Sorry for the poorly constructed title to this topic,
Wanted to start a thread on the influence of Spaghetti Westerns.
Wanted this to become a place where we can document every time Spaghetti Westerns have featured in other media. This could be video games (I’ve heard Red Dead Revolver used a lot of SW music- can anyone discuss about that?), movies in other languages (I’ll discuss one right away), and Tarantino tributes!
Sholay (1975) is an action blockbuster from Bollywood. While, it does share certain similarities with Spaghetti westerns- like the protagonists aren’t exactly the good guys, a group of bandits (dacoits) led by Gabbar are haunting a village, and the general rugged terrain which gives you the sense of isolation. (though, they are keeping in tone with Indian sensibilities and morality of the time, so even though the heroes are thieves, they aren’t amoral and try to do the right thing)
The construction of Gabbar reminded me of Indio, in certain, ways, though he isn’t as perturbed as Indio through For a few dollars more. There is also a train being attacked by the dacoits at the beginning of the movie (if I remember well), which was quite oft seen in Zapata Westerns (though hardly a theme particular to SWs).
But, the most obvious reference is the massacre of Thakur’s family, which is quite similar to the McBain family massacre in Once Upon A Time In America
The comic book seies of Durango are full of references to the Spaghetti westers.
The first volume has the atmophere of Te Big Gundown with the main bad guy looking like Klaus kinski. In a cemetery there is a tombstone with Silence written on it.
In the third volume there is a reference to the shop where Tuco buys his gun in GBU, but this time Durango buys the gun of Silence.
In the fourth volume we meet Amos, based upon Tomas Milian and a Mexican bounty hunter based upon Mario Brega.
The fifth and sixth volumes continue with Tomas Milian but also with Jack Palance. References to Companeros and The Mercenary.
Volume 7 we see Luigi Pistili as a banker, a bit like in TGS (again)
Volume 8 has Lee van Cleef (dressed as in La resa dei Conti)
Volume 9 they have to search for a treasure. A message is written at the back of a picture of Bob Robertson (image and name of Leone)
From Volume 10 onwards the series gets slowly away from the Italian western.
@LooneyElmerFudd That sounds damn fun. Great to see that one comic book had references to so many classics. This seems like one of the best buys for a SW fan. (Always wished for something like this TBH, imagine a work where Cuchillo (The Big gundown) runs into Tuco)
@last.caress Read your beautiful review. Will check out the movie when I’m free from work. The plot does sound enticing. Will see how the SW music is used in this.
Red Dead Revolver’s soundtrack is composed entirely of Spaghetti Western music. It’s also one of the few video games that capture the feel of Spaghetti Westerns, in my opinion.
The TV show Bob’s Burgers also has an episode where the main character starts watching a series of Spaghetti Westerns with his son featuring a character called, Banjo.
Funnily enough, saw an episode of this Disney show called ‘Recess’ titled Dodgeball City today. One of the ‘meek’ characters, Gus Griswald, is portrayed as someone who was a champion dodgeballer in the past. He is dressed like the Man with No Name (with the hat and poncho), and the entire episode has a ‘western’ tone and look (though not specifically SWs).
