We will always disagree on which is the better movie, for this reason and that, ⌠but I think this top 5 is a very good representation of films that ooze âSpagginessâ , Over the top rousing Morricone/Nicolai music, snarling ugly villains, bleak but beautiful vistas ⌠and thatâs what itâs all about for me
Hey Aldo,
Yep, it is a matter of taste. But Quien Sabe was the first Zapata spag. Therewith for me it is more a landmark and deseves it place in the list. But the lit is fine with me as it is now. Just answering which I would pick differently
I agree with a good chunk of the list @Admin, solid starting points after seeing the Leone films.
If someone asked me about a list like this I would say:
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Django
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Cemetery Without Crosses
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The Big Gundown
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The Great Silence
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Death Rides a Horse
Well, Sebastian, why not make it six?
Then the Django problem could be solved, and we get a half a dirty dozen âŚ
Well we have a top 20, I just wanted to get a little discussion going and inspire some newbies but I consider Django a lesser movie than the others I picked, itâs just more famous
My top five on blu would be:
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The Big Gundown
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Cemetery Without Crosses
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Vengeance
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Today We Kill, Tomorrow We Die
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Return of Ringo
Yes, I realize mine looks a bit different from others but differing tastes and all. AND the moment we finally get a blu-ray of The Forgotten Pistolero, Ringo will sadly leave my list.
See, one reason I wouldnât include these is, that my list was meant to focus on both films and BluRay but Vengeance is pratically unavailable on BluRay and Oggi a Me unavailable unless youâre a German speaker⌠donât even think the scandinavian disc has English audio? This brings up the question: Wild East at some point intended to release this?
It has. Database had wrong info but I corrected it now.
Shoot the Living and Pray for the Dead would be in my Top 5.
From what I could gather, it was almost a certainty at one point. I canât say what happened, but I suspect they ran into the same issues that plagued them with other releases in the later stages of their business.
I just assumed that it meant that the title had to have a blu release to be included. Sorry about that. At the time I purchased Vengeance though, it was readily available. I purchased it off Amazon even at what I thought at the time was a very reasonable price.
Not that he needs my support, but @Bill_san_Antonio is correct. The Scandanavian disc does indeed have English audio.
oh snap, just realised this one is now quite oop and not as cheap to get as the DVD which I still have thinking I had the BlurayâŚ
I see good prices at Amazon UK and FR
UK starts at 10 quid, France at 7 euros⌠thatâs ok, but I was hoping to spend even less on a used old Bluray I am but a poâ boy
Iâd have definitely swapped out Death Rides a Horse for Django Kill, and I might possibly have swapped out Cemetery Without Crosses for Requiescant.
A good list, which is pretty much representative of the genre. However, although 'Cemetery without Crossesâ is a stand-out Spag, Iâd change it for either âA Pistol for Ringoâ, or âThe Return of Ringoâ - both excellent Giuliano Gemma classics.
So much choiceâŚ
And, as far as a rollicking good Spag is concerned, I would be tempted to sneak âSabataâ in there, which would cater for the gadget-laden phase of the genre which also included âSartanaâ and his deadly organâŚ
Great list. Iâd probably replace Death Rides a Horse with Day of Anger because I think itâs the better film that shares a similar theme, but apart from that this would probably be the five Iâd tell people to watch if they were just getting into the genre and wanting to see what itâs capable of.
SameâŚstill love it though.
For me itâs
Minnesota Clay
The Return of Ringo
Django
The Mercenary
The Great Silence
Yes it was the first one, but Il mercenario has the advantage of being a real western, while Quien sabe is a western (despite its director denying it), but is more on the edge of the genre, is much closer to the political cinema of the 60s than the other Revolution Spags. Closer to an US forerunner like Viva Zapata (Kazan, 1954), or to Hosseinâs The Taste of Violence (1961), which are both no westerns imo.
Apart from that, I prefer The Mercenary. Quiens sabe? is top 20 material, but The Mercenary is top 3.
Compiled another list, because it was so much fun
I think these are must own titles.
- Keoma
- Django the Bastard
- Vengeance
- The Grand Duel
- The Return of Ringo
I was thinking about adding Guns for San Sebastian to this list but Im not sure if its regarded as proper spaghetti western.