I agree, I certainly donāt think it was just after two days. It is things like that though that make me wish Sollimaās version is available, Iād pay a lot of money to see it. Another one that gets me is
we never see how Milian escapes from the prison, and it canāt be with the aid of Sambrellās character because they let him out before hand.
What donāt you like about it? I think it has a couple of flaws (like pretty much every film) but I think itās one of the best of the genre. Itās just on the flex of being in my top 20.
For the moment I can only point out the "Zapata"story relation and Milianās for me a bit irritating character, but since it was a couple of years ago I watched it last time I donāt exactly remember. Anyhow I would prefer other leading characters (and another story I guess 
)
I started to rewatch the Mercenary (Zapata related?) recently but gave up after maybe 10-15 minutes. I donāt like the look of Nero in that movie. Just my tasteā¦
Both these SWs though have Morricone music which I usually like very much.
I just spent 1 hour, half of the running time of Run Man Run then giving up. The Cuchillo character is sufficient for me to become too irritated. He reminds of a comedian, and the underlying zapata related story is not what I want either. Itās a pity with such nice cinematography with the different Almeria locations and some nice music, even if the zapata/Mexi style main theme is not my cup of sangria
Strange how we can love the same genre and disagree so much. I think Cuchilloās one of the great characters of the genre, certainly one of my favourites outside of Leoneās films. Yeah heās flamboyant and a bit loud at times but Milian plays him so perfectly, and heās often funny so much that I love every second I see him.
So Iām guessing you donāt like Big Gundown either?
I donāt think the Cuchillo character is so funny, rather very irritating, but I do agree that Milian succeeds in portraying such a character. He is also very successful in the portraying of the antihero in Django Kill but THAT character, and especially the story, mood etc, appeal to my taste so much I rate it 8/10 and in my SW Top 10.
The Big Gundown I also rate that high (8/10 for SW Top 10), IN SPITE of that Cuchillo character but there he is not that pronounced clown IMO, and of course that SW is very good due to other important factors as well for example including other entertaining characters very well played by Lee Van Cleef, Nieves Navarro, and a story more in my taste and,also important, much better Morricone music - one of his best with no āzapataā style but his own type of progressive rock precursor as I like to call it. (a musical genre that was introduced around 1969-1970).
Run Man Run though has some fantastic Morricone themes as well, for example around 32 minutes into my 2 hour DVD (if not Bruno Nicolai has contributed to/with that special piece).
Milianās character in Face To Face, returning to the forum thread topic, is also more appealing to my taste and I donĀ“t question him to be a very skilled actor. I even accept his wig there 
I could be wrong but I think Morricone wrote the music because I believe Sollima on the issue, but Nicolai arranged it. According to the opening credits thatās what they did on other films like Grand Slam and Revolver if I remember right, so it wouldnāt surprise me if itās what they did there.
I love his character and performance too. I can never make my mind up about the wig though 
Sometimes I think it works in a weird way other times I think it looks a bit daft.
Here are some additional thoughts on āFace to Faceā, which may be of interest.
I am glad that my post has generated so many likes and responses. Thank you, amigos.
Iāve just re-watched āFace to Faceā again this evening, and I have to say that it just keeps on getting better and better, and continues to raise more questions than answers.ā¦but thatās what makes it special.
Firstly, I stress that āFace to Faceā NEEDS to be seen in the unedited version, very much like āThe Big Gundownā - anything less is unworthy of this beautiful SW tale of morality and role-reversal.
I am not a big fan of William Berger (apart from his Banjo in āSabataā, and in āKeomaā), but, here, he is perfectly cast as Siringo, a Pinkerton agent; a character who is able to think for himself, and who ultimately defies authority in order to release the potential good in Beau. A strong, convincing performance from Berger - among so many other performances of note in the film.
An educated/non-educated good man can become bad, and an educated/non educated bad man can become goodā¦which is the easiest to achieve? Does education and IQ play a role? Or does the simplicity of life give a clearer sense of right and wrong, black and white?
Does Bradās inbred sense of āsuperiorityā and education relate to his supposed invulnerability, and eventual downfall?
Is the film political or preachy? No, I donāt think so - at least no more than any other film.
When you consider how many Italian Westerns, let alone Westerns in general, had nothing to say except an over-abundance of bar-room brawls, poker games, and overly long shoot-em-ups, this tale stands head and shoulders above such antics that merely served to fill the running time.
I donāt look too closely into the āpoliticsā of films. Films are, first and foremost, made to enthral and entertain - and this film accomplishes this in spades.
Having said that, some films are made to make us wonder, and to ponder our own morals and actions, given similar circumstancesā¦
And, as for Tomas Milianās wigā¦it would have to go some to beat our beloved Lee Van Cleefāsā¦ 
One last thoughtā¦When Beau confronts Brad at the end of the filmā¦to me, it was reminiscent of the conclusion to āA Bullet For the Generalā. Sometimes, who knows why, we feel compelled to do what we feel is āthe right thing to doāā¦
ā'Quien Sabe?ā
Sollimaās FACE TO FACE is not only an intriguing entertainment, it is also a rare, thoughtful examination of left anarchism. Milianās commune is a rough model of the ideal of an anarchistās commune. It does so, ultimately, by shedding itself of a singular leadership and evolving into a collective. There IS the massacre which seems to show the cost of an anarchist utopia, but its conclusion is very optimistic. Of course, anarchism has deep roots in the modern political traditions of both Italy and Spain.
I bring this up because I hadnāt realized the above conclusion until my second view (slow on the draw,) and secondly, an anarchist vision in film is EXTREMELY rare, making this a must-watch.
This is a very interesting observation that I had never really thought about before. It has been quite some time since I watched this one so it may be time for another viewing to determine if I am a little āslow on the drawā myself.
I see this is the first time youāve posted so, welcome to the site!
I was inspired by Toscanoās review. A couple of months ago, I pulled my disc of Face to Face out, and give it another shot. I believe the first time I saw it was an edited version because the Kino Korber Italian version gave me much more political detail (at least in the way I experienced it.) The first time I was REALLY unimpressed, but then I loved Sollimaās The Big Gundown, so I gave it another shot, and am so glad I did. Enough so, that I decided to āshareāā¦ hahahaha
I interpreted the film as an examination of the theme of the transference of identity, prefiguring Nicolas Roegās Performance; and also an allegory on fascist Italyās involvement and oppression by Nazi Germany.
It is one of the best spaghetti westerns of all time. A stylish, pacy, exciting action film and also a political allegory.
Years ago, someone compared it to an Italian Western version of PERFORMANCE.
In case anyone is considering trying to find a copy of the limited edition Explosive Blu Ray release to purchase for the quite hefty bagfull of dollars they go for these days - Iād recommend reconsidering.
I got a hold of a copy along with the original Kino Blu ray, and Explosive really screwed this up quite badly.
They supposedly used the Kino blu ray transfer, but totally botched the video for some reason. The picture is much worse and even slightly cropped. There has been some kind of bad filtering applied that really screwed up the colors and considerable detail has been lost. I really cannot understand how they did such a bad job here, it doesnāt even look like the Kino transfer. It looks really terrible when watching. It also uses uses the English dub from the Kino blu ray and the missing scene inserts sound like they are probably from the Japanese SPO DVD which has really terrible audio. Theyāve made it even worse than the Japanese DVD by doing additional noise removal and it sounds extremely tinny, some of the worst audio Iāve ever heard.
Dynamic image comparisons of a few select screenshots. Drag the middle bar back and forth to compare between releases. I recommend hitting the fullscreen button on the bottom corner to really see the difference.
Kino(left) vs Explosive (right):
And here are links to the individual screenshots:
Iām still happy with my Explosive Blu thoughā¦I donāt have the Kino one but itās also going for a fortune and doesnāt even have the option of Italian audio with subs.
Yes, but youād be less happy with it if you knew how it should sound
I can understand people being satisfied enough if thatās the option they have available, I just wanted to share my findings because as of yet I had not been able to find any detailed info on that Explosive limited release. Granted, I havenāt looked for new information in a while so maybe someone has done a detailed review. But all Iāve seen said is that they used the Kino Blu Ray transfer & added the full English dub for the first time ever. Both of those bits are not really accurate. The video is quite poor, shockingly so actually and doesnāt even look like its the same Kino transfer. It almost looks like an upscaled DVD with bad filtering. And the full English dub is just the same previous dub with added audio from the Japanese DVD and they made it sound worse stillā¦ so its not so much a complete dub as it is a hacked together dub.
For the price someone will pay for this limited blu ray, they should be aware of what they are getting
Hereās hoping that EUREKA or PLAION will re-release it
No totally. I was just offering my two cents as someone who owns one of the releases. It seems at the moment itās one of those many Italian cult films thatās just never had the definitive, English friendly release yetā¦so until then Iām content with less than perfection.
Mind you itāll probably never be definitive because I canāt see any deleted scenes being recovered and restored.
Definitely.
Thatās what Iām hopingā¦just with both English and Italian audio though.
I hope Eureaka will have another crack at this on Blu-Ray (if they still have the license.) Itās been over a decade since they were going to make it, and weāve had 4 BR releases from other companies so thereās hope for some kind of decent package. The Japanese trailer makes the BR release look great:
Curiously the JP release lists the run time as 110 minutes, so I wonder how they handled the SD scenes.
Reading around it sounds like Sollimaās original cut doesnāt exist anywhere anymore, and the uncut scenes are SD only due to deterioration or disappearance? I like the movie a lot but it definitely has that aura of āit could have been so much moreā due to the missing chunks and pacingā¦ Take Linda Verasā character; she just appears from nowhere!
Does anyone know if the Eureka DVD booklet or French booklet expand on what got cut from Sollimaās original release btw?
