Just for clarifications sake…
As a film, I’d rate God’s Gun at 2/10
As a bad spaghetti I’d rate 7/10
As a good spaghetti I’d rate 1/10
As a movie I enjoy watching, 8/10
i make the distinction between bad and good spaghettis in my rating system, because in my eyes, there’s not much point in comparing God’s Gun to Once Upon A Time In The West
When I view this one the only thing on my mind is Van Cleef’s rug :D, just cannot get it out of my head.
Sorry amigo, maybe I’ll be a deathbed recanter but for now I’ll stick to my guns. 
He he, I hope you’ll stick to your guns, and I hope you don’t become a dbr.
[quote=“autephex, post:61, topic:346”]Just for clarifications sake…
As a film, I’d rate God’s Gun at 2/10
As a bad spaghetti I’d rate 7/10
As a good spaghetti I’d rate 1/10
As a movie I enjoy watching, 8/10[/quote]
That’s a rather tricky system.
I’m only rating films for their entertainment value. If it’s entertainnig it’s a goodie, if it’s boring it’s a bad film. Every film with a rating of 3 or less is more or less boring and a complete waste of time. Films with 4 or 5 are watchable, or let’s say mildly entertaining without being exciting.
So if I watch a film which people call “so bad that it’s good”, this film would automatically get a higher rating. If a film is entertaining he is somehow good for me, otherwise it can’t be entertaining.
Hmm …
Heehee. Good advice for anybody! Shall we call you Reverend Stanton henceforth? 
Me, I don’t have to worry 'cause I don’t believe in those souly thingies.
Me not either.
And we have a reverend.
Yeah, ratings are somewhat of a gray area for me. Partly because I don’t really think in
terms of ratings, because such things are all subjective and really don’t hold any true
meaning except to the person giving the rating…
When I judge if I like a movie/film, its basically the same as you said- if I enjoyed it,
then I like it. But giving a rating requires many levels to be considered in my mind. I
love God’s Gun, for my own personal subjective perceptions of it, but I do not pretend that it is a great film. So a conflict arises when I have to give it a rating, as giving it a
1/10 for being a poor film does not agree with my love for the movie.
Even when rating it as a Spaghetti rather than an overall film, the genre still ranges in
quality about as much as film does in general. And to me, comparing something like God’s Gun to the great films of the genre is not something worthwhile, since they are basically in entirely different worlds.
I try to stay away from the phrase “so bad its good” because it seems like it is way overused. While it definitely applies to many enjoyable flics, it seems like a large number of the movies I’ve seen this said about end up being pretty plenty bad, but also quite boring to watch. I know you were just using the phrase as a point of reference, just a sidethought…
Yes ratings are subjective. It can’t be any other way. There is not and was never an objective way to rate art. Even if a friend of mine, a very intelligent philosopher, thinks otherwise.
We had long and exhausting discussions about this shit.
A fine exploitation cast is wasted on this terrible movie. Even Van Cleef looks tired and worse for wear especially when compared to some of his later roles.
I’ve placed this in the TV listings, but thought I’d mention it here also…
For anyone in the UK that’s interested, this is on tonight @ 9pm on Virgin 1.
LVC was a drinker but I highly doubt he was ever intoxicated on set being that he was very professional. All reports I have of his drinking, whether be by interviews or personal encounters with the actors themselves, have always been off set.
I don’t think this movie is as bad as everyone says it is… in fact, I’d say it’s not that bad. I think the directing, camera angles, music, etc. all work with what it is. I’ve stuff far far far worse.
Tip 'o the hat to you, sir
Finally, someone who knows what they’re talking about
I have just been rereading this thread, and there sure is a lot of hate for this fim! I watched it today for the first time and thought it was really good. In fact, I’ld say it was better than This Man Can’t Die (which I did like). I found the acting, the photography and the direction to be all to a very high standard. Maybe I found it to be a better film than it is because I viewed it with zero expectations, but I enjoyed it. I gave it 4/5.
God’s Gun (Parolini/76)
“God’s Gun” AKA “Diamante Lobo” (1976), which is directed by Gianfranco Parolini, who made the hugely successful Spaghetti Westerns: “If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death” (1968) and “Sabata” (1969), is actually a much better film than most people say it to be. Firstly, there is a very interesting performance from Lee Van Cleef, who plays two roles: a priest and a retired gunfighter! The great Jack Palance, while his own voice has been dubbed over, is still an effective villain and Leif Garrett who plays Johhny is quite good for a child actor. The direction is well done, with several neat tricks and the photography is uniformly excellent, especially the final “framing” shot. While it might not be as good as a Spaghetti Western like “Any Gun Can Play” (1968), it is better than “This Man Can’t Die” (1967). A highly recommended movie.
Really and truthfully, the only thing I absolutely dislike about this movie is that none of the lead actors have their own voices.
Outside of that, I actually enjoy this movie.
And by the way, this is another Spaghetti Western that was shot in Israel.
Yeah, I read that. It doesn’t really take away from the movie, and, truth be told, I wouldn’t have guessed it from watching the film.
You are right…it doesn’t take away from the film, at all. And I never meant to infer that by mentioning the fact.
It is just that recently, in other threads, we have been talking about the Westerns that were shot in Israel (BLACK JACK, EXECUTION, and so on). I thought I would mention this fact here.
Also, there was an older comment from someone saying that LVC was drinking heavily under the Almeria sun during the filming of this movie…(or something like that, anyway)…and I just wanted to point out that this film wasn’t shot in Almeria.
I knew you weren’t trying to put the film down by mentioning that. I’m sorry if I gave the impression I did.