The movie itself is not that great... it's an unimaginatively-conceived western that is not much more gritty or believable than an episode of "Gunsmoke". The premise is terrific, hearkening back to the plots of old Italian spaghetti westerns... a blind gunfighter carrying a newborn baby comes to a small town overrun by bad men and proceeds to shoot out with every bad guy within range. What makes this movie memorable for me, though, is a GREAT performance by Armand Assante as the blind Canaan. He transcends every other acting job in the movie... no one else seems either authentic or interesting. Assante, however, has done his homework and seems like he wouldn't be out of place at all in an old "Django" movie. Elisabeth Shue is pretty but totally unconvincing as a frontier femme who comes to the aid of Assante and the young baby girl. Every one else is a typical western cartoon... stuffy army officers, nasty bandits with thick accents, etc. (Jack Black appears at one point as an army sentry... which is a little more disconcerting now that he is famous for his more comedic roles.) Fortunately, whenever Assante is on screen he makes the movie work... even some of the ridiculous one-liners. "How do you like your eggs? Scrambled?" (said while clutching a bad guy's genitals).
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ma-cortes11 June 2012A blind gunman roams through Mexico carrying a baby and seeks vengeance against a cruel Mexican outlaw and hoodlums . TV Western filmed in location and deals with a Blindman who arrives in a town ravaged by bandits . The gunfighter enemy is Alacran and his gang who terrorize themselves the villagers . There appears Canaan ( Armand Assante) , a mysterious gunslinger left nearly blind from Civil War combat at the battle of Antietam . At the beginning Canaan rescues a man from bandits , he then passes through a border town where Union Cavalry officers (led by Adam Baldwin) assigned to deliver a load of silver are under attack from brutal outlaws . With some reluctance, Canaan steps in to help the soldiers . Later on , Clay is imprisoned by the bandit Alacran (Robert Davi) and also townsfolk is living in terror of his band . In the middle of these two waring parties is a beautiful woman (Elizabeth Shue) who helps and heals Canaan . The gunfighter enters the town caught between two feuding factions, a nasty U.S. officer and a gang of Mexican bandits attempting to take the shipment , and is caught up in a struggle against them . But here is a problem however, Canaan is blind.
The film packs violence , shootouts , high body-count , continuous flashbacks about Civil War , and it's fast moving and quite entertaining . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shoot'em up or stunts every few minutes . It's an exciting western with breathtaking showdown between the starring Armand Assante and his enemies , Robert Davi , Danny Nucci , among others . The movie contains gun-play, action Western , thrills and bloody spectacle . Screenplay with interesting premise about a 'blind gunfighter' though its origin results to be a Japanese series starred by ¨Zaitochi¨, a blind swordsman from the 60s and being recently remade by Takeshi Kitano . This interesting theme about a blind gunslinger is also treated in other films such as ¨The Blindman¨ by Ferdinando Baldi with Tony Anthony and Ringo Starr , ¨An eye for eye¨ by Michael Moore with Robert Lansing and ¨Minessota Clay¨ with Cameron Mitchell , directed by Sergio Corbucci . An interesting casting full of usual Titus Welliver , M.C.Gainey and brief appearance by then unknown Jack Black . Special mention to Robert Davi in his ordinary role as a cruelly baddie , he is terrific, and bears a hysterical and mocking aspect , subsequently he would play similar characters . The movie gets the ordinary Western issues, such as avengers antiheroes , violent facing off , quick scenes and exaggerated baddies . It's an improbable blending of standard Western with pursuits, high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining . Mediocre cinematography by Jack Conroy, but is necessary a perfect remastering , being the copy washed-out .
Direction by Richard Spence (New world disorder ,Brookside , Different for girls) is well crafted, here he is more cynical and violent and less inclined toward humor and packs too much action . Spence makes a nice camera work with clever choreography on the showdown , fighting , moving shootouts and bemusing scenes . It's an outlandish , surprising and uneven story but will appeal to Western aficionados . Rating : 5,5 , riotous Western in which there's too much action and violence and excitement enough . -
cashimor5 August 2000This movie has a dark atmosphere, which attracted me in the beginning. There are some flashbacks that I feel slow the thing down too much, but otherwise the story is quite solid. I had not expected this movie, and was pleasantly surprised.
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dokmartin22 July 2004I fell in love with this movie when I saw it for the first time on HBO the year it first came out. Now, being that I am something of an old west buff, I was interested to see how a movie about a blind gunfighter would work. I was not disappointed. The premise is unique. Armand Assante brought a depth to the role that gave it paths. You could relate to the character of Canaan and sympathize with him. Robert Davi borough his usual menace as Alacran, the leader of the bandits. Elizabeth Shue was alright, but could have been more developed, though she does play the lass in distress well. M.C. Gainly, who was also in the HBO movie "El Diablo" as a demolitions expert, was also in this movie, though he did not have all that many lines or scenes, was also quite bad as Alacran's hit man, but in a good, bad guy, kinda way. Jack Black has a cameo as a army sentry, which was rather funny, if a bit short. The chap who played the Bartender Ernie Fowler was cool, as was the Native American fellow who played a bomb obsessed shaman.
There is also a fellow in this movie who will later appear in the HBO series Deadwood. The other characters, while cool and well acted, were not that developed and felt alittle wooden. The script needed some fine tuning, such as making the characters less wooded, but it was other wise alright. The score, which was done by Richard Gibbs of Queen of the Damned fame, was very fitting indeed. I wish a soundtrack would be put out for this movie. I have liked everything I have seen Armand Assante in and this is yet another example of why. Much props for HBO for making this movie and I hope they revisit the characters again soon. -
Leafan7 January 2002Nice little compact western with a good cast, but for me was just lacking that certain something that would make it shine. I'd give it 3 out of 5. Assante and Davi are good in the lead roles, Adam Baldwin provides great support along with Elizabeth Shue. Flashback scenes were a little annoying but aren't that long so it's a mild distraction.
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SnoopyStyle3 September 2015Canaan (Armand Assante) is a mysterious gunfighter blinded during the Civil War. He's carrying a baby to a waiting adopted family. He runs into a gang led by Alacran (Robert Davi). He enters a border town with only one road out and cut off by the bandits. They are after a shipment of silver being transported by Sgt. Hastings (Adam Baldwin) and his men. Town leader Caroline (Elisabeth Shue) recruits the blind man to join in the fight for 200 lbs of silver.
This should be a fun campy spaghetti western. A blind gunfighter screams cheese. This movie has no style. Armand Assante is a great actor and he does his job here. Elisabeth Shue is not hard enough to be the town leader. She is a damsel in distress and a romantic partner thrown at Assante. This could be great but it is mostly boring. -
vegascage37 July 2002This movie was really very good. I like westerns as a rule but don't generally like newer ones. I bought this one because I really like Armand Assante. He didn't let me down in this movie. And neither did the movie. It's very different than any other western I've seen yet. They are some gross scenes and some very good action scenes. I liked that alot. I don't like wimpy westerns. Over all a very surprisingly good movie with a great cast including Elisabeth Shue and a small role by Jack Black. If you like westerns this is a good one to get.
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Woodyanders14 October 2008Armand Assante gives a marvelously assured and charismatic performance as Canaan, a blind and embittered Civil War veteran turned roving gunslinger who travels across the country with a baby in tow. Canaan stops off in a lawless small town and runs afoul of a foul gang of desperadoes led by the ruthless Alacran (Robert Davi in fine nasty form). Alacran and his men want to gain possession of a stash of silver coins that's being guarded by an ever-diminishing handful of U.S. Cavalrymen. Canaan agrees to help the desperate soldiers, but only if he gets paid 200 pounds worth of silver for his troubles. Ably directed by Richard Spence, with a neat and engrossing script by Daniel Knauf, the gritty-funky look and feel of a vintage 60's Italian spaghetti Western, a steady pace, polished cinematography by Jack Conroy, several rousing and well-staged action set pieces (Canaan's pre-credits introduction is absolutely priceless!), and a nice line in dark humor, this nifty little number makes for a fun and engrossing viewing experience. While Assante clearly owns the show with his spot-on portrayal of the wry, likable and dangerous Canaan, kudos are nonetheless still in order for the excellent supporting cast: Elisabeth Shue as feisty nurse Caroline, Adam Baldwin as the ramrod Sergeant Hastings, M.C. Gainey as vicious lackey Bull, Clayton Landey as folksy bartender Ernie Fowler, Jimmy Herman as a crazed demolitions-obsessed Native American shaman, Ian McElhinney as the shady Father Malone, and a then unknown Jack Black in a funny small part as a jerky private. This offbeat and entertaining film is well worth a watch.
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FightingWesterner28 December 2009Blind gunslinger Armand Assante rides into a town under siege by Mexican bandits, led by villainous Robert Davi. It seems they chased Adam Baldwin's Army regiment and the silver shipment they were escorting into the town church weeks earlier.
With it's vivid heroes and heavies, bright color scheme, and exaggerated action sequences, Blind Justice plays like an entertaining, live action comic-book. I wasn't too surprised to find out that this was in part inspired by exactly that.
This has a nice cast too. Armand Assante is always cool. In a perfect world, he would be an A-list star! Robert Davi never disappoints, especially when he plays a colorful bad guy. Elizabeth Shue is quite appealing as Assante's love interest.
Incredible scenes have Assante riding blind through a wall of flame and being crucified by Davi! The amazing climax is utterly explosive!
HBO Pictures should drop the boring political stuff and go back to making good escapist movies like this. -
sydneyswesternsuburbs13 July 2011Director Richard Spence has created a gem in Blind Justice.
Starring Armand Assante who has also been in other classic flicks, Chicago Overcoat 2009 and Federal Protection 2002.
Also starring Elisabeth Shue who has also been in other classic flicks, Piranha 3D 2010, Mysterious Skin 2004 and Leaving Las Vegas 1995.
Also starring Robert Davi who has also been in other classic flicks, Game of Death 2010, The Butcher 2009, No Contest 1995, Predator 2 1990, Maniac Cop 2 1990, Peacemaker 1990 and Die Hard 1988.
I enjoyed the shootouts.
If you enjoyed this as much as I did then check out other classic western flicks, Bad Company 1972, Barquero 1970, Dust, Sweat and Gunpowder 1972, Cut-Throats Nine 1972, Dances with Wolves 1990, Dead Man 1995, The Desperate Trail 1995, Duel at Diablo 1966, El Topo 1970, Samuel Fuller's Forty Guns 1957, Frank & Jesse 1995, Jeremiah Johnson 1972, Jonah Hex 2010, Lawman 1971, The Long Riders 1980, The Outlaw Josey Wales 1976, Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid 1973, The Quick and the Dead 1995, The Return of a Man Called Horse 1976, Silverado 1985, Tears of the Black Tiger 2000, Tombstone 1993, Ulzana's Raid 1972, The Wild Bunch 1969, The Hunting Party 1971, Django Unchained 2012, Bone Tomahawk 2015, The Hateful Eight 2015, Dead in Tombstone 2013, The Salvation 2014, Outlaws and Angels 2016, The Dark Valley 2014, 3:10 to Yuma 2007, Seraphim Falls 2006, Brimstone 2016, The Last Outlaw 1993, Dollar for the Dead 1998, Winchester 73 1950, The Deadly Trackers 1973, Slow West 2015, Deadwood 2019 and Young Guns 1988. -
NoDakTatum5 December 2023Although derivative of many other films, this short little western still packs a punch. Assante is nearly blind gunfighter Canaan, traveling with a baby. He is looking for the baby's mother, asking everyone he finds about the town she is supposed to be in. He stops in one town where a group of soldiers is guarding a shipment of silver, which is being eyed by the local bandits. The soldiers, trapped, send Canaan out for help. All hell breaks loose.
Assante is very good as the embittered gunfighter, and often very funny. His blindness never becomes gimmicky, although one has to wonder how he can ride a horse. He uses his hearing and sense of smell to shoot, how does he know in which direction the horse is going? Adam Baldwin, as the soldiers' sergeant Hastings, is great, as is Robert Davi in his best role since "Licence to Kill" as the main villain. The one cast liability here is Oscar nominee Elisabeth Shue as Caroline. Shue delivers all of her lines in a flat, monotonal, vaguely-Valley Girl accent. Canaan and Caroline's forced romance is also the weakest part of the script. One scene to watch for is in the climax as a character is blown through the doors of a building. I rewound that three times just to bask in an action shot I had never seen before. This feels like the first film of a proposed series that never came to fruition, and with an 85 minute running time, you have to wonder what they cut out. However, I do recommend "Blind Justice."