The Last Western You Watched? ver.2.0

Sartana Does Not Forgive - There’s something about this movie that gets me. It’s pretty much routine all the way but it moves fast and there’s stuff happening all the time, in a very Spaghettiesque manner. Revenge, double crossings, fast gun draw and tough one liners. Pretty much all the things we expect. I want to believe that the movie goers that enjoyed an occasional Italo-Western back in the heyday of it’s time stumbled upon this movie, maybe got persuaded by the title or the poster, saw it and got what they wanted and went home. Compared to some other low budget spags that doesn’t work - this one does not try to be anything more than it is, and therefor I can appreciate it. 7/10

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Currently tackling a spag all-nighter with my son. So far, we’ve watched Light the Fuse… Sartana is Coming and The Mercenary, and we’re about fifteen minutes into The Big Gundown, none of which my son has previously seen (he loved the first two, and he seems plenty into this one too). If we make it close to midnight we’ll get stuck into The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and, the other side of that, I’ve scheduled Requiescant and Navajo Joe, which should conclude at around about 6am. I’ll be surprised if we make it too far into TG,TB&TU to be honest but, well, sod it.

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I made it as far as Tuco claiming to be Bill Carson, and called it a night. That was at about 1.15am-ish. Still, my boy got to see three more spags, all of which he loved. I want to do a Spag Week with him sometime soon, and of course SpagvemberFest is rolling up on us once more.

Just watched the Dorado films double - “100,000 Dollars for Lassiter” DVD and “Seven from Texas” BD

Really delighted to see an uncut full length English version of ‘Lassiter’, my main reason for buying this release. As we’ve all become accustomed to Blu Ray quality, I couldn’t help thinking how much nicer this could have looked in that format - However the print used is more than acceptable, though the colour appears a little faded, and the audio a bit booming and raw. The authoring of the disc menu looks really amateurish and did rather spoil the presentation. It felt like I was watching a bootleg.

Same problems with the BD of ‘Antes llega la Muerte’ aka ‘Seven from Texas’ - acceptable but looks over exposed and faded, especially in the outdoor Almeria desert locations.
‘Seven from Texas’ is a good movie, though this cut English version seems a bit jumpy compared to the Spanish and Italian DVD versions. I would have preferred to see this uncut with subs. (The packaging gives 98 mins RT, when it’s only 90 mins)
One very odd thing I noticed this time was that voice actor Bernard Grant dubs both, protagonist and antagonist … Paul Piaget and Robert Hundar, which sound almost identical, except that Hundar’s character is given a slight southern drawl. This is a bit confusing at times … but then again adds to the primitive charm of the production.
I realise Dorado had a lot of problems getting this released - so I’m just happy it did make it into the world. Hope they release more BD Spags in the future, and get themselves some professional disc authoring software and a graphic designer. :wink:

From Lassiter DVD:

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They won’t. They posted a message yesterday on Facebook saying they are dropping the release part of their business. I think that’s a wise decision. The label is dead. I’m still waiting for the Jess Franco double feature that I paid for June 27th 2017 :slight_smile: That is to be their last release but until I see it I doubt it will be released this year.

Hope you were refunded ? That’s just ridiculous :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Haha. Nope. Still waiting :slight_smile:

That lassiter dvd looks pretty good for a rare film :slight_smile:

Thanks aldo, that`s exactly my impression of that release.
LASSITER is OK and so far the best release worldwide.
7 FROM TEXAS is rather disappointing, mainly because it is 8 minutes cut and also the color grading is not that well. Faded and mainly green.
I have compared this version with the German theatrical cut and noticed 11 scenes with a runing time of about 5 1/2 minutes that are missing in the Dorado Version. On other hand there are 8 scenes with a running time of about 4 minutes more on Dorado disc compared to German theatrical version. Both prints “suffer” from being used 35mm cinema copies.
Dorado should have included all the missing scenes from the spanish original version at least as bonus. The original ending is more pessimistic and a “must” for any release of the movie.
The english dub has not the best sound and also quality in general is weak imo. Spanish and German would have been a good alternative. I have checked the German subtitels of the bluy ray and they are an automatic translation from the English. Google translator or something So, more or less a joke since 90% turns to complete stupidity. Hope the other subtitels are on better level?
Nevertheless really sad Dorado will quit with releasing movies. I thinks they had potential but would have needed some expert advice/support.

For those who are interested here are the links to German movie database where I have added the blu ray with technical details:
https://ssl.ofdb.de/view.php?page=fassung&fid=39762&vid=449464
https://ssl.ofdb.de/view.php?page=fassung&fid=39753&vid=449429

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That’s unforgivable … plus the German subs are acknowledged as being created by Volker Stieber. Did he perhaps get tired of translating and as you suggest just use an automatic translation, hoping no one would notice or check !

Few weeks western summary:

Soldier Blue: A massacre at the start and in the end, romantic storyline inbetween, which is quite bearable. But oh boy, wait for that massacre.

Hostiles: No, I didn’t enjoy it as much as the rest of the planet. Actually I didn’t enjoy at all.

Buffalo Bill And The Indians: I watched only an hour then turned it off. I feel a bit guilty about it.

West Of Hell: Tony Todd aboard the train heading towards hell or something like that. Sounds cool, but I didn’t endure. Amateurish looking. Did I mention I hate CG muzzle flashes, CG gunsmoke and CG debris?

Warlock - Quite alright, but not a western I would want to watch again. Actors are good, I noticed especially DeForest Kelly’s performance, but Fonda and Quinn also stand out.

Waterhole No.3 - Now after few weeks I can’t remember what it was all about, but near the end was probably longest shotgun shootout I’ve seen, with Coburn and company destroying whole interior of a house. Quite memorable if nothing else.

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Kitosch Amongst The Mounties - Yes, I made that title up. I like it more than Kitosch, man who came from North. And every spagh has at least five titles, why not to add another one. Anyway, I was somewhere in the middle thinking this must be one of the worst spaghs I’ve ever seen. Just for illustration: Indians attack the fort in which Kitosch, mounties and some women are hiding. One of the woman sees approaching Injuns and she screams in despair. Behind her stands a mountie captain or something like that and after a while her scream gets on his nerves. So he slaps her. She stops, silently gazing at the mountie. Then she kisses him. What the fuck. After this Injuns get blown up by some explosive traps or whatever and everybody in the fort is laughing at it (even those women, which is really weird). Okay, I didn’t catch the director’s name during opening credits, so I looked it up after. Merino. :grin::grin::grin:

I watched War Drums (1957). It was watchable but the 75 minute running time felt a lot longer since the film did seem to drag. Not sure I’d sit through this one again. John Colicos was probably the most annoying actor playing the role of an Apache medicine man with a strong English accent.

Re-watch of Unforgiven

When in the theatres I had mixed feelings and they are still there with the re-watch after all those years.

I do not know what is wrong but I kinda hate the character of the writer Beauchamp and English Bob is also a pain in the ass to deal with. The scenes with these characters make made me hesitate too re-watch the movie over the years.

I think what they tried to do is some “print the legend…” of Liberty Valance but it did not work out.

Also a lot of scenes just look they are too much staged. The fighting is practiced maybe too much to get it right but it just does not look natural. Also the pants wetting of Beachamp looks too much like somebody put a hose in his trousers.

Mr. Eastwood was apparently quick on the shooting of this movie as he was finished ahead of schedule. A bit more attention would have been nice.

The overall atmosphere on the other hand is good. The darkening skies and rain pouring everywhere gives the revenge part an extra dimension.

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I agree with these points - Thought it was a big improvement for Eastwood, as director … but he lacks artistry and misses opportunities, especially with such a great cast.

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Tot me the outlaw Josey Wales remains the best western he made himself. Altough mrs. Locke would not be the first choice for her part.
Much of the movie benefits of Lone Watie :joy:

LOL … Nor mine! She must be an acquired taste ? :grin:

I still like his first attempts better: High Plains Drifter and Pale Rider. Both weren’t too original, he was trying to fill the boots of much better directors (Leone, Siegel, Stevens) but his efforts resulted in movies that were at least stylish and highly enjoyable. And he gave excellent performances. The storytelling and his strong screen presence in fact overshadowed the fact that he’s a rather pedestrian director. With Josey Wales and Unforgiven he developed a more personal approach to the genre, and imo this resulted a far less engaging movies: Josey Wales has good things, but it’s uneven and overlong, and its post-Watergate message about reliability and more, is far too obvious, and Unforgiven is even worse in that aspect: again there are good things in it, but its message (violence is wrong wrong, terribly wrong) is written on the wall. All very unsubtle. And because those movies are more ambitious, his mundane directing works more against the movie.

Pale Rider came after Josey Wales though. I think Josey Wales is Clint’s best American western. Tough one to beat for me.

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That’s right. I made that mistake before. In my mind Pale Rider seems to come before Josey Wales. The latter is a more personal, more original and ambitious movie, while Pale Rider is more derivative (a quality I seem to link to a director’s early outcome). Anyway, I like Clint as a director better when he remains closer to the people he worked with and/or admires.