Well, BL, I mentioned it in one of the "my first sw"threads. This one is one of my first, so I like it for some reason.
I like the ragged drummer, the flashbacks. Thatās part of this childhood memory.
I know, it is definetly not a good one, but I like it.
I have found the first ones stick in your mind whether good or bad for me.
Had the good luck to be able to view the nice widescreen fandub ;D and I really liked this film. Like mentioned by others here, its pure spaghetti, straight upā¦ it jumps right into the game and I donāt really find anything to dislike here. A solid spaghetti for me that may not enter my top spaghettis, but will still sit among my favorites
Widescreen fandub?! Do tell.
i remember seeing this film on video years ago under the title " An eye for an eye" and i wasnāt that into SWās then and thought this was poor. saw it again last night, and only a little better, it is cheap, copies from many better films, does not make a lot of sense ( yes i know itās a spaghetti western, but there are large holes in the plot, concerning what goes on between the Ty Hardin character and the sheriff.)Film wastes Craig Hill in a nothing role. film is very short and is obviously cut down, but wouldnāt hold much hope for the full version being much better. 4/10
This film is not that bad after all, Good Story!!
A week plot with lots of familiar faces in small roles plus some shooting, fighting and here and there some welcome nudity.
Well I guess I canāt consider it awfully bad, it is more likely a āwhateverā. Watch and forget.
Finally got around to watching the widescreen fandub from the French DVD which was a big improvement on my old VHS copy.
Like someone said above, the Spaghettis you see early on tend to stay with you and this, perhaps oddly, was one of the earlier ones I got to see outside of the obvious Leones. As a result, I do have a certain fondness for it but, at the same time, its faults are too great to ignore. Basically, the central premise is good but the detail is missing so we are constantly left wondering why things are happening. Itās a revenge for a slaughtered family flick so that part is easy. But we are never told how Hardinās character finds out who was responsible. He just starts killing people. Similarly, the symbolic token he uses whenever he confronts the bad guys is never properly referenced. We know he finds it in the charred remains of his burned out house but in the brief flashbacks we only see the little boy playing with this toy with his mother. There is no significance to the killers at all that we are shown. And yet it is clear the killers recognise it. As a result, the little drumming figure loses its punch in the way that Mortimerās sisterās watch never does, for example, in FAFDM. Well, Gariazzo is no Leone, obviously. But you donāt need to be a master auteur to get these kind of basics right in telling a story.
To make up for lost time and to give Gariazzo the benefit of the doubt I also watched the Italian DVD version which is slightly longer again and cut in a different order. It still doesnāt help. The Ken Wood scene is placed in the middle rather than the start but apart from that there is precious little difference except a tiny bit more screen time for Craig Hill. Which brings us to the filmās other major flaw. I have never seen such under utilisation of a potentially strong cast. You could easily miss Hill if your attention wandered in the middle (youād be forgiven if it did) and as for Rosalba Neriā¦ For an actress so often wasted this has to be the cake taker. Only appearing in flashbacks and even then none of these amount to a proper scene. Not wishing to make too many comparisons to FAFDM (that would just be unfair) but her part in this film is reduced to the equivalent of PLLās in that one. That, if nothing else, constitutes a crime against cinema in my book.
So, it fails narratively. It is badly edited. It exhibits a deplorable under utilisation of its best assets and steals a music score from a much better film. So, why is it that I still quite enjoy it? I genuinely couldnāt say, except to repeat the earlier statement about how an early viewing can often form an unjustifiable warmth towards a film. Itās a bit like an elderly relative who embarrasses and disappoints you with some of the things they say but you canāt help remembering how much you enjoyed going to the zoo with them when you were little.
Nice read, scherpschutter.
Bad film as far as IĀ“m concerned. I liked Acquasanta Joe a whole lot better.
[quote=āBad Lieutenant, post:70, topic:1284ā]Nice read, scherpschutter.
Bad film as far as IĀ“m concerned. I liked Acquasanta Joe a whole lot better.[/quote]
Not a great film no, some good scenes, some good ideas, but it doesnāt really hang together. Havenāt seen Acquasanta Joe.
Like Phil I wondered how the victims knew who the avenger was, but then I realized that there was a lot of confusion in town about what was going on; furthermore the sherif is investigating the case, so probably they didnāt know. Or maybe itās just a logical loophole.
Thereās also the difference in style between this first half hour (with the killings and the freeze frames) and the rest of the movie, so for a moment I thought it was a patchwork movie, but then again, that doesnāt seem very likely, and I havenāt found any evidence for it. Strange film.
One of the first Spaghetti westerns I owned on VHS. Got rid of the VHS years ago, but recently I obtained a VHS copy againā¦the cut version though. Have viewed a few versions since though, but one western I have viewed to many times and needs a good rest viewing for a few years.
My VHS:
Watched it a month ago, donāt remember much about it.
I can remember that it was badā¦ I guess it is one of thoses that Iāll not rewatch in the future.
[quote=āENNIOO, post:72, topic:1284ā]One of the first Spaghetti westerns I owned on VHS. Got rid of the VHS years ago, but recently I obtained a VHS copy againā¦the cut version though. Have viewed a few versions since though, but one western I have viewed to many times and needs a good rest viewing for a few years.
My VHS:
[/quote]
Looks better than the flickā¦
Cool VHS cover ENNIOO 8)
Few screen comparisons on the French disc vs the Italian disc (both have been fandubbed)
Italian disc on top
French disc on bottom
Also, not sure on the exact differences but the Italian disc runs about 10 minutes longer than the French. Looks like its the first 10 minutes that are additional on the Italian, along with original opening credits.
I only have the fandub using the French source, so Iām not sure if the original French release also contained the same first 10 min, as the fandub appears to be edited with custom credits
The ending - in which the recycled score works very well - is not for every taste: as far as Iām concerned, thumbs up.
Whatās the word on the Televista DVD? A VHS rip like most of their stuff?
Thats right a vhs rip, very washed out and fullscreen.
