I agree with every word of the Dr. Menardās post.
Five stars, of course! 
easy kills the keoma!!! one of the last best western!!!
[quote=āStanton, post:12, topic:292ā]A boring film, badly directed with unimaginative action scenes and uncharismatic actors (exept Merli).
Only thing I like is the score with the songs resembling Leonard Cohen.[/quote]
a boring film?? no, one of the best and last great westernsā¦
I found this film to be enjoyable but basically just an ok Western. I thought it never really reached itās full potential, especially after the great opening sequence. I also found it dragged a bit in the middle, in which the scenes seemed like a gap filler. Also the ending was extremely anti-climatic. I was hoping for Blade to use the hatchet more often as well. Overall the action was good and much like Keoma I thought the fist fight was done well. The soundtrack was a let down for me, I enjoyed the Keoma soundtrack but this time it was extremely repetitive.
I was mostly disappointed by this one, after reading the reviews. First, the return of the dreaded Keoma musicians! I actually donāt mind their work in that film as much as most, but it suited Keoma a lot better than Mannaja. It just felt out of place here. Second, and maybe this is SW blasphemy, but the lead actor did nothing for me. He reminded me of an Italian Chuck Norris. His relationship with the girl was sped through (and later almost immediately forgotten), and nothing about him really stood out, aside from his cool weapons of choice. The death of McGowan felt equally thrown away. On the plus side, the opening was terrific, very atmospheric. The semi-environmentalist/labor themes were a nice change from the usual SW fare. Ditto the whole cave segment. Also, the triple torture of being buried in sand, having his eyelids sewn open, with a sharp stick shoved under his jaw was certainly memorable. The overall hit-and-miss quality earns this one a 3 from me.
P.S. Is this considered one of the last real SWs? I read something to that effect on the IMDb.
Ah iāve heard this a lot lately but I donāt see it. Merliās a much better actor iād say, you can see it in his crime films.
[quote=āchuck connors brother, post:166, topic:292ā]Ah iāve heard this a lot lately but I donāt see it. Merliās a much better actor iād say, you can see it in his crime films.[/quote]Yeah, thatās why I mentioned the possibility of it being blasphemy, since itās the first thing Iāve seen him in. Heās only listed in 3 films on the SWDB, and the other two donāt sound like theyād be my cup of tea. Whatās the best of his crime films? Maybe Iāll give it a go.
[quote=āMrE2Me, post:167, topic:292ā]Whatās the best of his crime films? Maybe Iāll give it a go.[/quote]Iād say Violent Naples, awesome film. I actually agree with most of your comments above. I really like Merli in his crime films but I donāt see him that convincing in a western role. Mannaja is solid 3/5 film for me, good one but not great.
[quote=āBill san Antonio, post:168, topic:292ā]Iād say Violent Naples, awesome film.[/quote]Cool, thanks for the tip. Iāll keep an eye out for that. A lot of these names & faces are still pretty new to me.
If you like one youāll probably like them allā¦ Violent Rome, Special Cop in Action, Violent Naples, Rome Armed to the Teeth, The Cynic the Rat and the Fist.
[quote=āchuck connors brother, post:170, topic:292ā]If you like one youāll probably like them allā¦ Violent Rome, Special Cop in Action, Violent Naples, Rome Armed to the Teeth, The Cynic the Rat and the Fist.[/quote]Gotta love those titles. One things the Italians are great at: long-but-fantastic film titles. Just look at the gialli, or our beloved SWs, or the crazy number of alternate names their horror films go by. Bless 'em!
Yeah Merli is like an Italian Dirty Harry in those crime films. As for Mannaja, I like it but it comes off as a poor manās version of Keoma. Martinoās a stylish director though. The music is hit and miss for me.
I re-watched this for the first ime in five years or so and found it very entertaining. In a strange way it probably is one of the best of the spaghetti westerns. Sure it doesnāt all work and it can be pretty cheesy in places but it is fairly imaginative and solidly entertaining. Youāve got to love John Steinerās accent, has he ever been interviewed about his SW experiences?
I find Merli likeable too but associate him more with crime movies.
Watching this made me reflect on how un-American these movies are, I donāt think my brain even pretends I am watching America anymore!
I watched this several years ago but funny enough I canāt remember a thing about it. That was long before I really started to explore the Eurowestern genre in depth so I think I would appreciate it more now.
Iām tempted to pick up the Blue Underground DVD before it goes out of print.
If you really think about it, this movie is a huge compendium of SW conventions, plot devices and what not. Being one of the last films of the genre it truly feels like a last adios to the whole thing. We have:
-A guy with no name, who prefers to go by a rather badass nickname of course
-Bounty hunter
-Wants revenge for something somebody did to him in the past
-Main bad guy is exploiting people
-A female will pretty much throw herself to our hero. Total indifference from him of course
-Protagonist gets captured, and hurt in a way that damages his skills. In this case his eyes
-He gets betrayed by someone
-He obviously manages to overcome his injuries, kills all the baddies
Many common places yes, but all done with style. The movie has an identity of itās own, even if itās not doing anything particulary different or groundbreaking. I also did like the soundtrack from De Angelis brothers. This is one of my favorites, i can see why some might not like itās attachment to the conventions of the genre. Again, i think the movie do knows how to play with them, and really, Merli going around throwing tomahawks at the bad guys, you canāt say no to that.
I donāt care for the tomahawks, and apart from Merli and the score I still canāt find much which is interesting in Mannaja. The usual story told in a hopeless attempt to create a sort of style.
Well, the movie has style thanks to the direction. Sergio Martino was mostly a giallo/horror director, and you can clearly see it in the atmosphere of the movie right from the opening sequence. Itās no coincidence one of the bad guys is going around with two scary dogs, while wearing a dracula cape.
Also, i love me some tomahawks 
Well, the opening scene.
Back then before I watched it the first time I had some hopes for Mannaja, but after watching the opening scene I was already pretty sure that I most likely would not like this film very much. And so it was.
Mannaja is for me ok in some parts, and boring in some others. I never understood why it makes the top 30 of our voting. But Mannaja was and is always in the list.
In my case, i donāt get why people praise My Name is Nobody and A Bullet for the General so much. Thatās just the way it is.
my name is nobody because maybe the producer was sergio leone
the movie was for me the most crap and the ending itās unbelieaveble trash
boring from the begining to the end no story no gunfights no nothing just playing
stupid as for the bullet for the general i had almoust the same idea and the last 25 minutes was so badā¦!!! i give an oscar of bottom
mannaja has nothing to do with those