I think Alex Cox got it right with this one that it seems like Corbucci was trying stuff out and not taking enough care with the project as a whole. Thereās some good stuff in it but some poor stuff too and overall he didnāt get the mix right.
Iāve always thought that Minnesota Clay was the best of Corbucciās pre Django films. I enjoyed Johnny Oro well enough but itās no great film by any standards.
Does anybody know anything about the picture quality and the special features of the Italian DVD from Minerva Video?
[quote=ādicfish, post:22, topic:1130ā]Does anybody know anything about the picture quality and the special features of the Italian DVD from Minerva Video?
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Informations from another forum:
Rare picture problems but overall very good picture quality.
Extras: The original Trailer
Audio: only italian
Format: 16:9
Duration: 86 minutes
Link: [url]http://www.gentedirispetto.com/forum/showthread.php?6299-Johnny-Oro[/url]
Thereās a new review of the movie:
http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Johnny_Oro_Review
Not a great film by any means, like Phil says, but Iāve watched it for the third or fourth time now, an it still manages to entertain me.
I think that is a weak film.
I think Corbucci has found his style yet, which has made him known and famous. Except the main character, remembers nothing of a SW. The best part of the film are the first 5 minutes. But then the film is uninspiring and it seems it is to just save over time.
For me, one of the weakest films of Corbucci. Wherein the main character is really interesting. The movie not, in my opinion.
Very week in my opinion. Donāt like Mark Damon either.
Prefer his later standard ones to this, and that moustache of Damon just bugs me.
One should imagine Mark Damon in the role of Django. Terrible.
Fortunately, Corbucci opted for Nero. 
For the majority of the film, I really dug it. The ācartoonishnessā of it all, the b-western vibe, the semi-tongue-in-cheek sensibility, very charming. And what to say about the heroās golden attire, the guns hidden in the music instrument, the old man who basically lives in the town jail, etc. Lot of fun. I also enjoyed Mark Damon as that selfish, stylish, gold obsess bounty hunter, he really reminded me of Sartana with his smart-assery and snarky comments (often very funny). The juxtaposition of brutal killing and the happy-go-lucky attitude of the film was kind of weird though, it definitively lessened the impact of the violence.
What spoils the fun is the sheriff. I donāt think that a dumber lawman ever existed! In the beginning, I didnāt mind the fact that he was an incredibly dumb, self-righteous, moralizing and by the book dude (it was fitting with the atmosphere of the film), but it got to a point where his stubbornness, his refusal to free the completely and obviously non-dangerous (at least not dangerous for the good guys) Johnny, who was arrested for the minor offence of carrying an explosive (that he used as self-defense), became dangerous and deadly. I mean, people where forced to leave the town if they didnāt want to be massacred, he endangered his own family, forced his wife to participate in a gunfight, almost go his son killed, got part of the city destroyed and, worst of all, heās responsible for the death of at least two townsfolk. All of that only to make a freaking point, just to stay true to his ridiculous principle! WHAT A JERK!!! He deserved to die, hell no, his son should have died so heād live with that on his conscience. Thatās how much I hated this guy. And donāt even get me started on the fact that completely brushed aside the death of Margie.
I loved the movie for most of itās duration, but the last part got me so angry that I donāt know how to feel about it anymore. For a while I loved it a lot more than Minnesota Clay, but now I feel the opposite.
I agree with the majority here. Film is too āamericanā trying to mix Rio Bravo with traditional cowboy vs indians stuff. Johnny Oro is rather cool character but spends most of the film doing nothing while filmās focus is on stupid sheriff. The action scene in the end is massive but not that well directed, thereās much better similar ones in many early swās. The explosions were spectacular looking though.
But then again, itās quite entertaining at times with some violence and comedic elements. And the english version of the theme song is the cheesiest and most unintentionally funny song in the whole genre. It sounds like song from a comedy show making parody of westerns. I just listened italian version which is actually good as is the rest of the soundtrack.
4/10
[size=12pt][size=10pt]Skip this post if you havenāt seen the movie yet[/size][/size]
Johnny Oro was submitted to Italian Censorship in March 1966, about two weeks before Django, and rated T, all ages admitted: as a consequence, Manuela shot to death and the scene (pic 7) showing the lifeless bodies of the priest and the altar boy after the gunshots were cut and the sequence with close-ups of the chased kid was shortened.
There are at least two cut versions, both derived from masters with Italian opening credits: the first one, televised, obey the dictates of censors with sound of shots addressed to Manuela artificially added in the point showed in pic 4, while a second version with Spanish audio circulating on YouTube, by contrast, is curiously missing all the part showed in pics 4, 5 and 6.
The sequence is fortunately complete in the Italian DVD
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[url=http://postimage.org/index.php?lang=italian][url]http://postimage.org/[/url]
Which means the Italian DVD is longer than the theatrical version? The pre-censorship version.
But it was released 3 months after Django. According to my informations.
As far as I know it was made immediately before Django; Corbucci left the set of Johnny Oro before the film was finished to start the preparations for Django. Johnny Oro was fishined by a third person.
Some time ago I consulted in this regard the archive of a daily newspaper so I can confirm your informations are right: Johnny Oro appeared for the first time among āprime visioniā at the end of August, on Friday 26 to be precise, while Django was reviewed by the same newspaper on 10 April 1966.
But I confirm also that the authorizations for public showing are dated 18 March and 1 April respectively. On 30 April the appeal for Django was rejected with confirmation of the VM18 rating.
Johnny Oro was shot before Django, but for unknown reasons the release was delayed. Thatās unusual as most Spagies were released pretty quick after shooting had ended.
It indicates that that there were maybe some problems with Johnny Oro.
Yeah, in all probability there were problems.
The modified version of the pursuit sequence is significantly shorter (only twenty seconds!), with alternative editing at the beginning and only one close-up instead of five.
The Damon smile and that moustache bugged me last time I viewed this one, but not this time. Indians and Mexicans in this early one, and Indians before the directors more well known Indian one. Like Phil has mentioned in this thread the mix is not just right, but still lots of things I enjoyed in this one. The violent scenes, which made me laugh, especially when one guy gets a plastic axe right in his face. But the old guy who is always in jail was a standout for me. The guy singing the main title song sounded like he was in pain. The Warner Archive disc offers a better picture quality than the old Franco Cleef disc. On the whole this is one I am glad I rewatched.
Just a random visual association: a frame from Johnny Oro and a detail (flipped) from a painting by Renaissance artist Callisto Piazza.
The same is true for the version called Ringo and His Golden Pistol recently uploaded to RL. The scene with Loris Loddi chased by bandits, on the other hand, is uncut (see Reply #31).
This is a really interesting questionā¦ So 8 years on, any further thoughts?
Itās almost as if Corbucci wanted Johnny Oro not to care (as the ultimate anti-hero only interested in himself and his gold), but didnāt want to make it so explicit as to really alienate the audience from having any sympathy with his character (Eastwoodās character in FOD does have a heart in this regard when he helps the family). Unfortunately, by just ignoring her death, it ends up a little jarring instead as a loose-end. It seems to me like an improperly realized interesting idea.
