God’s Gun / Diamante Lobo (Gianfranco Parolini, 1976)

Just wish the U.K released more Spaghetti’s on dvd.

Hi, new member here wanting to know which is best release of God’s Gun to get? I have an old Spaghetti Western 3 dvd set with the movie, but i like the movie enough to upgrade to a better transfer preferably correct ratio and uncut. Also i have heard of Lee Van Cleef and Jack Palance being dubbed in some versions, the version i watched seemed to be the actors voices so would be looking for same in any new version. Any help appreciated, thanks!

The best print I have viewed so far is the U.K Dvd release.

thanks does it have LVC and Palances voices?

No.

Has this movie an official soundtrack?

Never come across one.

I didn’t think God’s Gun was all that bad! Its reputation preceded it and I think it’s had a (tiny) bit of a bum steer! I mean, it wasn’t good, but it wasn’t bad. Israel doubled excellently imo for the Tex/Mex border. Van Cleef was dependable as ever in dual roles (THAT’S how it’s done, Shatner!) despite a wig that seemed determined to upstage him in every scene, Sybill Danning is absolutely stunning (although she doesn’t do much besides glare a lot), and Jack Palance absolutely chews the scenery (in the good way) in a delightful and typically “Palancian” (is that a word? It is now!) turn as gang leader and all-round bad egg Sam Clayton. I even enjoyed Heinz Bernard as the town Judge, if only for the fact that he was the spitting image of Christoph Waltz as Dr. King Schultz in Django Unchained. The basic premise was good (although the execution was often flawed), the soundtrack, whilst a little “stock” at times had some decent little moments, and for a Spag made so late in the subgenre’s by-then waning lifespan, it seems to me to be a half-decent stab at a gritty little movie. Even Leif Garrett wasn’t entirely irritating (a common problem for kid actors playing a blue-eyed-boy role). Faults? Well, it suffers as it seems so very many spags do in just not being crafted with any real care and attention. Editing is laconic, secondary characters are wooden, extras are laughable almost as though they’re remembering back to when they used to play “Cowboys & Injuns” as kiddies, and simply replicating that. “Ptchow! Ptchow!” Action sequences are all over the place with some of the most hilarious face-gurning I’ve seen outside of fifties b-picture creature features. And the aforementioned execution of what was a basically decent premise pulled me right out of the pic a couple of times (“Where’s your brother?” “Oh, you’ll never meet him, he’s somewhere down in Mexico (implication: f’n miles away)…” so the kid basically runs to Mexico, is pointed in the right direction by the first Mexican he meets, and first town he arrives at: Bingo! He’s found his man. How big is Mexico, in the world of God’s Gun? 200 sq feet?). So no, it’s no classic; if someone told me they’d never seen God’s Gun I wouldn’t be compelled to tell them that they’re missing out at all. But my impression based on a few reviews was that I was about to witness a proper turkey of a movie; a debacle. And I didn’t find that to be the case either. Not entirely, anyway. Just a bit of a turkey, maybe. A drumstick.

Yea…you’re right

I’ve had this DVD for a long time but I never got around to watching it. I think the quality of the film itself (I have a cheap UK disc that was released before the MGM version) put me off but I did try a few times and still couldn’t get into the story. I need to give it another go at some point. I love Lee Van Cleef films usually.

Finally watched it. This time I watched the MGM DVD and I have to say that I enjoyed it even if it wasn’t a great film. It is definitely a lot better than its reputation.

I also thinks it is better than its reputation. Although probably the weakest LVC spagh, but still okay.
Oh, I forgot about Sabata for a moment…

Nooooooo ! This is by far the worst of the LVC movies, just horrible - where’s the old Van Cleef we know and love with pillow and revolver to deal with Leif Garrett as, wait for it ‘Johnny’. :face_vomiting:

Cheap sets, bad acting, crap storyline … plus a lot of very unconvincing extras and stuntmen with some chronic 1970s hairstyles :nauseated_face: :face_vomiting:

It’s a very trashy movie but I can have my fun with trash. I enjoyed it more than Return of Sabata. I’ll have to re-watch Beyond the Law.

‘Return of Sabata’ is the beginning of the end, but at least it has LVC’s actual voice and some production value, despite that it’s nearly all studio bound, and Reiner Schöne is a pretty weak ‘Schauspieler’

‘Beyond the Law’ should have been better, but it’s ‘Citizen Kane’ compared to ‘God’s Gun’.

Here’s a selection of choice hairdos from ‘Gun’s Gun’ :nauseated_face:

The first scene is still great, and very parolinesque, the rest is a total bore with lots of stupid ideas (actually there are no ideas). 1/10

Return of Sabata on the other hand is an underrated film. Entertaining and well enough directed. 6/10

But generally LvC was too often wasted in his later Spags, which is a shame.

1 Like

I thought Frank Zappa was good in this. I didn’t expect him to change his hairdo. :wink:

2 Likes

It certainly is a shame - Perhaps he should have raised his fee, but I suppose the actors can’t be blamed. In all but the case of so called ‘Superstars’, when actors are offered work, they take it … and Van Cleef probably knew that it’s better to work in low budget stuff than not at all.
I also think it’s a great pity that he didn’t get a better deal in America - but by the time he appeared in ‘Escape from New York’ (1981) he looked really old, though he was actually only about 55 :frowning_face:

I actually don’t mind his 1971 films - ‘Captain Apache’ (Rubbish, but fun) ‘Bad Man’s River’ (Has some genuinely funny moments, though overall it’s not great) ‘Return of Sabata’ (disappointing, but the good outweighs the bad)

Lee Van Cleef was wasted in most films. His 70s westerns in general were nothing special (although I do have a soft spot for El Condor) but I think if you’re a fan of both Van Cleef and spaghettis in general, there’s enough to enjoy here.

1 Like

I still haven’t bothered to watch Return of Sabata or Indio Black. I imagine they can’t be taken anymore seriously than the first Sabata.