8/10
Unusual, But Great Spencer/Hill Spaghetti Western
29 August 2006
This is a review of the uncut version, not the cut 'comedy' version.

"Dio Perdona... Io No!" aka. "God Forgives.. I Don't!" is not only the first film with both Bud Spencer and Terence Hill in the leading parts, it is also one of their best movies. Although the movie has many gags and humorous parts, "God Forgives... I Don't!" is not one of the usual Spencer/Hill comedies, but a pretty brutal and rather serious Spaghetti Western.

The movie starts with a train rolling into a town. Everybody on the train was massacred and the fortune it carried was stolen. Two gunslingers, Cat Stevens (Hill), and Hutch Bessy (Spencer) realize that the whole coup looks like the work of Outlaw Bill San Antonio. The mysterious thing about it is, however, that Cat killed San Antonio in a duel several months ago. On their search for the gold, the two get several clues that Bill San Antonio only staged his own death.

"God Forgives.. I Don't!" is definitely the most serious and brutal of the Spencer/Hill collaborations. Anyway, the movie also has many of the typical Spencer/Hill movie ingredients, like the numerous fistfights in which Spencer's character uses his typical hammering one punch technique.

Spencer and Hill show that they are not only great as a team in comedies, but also in a serious Spaghetti Western. Another Highlight of this movie is the great performance of Spaghetti Western Star Frank Wolff as the evil Bill San Antonio. I also liked the score a lot, especially the part with the somehow aggressive, dynamic, classical choir.

In Germany and Austria, this movie was released under three different titles. After the uncut version was released, it was re-released as a "Django" movie, and released again in its cut 'comedy version'. Terence Hill's character is also referred to as 'Django' in the uncut German version, and his dubbed voice is different to his dubbed voice in his later comedies.

All told, "God Forgives... I Don't" is a great Spaghetti Western, not like the usual Spencer/Hill movies, but a pretty brutal and serious movie, and definitely one of their best collaborations. 8/10
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