Bacalov, but the rest of the score doesn't really come close to it. Not bad in any way but still noticeably in a different league. There's many things right in this one, but unfortunately it's quite uneven as a whole. At parts the mystery is swept aside from the entertainment values of big shootouts and then the movie wastes time to remind you of the plot again. Better balance between them and this would have been a very good movie, now it's "just" good.
68%

A Bullet for the General(1966)

I really wonder who came up with this English name for the film, it kind of spoils one of the biggest mysteries of this movie. Oh well, luckily there's more than one twist at the end so it still managed to surprise me. Bill 'Niño' Tate is a mysterious young man who joins a group of train robbing bandits lead by El Chuncho. Together the group rob weapons from the soldiers and sell them to the rebel leader General Elias. Everyone in the group seems to have different motives wether it's just money, patriotism or religious beliefs and of course the motives clash on the way. The movie starts off great as it's entertaining and leaves you with tons of questions. Unfortunately it gets quite dull in the middle, but the end saves a lot as it's rather brilliant, even with the spoiling name. The story was quite good and reflecting back to the time it was made, very political as well. What I was most surprised was the soundtrack, once I saw both Luis Bacalov and Ennio Morricone in the titles I was expecting to be blown away by the score, but I must say it wasn't anything special, quite forgettable to be honest. Even though this wasn't an audio-visual beauty like what you'd expect from some of the spaghetti westerns, it was still well worth the watch and actually a great ending to a brilliant festival as it made me want to see more from the genre apart from the usual Leone and Corbucci classics.

70%

Like I said, unfortunately I had to leave the two night screenings of Viva Cangaceiro (1971) and Death Rides Along (1970) out as I'm getting way too old for these kinds of movie marathons. I'm especially sad I couldn't see Viva Cangaceiro as it's a very rare spaghetti western and I really don't know if there's ever going to be another chance of seeing it. Anyway, this festival was a blast and I hope they will do it again in the future.

Today we copy this western... Tomorrow we copy that other one!

Today We Kill... Tomorrow We Die! (1968)

Bill Kiowa (Brett Halsey) has spent last few years practicing drawing his gun with a wooden pistol in a jail cell. He was put there for a crime he didn't commit and after he's released he seeks out vengeance. He hires a gang of the best killers he knows and goes after the guy who set him up and his group of Comancheros. That's the story in this spaghetti western written by Dario Argento. And despite it being quite common, it's actually not a bad story, I've seen a lot worse that's for sure. The cast is a weird mix of some proper talent and just familiar looking faces. They have even managed to get Tatsuya Nakadai in it to play the main villain and he does the best job of the lot. The music was quite good, which was a surprise as I hadn't heard of Angelo Lavagnino before. Though looking at his filmography I've actually heard him many times, but didn't recognize the name. The movie also looks surprisingly good. Some of the night shots towards the end look brilliant. So it's a nice story with fairly good cast that looks and sounds good, but it's not exactly a good movie. It's a bit unevenly paced and the mood was very uneven going from comedy to tragedy to drama and so on. Kind of like it wanted to touch everything and then go back again. Anyway it was well worth watching but don't think I'll give it another try in the future either.
62%

The lone rider with an axe

Mannaja - A Man Called Blade (1977)

Sergio Martino is more known from his stylish giallos than spaghetti westerns. But he also wanted to give his input to the genre and thus was born Mannaja, one of the last spaghetti westerns. The story of Mannaja, the man who's actually called Blade, is very formulaic using pretty much all the cliches in the storyline which the genre had ever produced. The plot has more holes than I could count and at parts it takes quite ridiculous routes. But as usual the story is not the main point of spaghetti westerns, it's the style and the mood of it. The movie looks quite good with it's rainy and foggy style, though as I watched the extra documentary they said it was to cover the very poor condition of the set. Well never the less it works for the good of the movie as it brings it's own atmosphere to it. The cinematography is quite nice also, so the visual side of it is in order. The music however is quite bad. There's some parts where it works great, but for example the theme song which plays every time Mannaja rides out is quite hilarious with it's deep voice singing. And I bet it surely wasn't meant that way. The acting was quite ok, nothing special but nothing great either. Hard to see Maurizio Merli as a cowboy after all of those crime movies, but he does a decent job. Luckily the pace od the movie is fast enough to keep the interest up when the script and mood fails. Was worth watching but in the end it falls into the vast void of mediocre spaghetti westerns.
58%

Twice the grit

Finally got the chance to see the new Coen brothers film and as it's a remake I'll review the original here also as there's some comparisons I need to make.



True Grit (1969)

Right from the start I have to say I'm not a big fan of John Wayne, to be honest I don't like him much at all. The thing is that he has one character and to me that character is quite plain and one dimentional so never appriciated him as an actor. That being said on this movie however he's actually not bad at all. Definitely not worth the Oscar he received, but still a fairly ok performance. The movie is a great story about a young girl, played by Kim Darby, seeking vengeance to the man who killed his father. She hires a drunk old Marshal, John Wayne, to hunt the man and there is also a Texas Ranger, Glen Campbell, after the same man for a different crime he did. They make an odd trio on their quest for the man with all of them having very different world views and that becoming often in the way to complicate things even more. The true grit of the movie doesn't just apply for John Wayne's character but also to the young girl and the Ranger, they are all true grits in their own way. Kim Darby does somewhat good job at her part, but Glen Campbell as the Ranger is quite a miss, mostly just there for the looks, not the talent. Robert Duvall was a nice surprise as Ned Pepper, the man who's hiding the hunted criminal. Even though the story is a bit dark, the style of the movie is quite classic western without much finesse to it. None the less, the story gets through and it's quite effective. Being quite a dialogue driven movie it's not the usual action packed western, but that's actually a good thing as it brings out the dilemma and the drama of the story. All in all a solid good western worth watching, but it could have been a lot better.
65%



True Grit (2010)

I'm a huge Coen fanboy, every movie they make is a must see for me, so their take on the western genre was surely something to look forward for. As far as remakes come, this was quite a good opportunity in my opinion to make it better than the original. The original has a great story, but the cast isn't really brilliant and the look and the mood leaving a lot to improve on. So first of all the cast, it's quite brilliant. Jeff Bridges handles his part better than Wayne did, his character really passes for a drunk washed out old Marshal. Also Matt Damon as the Texas Ranger is aeons better than Campbell was on the original. Sure he's a bit more comedic sidekick in this one, but it's a nice twist to it and the character is a lot better than in the original. The biggest surprise was Hailee Steinfeld as the young girl, brilliant performance and completely outshadows the original. Rest of the cast is very solid also, Barry Pepper as Ned Pepper is just as good as Robert Duvall was in the original and Josh Brolin has no contest from the original either. So the cast part is surely better, how about the looks and the mood then? Roger Deakins does a job of his life in this one and him being Roger Deakins with the plethora of beautiful movies he's shot, that's saying a lot. The movie looks absolutely stunning and I can pretty much say the Oscar for cinematography is guaranteed to him. So if the story is great, the cast is great and the movie looks brilliant, this is pretty much a perfect remake right? Well almost, but I was a bit disapointed to the ending and especially how it differs from the original as I believe it was better in that. Spoiler ahead, so if you haven't seen both the original and this one, and wish to keep some surprise to them, stop reading now. In the original the Ranger dies from the hit by Chaney and that makes Rooster's run to save Mattie a bit more desperate, now it's not a big deal but still I was a bit disapointed. But what was really better at the ending of the original is that they return to the home farm of Mattie and there we see that this young girl who had become a true grit during the journey is still just a little girl, it gives a lot better contrast to the character and deepens it a lot more. Now in the new one it kind of missed that point, the girl stays being a grit. Small things and the new one has so many things better than the original that it doesn't matter that much. But still it could have been the perfect remake, now it's just almost.
89%

An apocalyptic spaghetti western

Keoma (1976)

Second movie from Enzo G. Castellari in a row and this time luckily it's a lot better than the first one I watched. This is a story about a half indian half pale face man called Keoma, who after the civil war returns to his home town. Of course the town is run by a criminal bunch and it's time for the returning hero to clean it up. Even though it seems kinda basic story of the spaghetti westerns, it's a bit more luckily. There are family ties as his three brothers are not exactly happy to see him back and would be happy to put a bullet in his head but their father keeps them from doing that. Also there's a black man who used to be Keoma's childhood hero, but now is just a poor old drunk who gets stepped over constantly. Add to that a pregnant lady who everyone thinks has the plague and tries to send her to the plague camp by the mines and you have a nice little mess to be sorted out. This is quite an apocalyptic tale, the war has left it's mark and the movie is surprisingly dark for a spaghetti western. The style of it is quite brilliant. Sure some of the slow motion work and some of the flashbacks were a bit cheesy at parts, but still it's fresh enough. The movie has a lot of biblical references and there's a constant spiritual feel looming around. That helps the mood even more and at parts it gets almost surreal. The music was quite nice but damn those lyrics were a bit too cheesy for my taste. The lyrics basically describe what's happening on screen and what's going through the head of the character. So if you can ignore the lyrics the music was great. All in all the movie is well worth the watch and nicely different from the others of it's genre.
81%

How the Polak almost won the Mexican revolution

The Mercenary (1968)

First of all I have to say that Sergio Corbucci is probably the second best spaghetti western director, right after Sergio Leone himself. This was an action packed comedy about a Polish mercenary, played by Franco Nero, who lends his skills to anyone who has the money. He gets mixed up in the rising Mexican revolution, lead by a mine worker called Paco who surely needs his help. Before that he manages to piss off a guy called Curly, played brilliantly by Jack Palace, who takes it as his life mission to seek revenge. The story is quite far fetched but that doesn't matter much as the movie is fast paced and there's plenty of things to keep you entertained. The comedy ranges from very poor to freaking funny and even at it's worst I still had a bit of a grin on my face as it's quite a feel good movie. The action was sometimes over the top but it fit the story so no problem there and always a big plus for Rambo style usage of machine guns. Giovanna Ralli plays Paco's loved one who is most of the time tougher than Paco himself. All in all the cast was quite good. The score by Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai is magnificent and it's used very nicely. So it was great fun, not the best spaghetti western out there but still very enjoyable entertainment. The ending standoff between Paco and Curly is quite brilliant, even in the scale of spaghetti western standoffs.
81%

Fulci on western

Four of the Apocalypse (1975)

Lucio Fulci is more known from his ultra violent horror movies and giallos, but he has done a wide variety of movies ranging from comedy to westerns. His take on the spaghetti western is surely interesting. The movie tells a story of four people driven on the run from a small town after a very violent "clean up" by the town officials. On their journey they meet a man called Chaco, played brilliantly by Tomas Milian, who turns their lives into a nightmare. Surprisingly this movie is quite dramatic in emotions, something not common in the usually muted spaghetti westerns. Sure there is the usual vengeance theme and all of the basic ingredients, but it also has a bit of a romance and lots of drama. At first it seemed like a good thing as it raised the potential quite a lot, but unfortunately it doesn't really work out in the end. Fulci seems to take the focus into the wrong things and missing quite a bit of the juicy setup the script would have provided. Also the look of the movie is not what one would expect from the visually praised spaghetti westerns as this one is quite plain in the company of it's kind. Sure there are some individual shots that are quite brilliant and even some very nicely crafted scenes, but still it's a bit too straight forward. The cast is quite great with Tomas Milian shining above others but Fabio Testi and Lynne Frederick do a great job as well. The music was from quite ok to absolutely horrible, another thing that other of it's kind do aeons better. All in all it had lots of potential, some of which was unfortunately lost and even though it does many things right it still has so many things wrong it falls just below average in it's genre.
55%