I guess I’m in the very small minority here but I dont think Minnesota Clay should even be mentioned in the same thread with The Moment to Kill, Pistoleros and God Forgives, I Don’t!
Rewatched a few Gemma vehicles over the last few days because I felt the reviews needed some rewriting
[size=12pt]Alive or Preferably Dead [/size] (1969, Tessari)
A minor effort, with a good Gemma who’s unfortunately saddled with a throwaway script and a partner who was more impressive in the ring than on celluloid.
Here’s the new review. I’ve added a note on the career of the great Nino Benvenuti; after all: if acting wasn’t his thing, boxing certainly was:
[size=12pt]http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Alive_or_preferably_Dead_Review[/size]
Adios Gringo (1965, Stegani)
One of those early Gemma westerns still tributary to the american western, but with some Italian mannerismes and genre characteristics shining through.
Immensily succesful. Not one of Gemma’s best (the story’s too predictable and often clichéd), but well-done and holds its own quite well among those early spaghettis
(I’ll be working on the review the next few days)
[quote=“scherpschutter, post:9422, topic:141”]Rewatched a few Gemma vehicles over the last few days because I felt the reviews needed some rewriting
[size=12pt]Alive or Preferably Dead [/size] (1969, Tessari)
A minor effort, with a good Gemma who’s unfortunately saddled with a throwaway script and a partner who was more impressive in the ring than on celluloid.
Here’s the new review. I’ve added a note on the career of the great Nino Benvenuti; after all: if acting wasn’t his thing, boxing certainly was:
[size=12pt]http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Alive_or_preferably_Dead_Review[/size]
Adios Gringo (1965, Stegani)
One of those early Gemma westerns still tributary to the american western, but with some Italian mannerismes and genre characteristics shining through.
Immensily succesful. Not one of Gemma’s best (the story’s too predictable and often clichéd), but well-done and holds its own quite well among those early spaghettis
(I’ll be working on the review the next few days)[/quote]
sherp Alive or Preferably Dead has a lot of action?? i want to order it from amazon, please tell me, it’s one of my last SWs
Recently viewed. Was in the mood for the silly action, but when people were killed in the last section of the film it does not 100% gel with what has previously gone on.
silly action like ‘they call me hallelujah’ style??
No, it’s not really Hallelujah style (halelujah is more fun).
There are a few good things, there’s some violence, but overall it doesn’t gel, like Ennioo says.
I wouldn’t spend too much money on this movie
[quote=“scherpschutter, post:9426, topic:141”]No, it’s not really Hallelujah style (halelujah is more fun).
There are a few good things, there’s some violence, but overall it doesn’t gel, like Ennioo says.
I wouldn’t spend too much money on this movie[/quote]
so i must to find it somewhere and see it before i spend 20 dollars for it ???
Nel nome del padre, del figlio e della Colt/In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Colt 2/5
Texas, addio/Texas, Adios 3,5/5
Uno dopo l’altro/One After Another 3,5/5
i have also little SW marathon, but it´s sunday and i´m in lazy mode, so no big writings (i´ll use JonathanCorbett approach) :
Fighting Fists Of Shangai Joe - oh nooo, theme from Sartana movie reused here again, but good fun this flick
Long Ride From Hell - quite enjoyable, good camerawork by barboni, and some action, Steve Reeves looks like Josh Brolin
Price Of Power - i expected something better from Valerii, but good SW - i didn´t like that type of duel with lighted cigars in a dark room
i also started with Dynamite Jim - but i dont think i ever would be able to watch it …
Blow it up instead then
i´ll wait for Captain Apache, then i´ll blow it up in one package
I recently saw this one too: thanks to Rosalba Neri and Maria Pia Conte it gets 2/5… 
Unbelievably, IMDb users seem to prefer Dinamite Jim to Sonora/Sartana non perdona, also directed by Alfonso Balcazar!
[quote=“JonathanCorbett, post:9432, topic:141”]I recently saw this one too: thanks to Rosalba Neri and Maria Pia Conte it gets 2/5… 
Unbelievably, IMDb users seem to prefer Dinamite Jim to Sonora/Sartana non perdona, also directed by Alfonso Balcazar![/quote]
hmmm, haven´t noticed that Conte is in it too, then i´ll have to watch it (with big fastforward usage)
Jim, Jim, Dynamite Jim - what a wonderfully annoying title song
Yes, the title song is annoying indeed.
Then you will not like a similar scene in I vigliacchi non pregano/Cowards Don’t Pray.
I thought he looked like Patrick Swayze
[size=14pt]There Was a Crooked Man… [/size] (1970) Joseph L. Mankiewicz
So is this what can be called a revisionist western, my idea of the Director was that he was a classical film type of Director, miles away from more modern stuff like this one, but then the last film he directed was the magnificent Sleuth, such a quality work that its indifferent to the classical/modern dilemma.
But, let’s start with the things I liked most in the movie. First the acting pretty good, Fonda must be one of the best US actors period, Douglas is also great here, his character is a manipulative mean son of a bitch, but you just can’t help feeling sorry for him in the end, the rest of the cast is also great. Some scenes are pretty well done, the robbery, the bath scene and others. Also couldn’t help noticing the post-modern statements, like the films diverse ethnic groups all even if in a small way represented, a gay couple, a liberal sheriff/prison warden who prefers to put down his gun to shoot someone, you name it.
So what I didn’t like, well mostly the schizophrenic script that transforms what could be a funny film into a very unbalanced one, with a strange mix of what I think is social commentary with black comedy, the film is so funny at times that some of the most violent scenes like when Burgess Meredith kills the warden, looked strange kind of out of place in the film. The ending was quite predictable I did see it coming from miles, that wouldn’t have been bad if the rest was OK in script/story terms
So very uneven in my view, but not all bad still deserves a view and some moments are clearly SW inspired and also Kirk Douglas character is , in a different tone yes, but you almost could imagine Milian doing the part.
It may sound strange, but I liked the annoying score, but I liked kind of catchy I guess
[quote=“scherpschutter, post:9422, topic:141”]Rewatched a few Gemma vehicles over the last few days because I felt the reviews needed some rewriting
Adios Gringo (1965, Stegani)
One of those early Gemma westerns still tributary to the american western, but with some Italian mannerismes and genre characteristics shining through.
Immensily succesful. Not one of Gemma’s best (the story’s too predictable and often clichéd), but well-done and holds its own quite well among those early spaghettis
(I’ll be working on the review the next few days)[/quote]
Here it is:
[size=12pt]http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Adios_Gringo_Review[/size]
Don’t you think it was put to a better use in this movie? I do, and I also like the variations used here much more than in the Sartana film.
I wish Nicolai would’ve scored bigger or at least better westerns since I think he’s the second best SW composer, but he was always relegated to cheap movies and directors that didn’t know how to take advantage of such great scores. Take Apocalypse Joe for instance. I did like that movie a lot for what it is, but that score is totally wasted in that movie. It’s gotta be one of the best scores of the whole genre and the movie is very far from even a top 20.
[quote=“cochino, post:9438, topic:141”]Don’t you think it was put to a better use in this movie? I do, and I also like the variations used here much more than in the Sartana film.
I wish Nicolai would’ve scored bigger or at least better westerns since I think he’s the second best SW composer, but he was always relegated to cheap movies and directors that didn’t know how to take advantage of such great scores. Take Apocalypse Joe for instance. I did like that movie a lot for what it is, but that score is totally wasted in that movie. It’s gotta be one of the best scores of the whole genre and the movie is very far from even a top 20.[/quote]
in Una Bala Marcada is Nicolai´s Sartana scores used in great way imo, fit the screen action very well
in Shangai Joe it started to be quite annoying, i think they used the main theme 5 or 6x
but yes, i also wish he could scored for more epic westerns (like Face to Face for instance)
okay, i have watched Dinamite Jim, but with a lot of help of fastforward button, so if you ask me what was it all about - i have no idea
JonathanCorbett gave it rating 2/5 (yes, because of babes involved 
), and it´s probably not very far from truth
BUT, there were two good scenes, i tell ya, worth a watch - so, one with Sancho firing from machinegun, what is special about this, it is completely indoor scene, and it is very funny - in the end of that scene, Sancho is running off the firing range of the machinegun and he stumbles, it looks totally unintentional (probably it really was) - i had a good laugh with that
second scene is finale, fistfight between Sancho and Dávila is nothing special, but when they fall off some cliff with a coffin and start to roll down, well, it is the best roll down from the hill scene i´ve ever seen