A Man Called Django / W Django! (Edoardo Mulargia, 1971)

[stanton]

Look, i’m not a huge fan of his work, but i do like some of his Spaghs and IMO, Anthony Steffen contribution to the “Spaghetti Western World” is invaluable, whether good or bad.

Why?

None of his films is of any importance to the genre. Outside of the 60s-Italian-genre-fan-world nobody has ever heard of him.
If none of his many too many Spags had been made, nothing would change in the reception of the genre.

Well, he was a bad actor, and his typical SW looks, which looked charismatic on photos, looked lifeless on the screen.
Surprisingly he was quite lively when he played, instead of the usual taciturn hero, in a more self ironic mode. That’s why Last Train to Durango and Dead Men Don’t Count are his best performances. And also belong to his best Spags, together with Django the Bastard, Garringo and Why Go on Killing? .
Some of his other Spags, like this one here, are also not bad, but as I said none is of a certain importance.

[Lone_Gringo]

None of his films is of any importance to the genre

Of course they are, that’s why you have him at No.51. Django the Bastard and 61.Train for Durango.

[stanton]

Well ok, the Bastard has a minor importance, it is at least something special.

[Dean]

What’s better, Django The Bastard or High Plains Drifter?

[stanton]

Probably the Bastard, but I never liked High Plains Drifter very much. The directing is mediocre, but of course the not very talented Garrone is in that regard not that good either. But it is easily his best Spag.

High Plain’s Drifter is due for a re-watch, but then a re-watch of Pale Rider last year made the film only worse. On the other hand the other 2 westerns directed by the Clint himself are pretty good.

[Dean]

Leone didn’t like High Plains Drifter either. The only one directed by Clint which I like is Unforgiven, but even that I find a bit overrated.

[aldo]

Well ok, the Bastard has a minor importance

Are you referring to Steffen, or the film ?

I was never a great fan … but I’ve mellowed, and quite like ‘Gentleman Killer’ and ‘Killer Kid’ … he’s certainly no great shakes as an actor, I think possibly because of poor directors, and the fact that he didn’t distinguish the difference between being cold rather than cool ! … having a cigar and some beard stubble isn’t quite enough to make a good performance.

[Bill_Willer]

but as I said none is of a certain importance.

Agreed entirely.

Well ok, the Bastard has a minor importance, it is at least something special.

I think Bastard could’ve been good, but the poor execution, poor locations and Steffen held it back from what could’ve been a great spag.

[Bill_Willer]

On the other hand the other 2 westerns directed by the Clint himself are pretty good.

Leone didn’t like High Plains Drifter either. The only one directed by Clint which I like is Unforgiven, but even that I find a bit overrated.

I like all Clint’s self-directed westerns with Unforgiven being my favourite, but I don’t think any of them compare to the spaghetti westerns that inspired them except for High Plains Drifter, which while nowhere near as good as the my favourites from the genre I think it’s certainly better Bastard.

[stanton]

I think Bastard could’ve been good, but the poor execution, poor locations and Steffen held it back from what could’ve been a great spag.

Well … that Stiffen guy … you know, he was loved by millions …

[Lone_Gringo]

he was loved by millions …

I’m glad you finally came to your senses,… and thanks to this wonderful DATABASE, he’s loved by Billions now.

What’s better, Django The Bastard or High Plains Drifter?

The Bastard for me, High Plains was just an imitation ok for a rainy day…maybe.

[The_Man_With_a_Name]

Is the shout factory DVD uncut?

[kit_saginaw]

He seemed okay to me. I would guess his presence didn’t hurt the box-office tally when it came to women.

Yeah. The gunplay was excellent. Everything you could ask for.

[autephex]

Is the shout factory DVD uncut?

Shout has released this also now? Ay, caramba… I have the NEW & US Timeless Media releases, both report 90min runtime and according to the NEW box this is the uncut runtime - I’ve never actually checked to verify though. Both of these DVDs look pretty much identical, Timeless probably just copied off the NEW disc.

Anyone have details on Shout release? Did they do a new transfer? Guess I should just look it up…

[The_Man_With_a_Name]

Timeless Media releases

Isn’t Timeless Media also Shout Factory?

[autephex]

Oh ok… I thought perhaps that was the case but I wasn’t sure. Seems like I remember hearing that back when I bought the dvd years ago. I thought perhaps Shout had put out a new release as they’ve been doing new blu rays recently.

But yeah, that one should be uncut

[autephex]

And I’m with Lone_Gringo - Steffen is a genre favorite. Maybe he’s not the highest calibre actor, but have you guys seen the films he’s starring in? Not exactly the highest calibre films here…

[autephex]

Decided to do a screen comparison of the NEW vs Timeless. The NEW appears to have a bit more sharper detail, and the coloring is quite different between the two.

Timeless top
NEW bottom