cengelm

Toni arrives in Paris coming by train from Calabria. He enters an Italian restaurant and kills the owner who is member of the Minelli family. For no obvious reason he stays in Paris and meets an old man who is living in kind of an asylum because he murdered another Italian family many years ago. Only the mother of that family survived. The old man tells him that the Minelli family will seek revenge and try to kill him. Toni now meets the Minellis again and talks with them. He gets nervous and kills 3 more family members. He continues to talk with the old man who tells him that the killing was necessary and that Toni's family always considered Toni a bastard because he was an illegitimate child. Because of that they sent him to Paris to get rid of him. The only way to achieve reconciliation would be to kill a certain Buffo. After that his family would forgive him. Overall the story is entertaining to follow but it's the kind of story where you are not allowed to ask too many questions - like e.g. why doesn't Toni himself know anything about the bastard story. I haven't seen any real plot holes, though. I found the acting to be OK and the overall impression of the movie was mediocre. Besides the talky relationship between Toni and the old man there is some action and a little romantic subplot where a French girl falls in love with the Calabrian guy and surprisingly they talk without any language problems. The French authorities never interfere so that the murder plot can continue.

Recommended if you have some time to kill and like any of the actors.

Italian patriot Colonel Angelo Pardi is fleeing his country in 1832. He enters the cholera ridden French Provence. There he meets Pauline who is lovelessly married to rich Marquis de Théus. Together they will look for him. The road movie starts pretty slow and chaotic. More often than once I was confused about what was going on. A lot of swashbuckling, dead people, crows and crows again, some chases. There seemed to be no real plot or focus. Then after about one hour suddenly it got better and delivered what I was expecting. The romance between Juliette Binoche and Olivier Martinez gained momentum and the story got some direction. The ending was a bit melodramatic and lacked credibility but I won't ask for too much.

Both lead actors did a good job. Cinematography was good and benefited from the setup in France's beautiful landscape. There was an improvement to be seen after a rather bad start.

6 / 10

Unlike many other comment writers I'm only writing about the film and not the series. This entry of the IMDb refers to the pilot(?) film only.

The movie deals with the fortune of the Macahan family who underwent a life of strange and irrational decisions. Timothy(?) Macahan is tired of the life in Virginia and also fears the upcoming civil war and thus decides to go west. With a single covered wagon and his brother Zeb as a scout he soon arrives in Nebraska. Despite the availability of a telegraph line he starts to worry about his parents who have stayed back in Virginia and decides to ride back more than 2000 miles through territory of war. After nothing is heard about him one of his sons follows him to Virginia and is thereby recruited by the Unionists. In the middle of the Shiloh battle he meets his father who is just about to die in the same minute. Isn't the USA bigger than than the town where I'm living?!

There is a teaching narrative which gives the impression that the event-driven soap opera is meant as kind of a lesson. The actors could have been better and more natural, some more extras could have filled the scenes. The way the story is told lacks the necessary grit which is a typical flaw of TV-Westerns. Camera work and score are mediocre.

4 / 10.

... to add to the mystery. The film starts slow without boring the customer. We are introduced to some of the characters who will enter a military support train from Arizona(?) to Fort Humboldt, California. The train will pass only wild mountain landscape so that there is no leave. Mysterious things start to happen and we don't know what's behind, a situation roughly comparable to A LADY VANISHES from Hitchcock. So it's more a Thriller and Murder Mystery located in the Old West than a real Western. Bronson does a good job and handles the increasing action well, the other actors give some good but not great performances. The film would be better and more credible with some less mystery events and particularly less carcasses on the train. Why not dump them in the wilderness!? It must have smelled. But overall good and well shot entertainment.

Quite popular in Germany.

"Who cares about the death of your sister, I want my drink!". This is what the brother of the sheriff tells Clayton in a bar. Clayton doesn't really like to hear this, starts a brawl and when the other draws the gun he shoots and kills. Then he goes to the sheriff to complain about the murder of his sister and the sheriff who doesn't care starts the next brawl. Clayton escapes and hunts the murderers by himself. Not much killing but many fistfights. Everything (and everyone) is simple and somewhat solid but neither the story nor the film ever excel. The three actresses in this sometimes misogynistic story are handsome and particularly Lea Massari does a good job.

The film starts with a road and a covered wagon that apparently has all kind of household goods. The owner probably provides distant ranches with convenience products. For $10 he has accepted a passenger who will kill him soon. The passenger turns out to be a criminal Confederate colonel who has a map of a hidden treasure. In a conflict with outlaws he gets killed and a little boy and a "stranger" without a gun get hold of it. A typical treasure hunt with only partial knowledge about the location by each of the searchers through a wild mountain landscape is about to start. Gilbert Roland and Richard Harrison together with a mixed bunch including the outlaws are able to entertain the viewer and deliver both a good performance. There are a lot of nice and wild landscape shots and the score has at least average quality. On the downside there is a certain lack of credibility in more than one situation. E.g. before starting a treasure hunt I'd try to get rid of outlaws.

Recommended for Western and Adventure genre enthusiasts.

The film opens with a sunset and a red sky and there are riders who ride in slow-motion. This is quite unusual because normally it's the way a Western ends and rides are often accelerated by fast-motion. Soon we are in a Mexican-lead barroom where the superhero (a good Lance Henriksen as a squint-eyed Eastwood lookalike who looks almost as old as Eastwood himself in the nineties) is challenged by some minor gunslingers. Later he enters the town where the husband of his former love is a replacement sheriff because the real sheriff got killed by badmen. Surprisingly he also meets his daughter who doesn't know about this fact. A strange relationship with contradictive feelings develops. What could be a good drama is mostly hurt by the contrasting cartoonish Western cliché inserts. All that is related to the Old West lacks credibility here. The characters as presented feel way to modern. They just try to be Westerners.

Recommended to those who are deeply interested in Westerns. There weren't that many made in the nineties.

5 / 10

After the Civil War a dedicated ex-Confederate officer leads a hearse with a coffin full of money to New Mexico where he wants to revive the Confederation. His company is formed by his three very different sons and an alcoholic women. After the woman gets killed she is replaced by a seasoned female gambler who is well played by Norma Bengell. The whole story unfolds in the way of a road movie where the characters are passing through the typical obstacles of a Western environment. Due to a massacre the bunch committed in the beginning they are hunted by unionists and government officials. Corbucci manages to make the characters who are basically all criminals very likable and I was more often than not at the edge of my seat when the bunch run into trouble. Probably THE WILD BUNCH from Peckinpah got some inspirations from here and Corbucci's COMPAÑEROS can be considered a later variant with a different mood.

The mood of the film is excellently supported by Morricone's score which belongs to his best. Cinematography is above average. The Spaghetti Western Web Board rated this film at #24 of all SW in 2005.

7 / 10

Ken Dakota seeks revenge for the killing of his brother Bill and wife. In his search for the murderers he runs into conflict with the evil Mexican land owner Chris Malone (Horst Frank) who lets peasants fight against each other for pure pleasure. The plot isn't straight and simple and more often than not it is difficult to find any serious reason for what is going on. E.g. why putting Eastman over a snake pit. If he dies everything is lost and he won't talk anyways. Well, there is the reason of maintaining a constant flow of carcasses. Despite the rather violent and dark plot with various scenes of torture the film is beautifully shot in a nice landscape with lakes and waterfalls in front of a blue sky. Often the violence is accompanied by nice music and even the villains prove to be skilled musicians. This generates a strange contrast. George Eastman acts with pleasure and Horst Frank plays a credible villain. Nicoletta Machiavelli has definitely some problems with her role.

The film is pretty long for a Spaghetti Western and able to entertain as long as the viewer doesn't care about the plot. It seems to be filmed in 4:3 format.

Unlike all those mavericks who populate the Spaghetti Western genre Quintana has a family and we meet his parents in the second scene of the film. His real name is José and his girlfriend is Esmeralda. Setup is in Mexico where the province is oppressed by the evil Don Juan de Leyra. José puts a mask on his face and converts into a zorro-like avenger who is always in place when injustice occurs. He is supported by priest Mansueto (wellknown genre actor Ignacio Spalla) who hides the pursued ones. "George Stevenson" who plays Quintana is probably an alias name. I have never seen him before and he is lacking the energy needed for the leading job. Overall this story unfolds quite coherent and logical, the characters however remain flat. There are different romances which also develop within expectations.

Camera work is OK, the notable score is better than the film.

4 / 10

Gary Hamilton (Klaus Kinski) seeks revenge against his former friend Acombar (Peter Carsten) who framed him many years ago, is now rich and established and also took his beloved Maria. Acombar and his many mean and evil helpers will now die one by one with little surprise. If Hamilton doesn't do it the baddies will support him killing each other. There isn't any twist or any new idea, the revenge story unfolds steadily over more than one night at one and the same location. The script avoids difficult situations like e.g. Hamilton killing Maria. Leading Kinski is shining while the rest of the cast forms the shadow. Camera and sets are average, the score is in my humble opinion rather bad than good.

5 / 10.

This Spaghetti Western uses three American lead actors which takes away a little of the typical spaghetti aura. The plot is about an amnesty that the governor of New Mexico gives to all willing criminals to provide them a chance to start a new life. Usually this kind of opportunity is limited to past events but in this film it seems more like a licence to kill because even new crimes (like e.g. threatening the governor) are forgiven. The story is an endless chain of killings where nearly every character has only the purpose to deliver more carcasses. Only the few leads have stamina. Clay McCord is haunted by nightmares related to a childhood event where unsurprisingly he killed a lot of people. In the middle of the everlasting mayhem this kind of reflections lack credibility. Compared with similar films like e.g. BANDIDOS none of the characters in this film was likable for me.

Apart of the weak content which targets certain customers this film is well shot, sets are somewhat detailed and the acting is average.

4 / 10.

Ferdinando Baldo needs only 85 minutes to deliver a family drama of high complexity. Rafael hates Anna Carrasco because she didn't permit him to marry her daughter. To accomplish his revenge he searches for Anna's son Sebastian who wants to avenge the murder of his father who was actually murdered by Anna. Anna back then was helped by her lover whom she replaced already by another men. I will not continue any further, I hope you've got an entry into the muddled plot. Unfortunately this isn't a Western plot which means that genre fans will be rather disappointed. Fans of serious drama will be disappointed by the high pace which never permits to get any deeper into the characters. Anna's daughter Conchita says: "I will not leave the town as long as the murderers of my father still live here". Well, I would always prefer not to live together with murderers but that quantity of logic is missing. The story as it is told often rises more questions than it answers. Acting is as good as the weak script permits, the women are really handsome. Sets and locations give the impression of being in Southern Spain and not in the American West most of the time.

The high quality German DVD is a real bargain and has an English soundtrack.

5 / 10 (**)

A gang under Jarret (Walter Barnes) robs a bank and is helped by Santo, a monk. After the robbery they wait for the native Indio who is supposed to lead them through the desert to Mexico. Santo who has his own plans kills Indio so that the bandits can't leave the town. That's the end of the plot and more or less the start of the film. Now the bad guys mostly kill each other with the exception of those killed by Billy (George Hilton) who is the brother of the killed sheriff and imprisoned for drinking. Hilton and Betts aren't bad but the rest of the cast hardly deserves to be mentioned. The muddle that is going on once on a while shifts into comedic waters which are soon left again.

Score is mediocre, sets are average at best. The really many bonus scenes on the DVD are symptom of heavy editing. It seems that every country got a slightly different version. The German DVD is acceptable for the low price.

4 / 10 (reviewed for the sake to have a review)

The film starts with a train robbery where all but one passengers are killed. The rest of the film consists in a complex plot where basically the many bandits all kill each other. The 2 honest heroes who have a buddy relationship hardly contribute to the body count. All the leading actors give a good performance, specially Salerno playing the resentful Martin. Cinematography is good but not outstanding and the sets are often quite detailed. On the downside there is the lack of a real focus and too many senseless killings. Finally even bandits need some honest people to steal from. If you want you can call that nihilism as well.

Certainly above average Spaghetti Western. The German budget DVD could have a better image quality.

6 / 10

It's the old story of a gunfighter who wants to retire from eternal killing but fortune won't let him to do so. He lives in a small western town which is threatened by an invading gang of bandits. Lead villain Jeff is characterized by his omnipresent maniac laughter which is a bit molesting after a while. Another thing noticeable are the many scenes where women get molested by the bandits. Good luck that the mysterious Jim is always in place. We know who he is but all characters in the film don't - with the exception of the guitar playing "Guitar". There is some tension and some action but not very much for an Italian western. All characters are either good or bad.

Score and cinematography are mediocre at best.

4 /10

This is the third Sartana played by Garko film I have seen and while I found the first two to be mediocre at best this one hit me positively. Sartana is falsely accused and is searching for the real bank robbers. The evolving story consists of many little entertaining episodes and whenever you think that the real bad guy is already revealed there is one more twist. In his quest Sartana is assisted only by Buddy Ben who is well played by Frank Wolff, the rest of the characters is hunting the bounty put on his head. No problem for Sartana who kills them all, most of them with his Derringer pistol. Kinski with more screen time than usual shines in his role as an addicted gambler.

The lead characters are having their own and nice scores. Cinematography is above average but I've seen already better. The German budget DVD is OK and has even the original Italian soundtrack.

7 / 10 (**1/2)

This film was actually one of my favorites at a student movie theater really many years ago. It was kinda cult and thus shown quite often and the audience could have been always the same. Like many of Corbucci's works it has frequent showings on German TV. IL MERCENARIO is very comparable to the better COMPANEROS which has particularly a much better cast. It's another buddy western with a Nordic (blond) and a Mexican guy where the first is cool and intelligent and the other hot tempered and rather low witted. Compañero Milian is much slicker than Musante who many times prevails just as a fool and is closer to Tuco Ramirez of THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY. Nevertheless Musante feels more realistic as a peasant than the grimacing Milian. Nero is more dominating in his role as the mercenary of Polish origin than as the Swedish Peterson of COMPANEROS. He is never really convinced of the revolutionary values. Curly/Ricciolo (Jack Palance) seems pretty superfluous for the plot and serves as a comic relief character with an extra portion of sadism. In the absence of a real lead villain he enters the final duel.

The pace of the film is fast and the excellent (maybe Morricone's best) and rousing score supports the generous action. Machine guns are roaring and counting the bodies falling seems pretty impossible. Impressing wide screen photography immerses the viewer.

9/10 with a slight nostalgic bonus. Top 10 Spaghetti Western.

This film reuses the lead character of LA RESA DEI CONTI and is the third of the Sollima/Milian series. Cuchillo (spanish for "knife") is pretty skilled with this weapon and proves its usefulness in a lot of occasions. During the plot he acts as a maverick, with the only help of his fiancé Maria who wants him finally to get married. As a cultural counterpoint there is the other maverick Cassidy who is depicted as Nordic precise and cold. While being competitive at first they later join for purpose. Overall this sequel suffers from an overload of duel and fighting situations which often seem to be completely senseless, e.g. the duel between Cassidy and José in the beginning. The revolution is not more than a background. Less characters and more character development would have helped. Milian plays with his typical humor and very often we see his suffering face in repetitive scenes of torture. . Recommended for fans of the genre and of Milian. Rich daughter Penny (Linda Veras) is working for the salvation army and wears black fish-net stockings which I consider a minor inaccuracy ;-)

The Nicolai/Morricone score is nice but too hammering for my taste, cinematography is well above average. For me this film is the most humorous of the 3 Sollimas.

6/10

After a massacre where an Indian village is burnt down, the women are raped and the men are mostly killed one surviving kid decides to take revenge and to kill the '10 White Men' after he has grown up. If you expect the usual revenge story you are wrong, though. The killing native is nothing more than a running gag in a family drama where the father(one of the killers) wants his half-breed daughter to marry a wealthy men but she loves Ringo and wants to be together with him. Acting is OK and the story has a certain depth but overall the film makes a cheap and amateurish impression. Art direction is severely lacking and cinematography isn't satisfying, either. Hardly recommended for fans of Italian cinema, Western fans better look elsewhere for pleasure.

3 / 10.

This is the second film of Enzo G. Castellari I have seen, after KEOMA. It's not as original as the latter but provides good entertainment. The opening starts with a pseudo-documentary narrative which introduces the characters. While in THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN the introduced characters are the heroes here they are the baddies. Later the characters aren't much further developed, though. The strong aspect of the film is the uncertainty about the intentions of the Stuart character, well played by Edd Byrnes. He doesn't seem to be a good guy but maybe there is a reason why he kills so many innocent people. Guy Madison plays equally convincing his counterpart Blake.

Overall an OK violent western with a good Francesco De Masi score which supports the pace of the story.

5 / 10.

Nerdish professor wants to marry orderly girl but meets wild girl who does everything to conquer him and succeeds. There is also a palaeohistoric bone and a leopard. That is the plot of BRINGING UP BABY from 1939. Several years later Herbert Ballmann makes an attempt at the same story. Cary Grant is replaced by wellknown softcore actor Helmut Berger and Katharine Hepburn by TV-star Desiree Nosbusch. Both deliver a lackluster performance. The leopard is missing and there is a muddled murder mystery story inserted. All 3 actresses can be seen topless(!) and those are the climactic moments of this film.

4 / 10.

Johnny is pretty materialistic. Without a piece of gold he won't move a limb. Early in the story he could have killed bad guy Perez - but without the dime no kill. Story develops into a lonely-sheriff-versus-the-bandits one where the sheriff demonstrates his iron will to maintain law and order. Added to this familiar plot there is the element of temptation: if the town dwellers deliver Johnny to the outlaws the town would be saved. Unfortunately this sideline isn't well developed. In the end we get a good portion of action with explosions etc. Score, cinematography(too many studio shots) and acting are adequate. Was made in the same year as DJANGO with very different maverick heroes.

5 / 10.

I'm surprised about the many female voters who even give this film better marks. My thought about this film was that the target audience is adult and male. Whipped and tortured women, merciless revenge and a high body count are typical ingredients, introduced into film history by the spaghetti subgenre. The opening and the hand-smashing are DJANGO rip-offs. THE SHOOTER however lacks the style of e.g. DJANGO. Score, acting and cinematography are mediocre at best but if you look for the above mentioned ingredients you are in the right place here. And the actors don't have an Italian accent.

4 / 10.

If TRAFFIC is already considered one of the best the year 2000 must have been a bad one. And it was. TRAFFIC uses the typical bluish(and in this case whenever we cross the mexican border orangeish) Hollywood documentary style. A lot of shaky hand shots and some of the typical stir-up emotional scenes(specially those with Michael Douglas) add to the dish. Too muddled and unfocused to be really enjoyable it's probably a "must-see".

7 / 10.