I’ll have to submit a list and maybe shake things up a bit! …
Good timing, amigo!..Love the list.
Btw, could we pin this thread at the top of the Town Hall section?
Yeah, give me an earthquake …
With Voltaire’s aphorism “Don’t let the perfect become the enemy of the good” - I could think about this forever and never post anything - in mind, here’s my Top Twenty, the SW’s I personally find most entertaining, most satisfying. Respectfully and submitted, they are:
- Fistful of Dollars
- Django
- Good, Bad, Ugly
- Blindman
- $10,000 for a Massacre
- The Great Silence
- A Minute to Pray, Second to Die (118 min. version)
- Stranger in Town
- Bullet for the General
- I Want Him Dead
- Dead Men Ride
- Johnny Yuma
- Death Rides a Horse
- Light the Fuse - Santana
- The Stranger Returns
- Night of the Serpent/Nest of Vipers
- Taste of Killing
- Spara Gringo, Spara
- Hate for Hate
- Comin’ at Ya!
My first 10 are in order … after that, not so much. If I were to post a list tomorrow there might be changes … always a work in progress. Near misses include Hilton’s Time of Vultures, Trade Your Pistol for a Coffin, and Hallelujah; also, the Mercenary, Companeros, Adios,Sabata, and Cemetary without Crosses. Any and all comments welcome, Amigos!
Good thing I don’t demand perfection … just noticed the typo error in my introduction to the list.
Comin’ at Ya!
Well, someone’s gotta love it!
Yep, I’m the guy! I figured this selection would kick up some dust, along with some others, and exclusions. I have the recent blu-ray, but no 3D TV … but I still really enjoy Comin at Ya! Tony Anthony’s western persona always works very well for me, and I find this flick atmospheric, well shot, and abundant with beautiful women - especially the lead - and colorful, brutish villains. I suppose it’s true that this is by far his most - or only - heroic part - rescuing his fiancée, and saving many victimized women - from a hellish fate.
Addendum: Totally forgot to include FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE on my top 20 list - top five film for for sure. My mistake.
- Fistful of Dollars
- Django
- Good, Bad, Ugly
- Blindman
- $10,000 for a Massacre
- The Great Silence
- A Minute to Pray, Second to Die (118 min. version)
- Stranger in Town
- Bullet for the General
- I Want Him Dead
- Dead Men Ride
- Johnny Yuma
- Death Rides a Horse
- Light the Fuse - Santana
- The Stranger Returns
- Night of the Serpent/Nest of Vipers
- Taste of Killing
- Spara Gringo, Spara
- Hate for Hate
- Comin’ at Ya!
Be interested to know if anyone else has included Comin’ at Ya! in their top 20. @stanton?
I Want Him Dead is a rarity as high as 10 also. An interesting list and a pretty solid one.
I have a question though…You say you forgot to put FaFDM in and that the bottom 10 are kind of arbitrary. That said, if you put FaFDM in its intended top 5 place which film would drop out? Comin’ at Ya! or something else?
Good question … guess I’ll drop Hate for Hate. Maybe I need to do an alternative top 20. I very hesitantly bought the Comin’ at Ya! Blu-ray some months ago, discouraged by mostly bad reviews, and thinking maybe Anthony would be looking withered or something by the passage of time, or that it might not have the true SW feel … then I watched the movie, and was much pleased on all accounts.
I should note I’ve never seen El Puro
Good question … guess I’ll drop Hate for Hate. Maybe I need to do an alternative top 20. I very hesitantly bought the Comin’ at Ya! Blu-ray some months ago, discouraged by mostly bad reviews, and thinking maybe Anthony would be looking withered or something by the passage of time, or that it might not have the true SW feel … then I watched the movie, and was much pleased on all accounts.
Please, then do it and change your list above, then I can take it for the big forum list.
And of course you can, like everybody else, post an altered one, after having watched some more Spags.
Be interested to know if anyone else has included Comin’ at Ya! in their top 20. @stanton?
I Want Him Dead is a rarity as high as 10 also. An interesting list and a pretty solid one.
Comin’ at Ya! got so far one vote, but at # 3 in the list by member Bible Joe. By coincidence (or fate?) he has I Want Him Dead even higher as his # 2. (And Hossein’s excellent Taste of Violence, which is not really a western imo, as # 1)
Our Tony as seen by our forum:
1 | * | 22 | * | Blindman | * | Baldi, Ferdinando | * | 339 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | * | 56 | * | A Stranger in Town | * | Vanzi, Luigi | * | 91 |
3 | * | 77 | * | The Silent Stranger | * | Vanzi, Luigi | * | 56 |
4 | * | 85 | * | The Stranger Returns | * | Vanzi, Luigi | * | 44 |
5 | * | 119 | * | Comin’ at Ya! | * | Baldi, Ferdinando | * | 19 |
6 | * | 203 | * | Get Mean | * | Baldi, Ferdinando | * | 1 |
After switching the Silent Stranger with the Return, it mirrors my view on the Anthony.
Ah, this reminds me I’ve never seen SILENT STRANGER … will have to remedy that. I’ll re-do my list as requested.
Revised top 20:
- FISTFUL OF DOLLARS
- DJANGO
- BLINDMAN
- GBU
- FEW DOLLARS MORE
- $10,000 FOR A MASSACRE
- THE GREAT SILENCE
- MINUTE TO PRAY, SECOND TO DIE (118 min. version)
- BULLET FOR THE GENERAL
- I WANT HIM DEAD
- STRANGER IN TOWN
- DEAD MEN RIDE
- JOHNNY YUMA
- SPARA, GRINGO, SPARA
- DEATH RIDES A HORSE
- COMIN’ AT YA!
- LIGHT THE FUSE - SARTANA
- KILL THE WICKED
- GARRINGO
- STRANGER RETURNS
I’ll ride with this revised list, which you’ll see I’ve tweaked a bit, beyond the addition of FAFDM.
Some films that hover near my top 20 include: NEST OF VIPERS; LANKY FELLOW; HATE FOR HATE; ADIOS, SABATA; HALLELUJAH (first one); CEMETERY WITHOUT CROSSES; PAYMENT IN BLOOD; TIME OF VULTURES; MAN CALLED CEMETARY; FORGOTTEN PISTOLEROS; PISTOLEROS (Ghidra, Infanti); a few others that escape me at the moment. Cheers!
Based on that I suggest you compile an Alternative Top 20 too.
Read the outline on this page before starting: Alternative Top 20 - The Spaghetti Western Database
Then post your list in this thread: Alternative Top 20
And thanks, Stanton, for the info on “Tony Tony” - interesting to see he has some support - I know he’s divisive (and despised by Alex Cox, whose book I generally enjoy.)