[quote=āStanton, post:37, topic:468ā]But Savalas is terrible. Another quote from me copied from the ālast westernā thread:
āLook at Telly Savalas, does he do anything? Only standing around with hanging arms like heās waiting for some acting instructions, but becomes nothing. Never seen him so dull. But so is the complete film.ā
Except for his death scene he was completely wasted.
ading it again, it seems as we were talking about 2 different films.[/quote]
yes and no, the figure heās palying is an arrogant, cold-hearted (etc.) asshole. so for me his laconic acting here is adequat.
[quote=āStanton, post:37, topic:468ā]Here we have again a completely different view. I couldnāt spot any interesting atmosphere and also no epic style. This is surely not an epic film as it uses history only as an interchangeable background for a (simple) action adventure.
Well, yes there are a few ideas, itās not a Fidani.[/quote]
the badness (or better sadness) of the war is the atmosphere.
more often I saw this movie, I consider this movie as a congeries of absurd (one time more funny, other time more bleak) stories besides the front of the war (-> the war as cause of grazy stories; f.e. the idea at the beginning with the one armed sheriff, very nice) ā¦ hold together by the revange story (a war in the war).
so I wouldnāt say that itās only a simple action movie.
itās a movie which uses a simple metaphorical language to transport emotions ā¦ or whatever ā¦
I have the wild-east release (about 112min). maybe I forgot this scene ā¦
also I know some different german versions, but I couldnāt remember very much. do somebody know, if there are differnet scores too.
I like laconic acting, but I still would call this refusing to act.
the badness (or better sadness) of the war is the atmosphere.
more often I saw this movie, I consider this movie as a congeries of absurd (one time more funny, other time more bleak) stories besides the front of the war (-> the war as cause of grazy stories; f.e. the idea at the beginning with the one armed sheriff, very nice) ... hold together by the revange story (a war in the war).
so I wouldn't say that it's only a simple action movie.
it's a movie which uses a simple metaphorical language to transport emotions ... or whatever ...
Interesting
what version is this?
Itās from a bonus disc from a Spencer/Hill box with the ZDF dub (which was made in the 90s and the DVD ends with the ZDF closing credits), but only in 1,78:1. It wasnāt released outside the box.
The actual Pal lenght of the DVD is 113 min (=118 min cinema). It starts with the credits followed by the scenes in the half destroyed town.
I just re-watched this one the AWE label, it runs 113 min and is in 2.35:1 ratio.
The film was better than I remembered, but still no more than average.
And I agree with those in this thread who says that more time should have been spent on character development and conflicts within the group.
I had always wondered why they hadnāt used Coburnās voice and if there was a version out there with it. I wonder if the reason is because Coburn dubbed a shorter International release and then when they tried to do an English dub of the longer version he was no longer available?
watched this one earlier ON DEMAND. The versionon demand wasthe cut versionwith recycled scores of Day of Anger and Beyond the Law. Theyfit well. The entire bombed out town opening is cut. The language is dubbed over ridiculously. Instead of yelliong GO FUCK YOURSELF! He yells GO FLY A KITE! Cāmon!!!
Watched it yesterday - not a terrible one but average. I liked the assault on the fort but the beginning is a bit slow. Thereās a lot of long stretches where no action takes place especially in the very beginning.
Speaking of Coburn, I heard he had some problems with Valerii. Specifically the script. Valerii had evey cast member sign their signatures on the script saying not to change it but Coburn was upset with the script despite his signing and Valerii just showed him his signature.
Also heard Savalas got a little upset with Coburnās activities on set mostly his constant tai chi or yoga practises that interupted filming. Apparently Coburn didnāt care for the film.
Iāve seen it on German and/or French television a few times, but probably never A-Z. I tend to fall asleep during this film.
I guess the version I saw (saw I-V) was cut, but I found it so incredibly dull that I didnāt care to look for a longer version
Finally having seen this flick in the serious German dub I should regard myself as a lucky bastard. Nevertheless this movie disappointed me a bit.
The film conatains a whole lot ingredients for a great movie (setting, cast & crew) but Valerii completely fails in using these resources.
The most important thing is that he isnāt able to tell a story. He only somehow arranges the actors in scenes somehow fitted together. A good example is the beginning. Here the viewer doesnāt know whatās going on for quite a while.
Valerii also fails in creating the characters. Pembroke could be an interesting figure (a man who suffered both from losing his son and his honor, a man on a secret revenge mission), but the character only lives from the fact that it is impersonated by Mr Coburn (although it is a quite uninspired version of Mr Coburn).
The same counts for Mr Savalas. His role could also be a quite attractive one (cynical, sadistic badass villain), but he only walks around in his office a couple of times and thatās it! OK his death scene in quite interesting.
All in all 3/5. Today my disappointment has colled down a bit. Yesterday it might have been only 2/5ā¦