The 1960s really did produce some remarkable Westerns that categorised them into the "cool" factor. You would be hard pressed to draw a line between Franco Nero and Terence Hill, actors who tried to break out of the mould defined by Clint Eastwood yet embodied his style and stoicism.
This is an enjoyable Western, but it did have numerous short comings. It is quite a violent film with a death count that probably exceeds a hundred, but it is all bloodless. The story ends really strongly with an hombre-on-hombre shootout that is worthy of The Dollars Trilogy, but it does take some time to get there with a plot that at times is a little confusing. The character of Paco Roman (which always reminded me of the aftershave Paco Robanne) kept on calling himself revolutionary, but I could not muster what his revolution was all about. I guess the revolution was a guise to play a bandit.
Franco Nero is brilliant as the quick draw smart alec Sergei Kowalski (the Polak) who has some of the most amazing blue eyes I have not seen since Paul Newman or Robert Redford. He was seriously handsome in a rough rugged sort of way. As I said there were times I could not tell him apart from Terence Hill who played a similar character Nessuno in My Name Is Nobody. The acting all round was very good and I did enjoy seeing Jack Palance play a somewhat effeminate villain with one of the best wigs I have ever seen on celluloid. That wig alone should have got its own billing. The direction by Sergio Corbucci was also good and imaginative.
For me the plot could have been tighter. I found the film needed more humour and less violence. I felt kind of sorry for all those innocent soldiers that were gunned down in their dozen.
The best bit of the film must be the music by Ennio Morricone. That man was a genius. Check out the soundtrack on Spotify. Simply divine.
This is an enjoyable Western, but it did have numerous short comings. It is quite a violent film with a death count that probably exceeds a hundred, but it is all bloodless. The story ends really strongly with an hombre-on-hombre shootout that is worthy of The Dollars Trilogy, but it does take some time to get there with a plot that at times is a little confusing. The character of Paco Roman (which always reminded me of the aftershave Paco Robanne) kept on calling himself revolutionary, but I could not muster what his revolution was all about. I guess the revolution was a guise to play a bandit.
Franco Nero is brilliant as the quick draw smart alec Sergei Kowalski (the Polak) who has some of the most amazing blue eyes I have not seen since Paul Newman or Robert Redford. He was seriously handsome in a rough rugged sort of way. As I said there were times I could not tell him apart from Terence Hill who played a similar character Nessuno in My Name Is Nobody. The acting all round was very good and I did enjoy seeing Jack Palance play a somewhat effeminate villain with one of the best wigs I have ever seen on celluloid. That wig alone should have got its own billing. The direction by Sergio Corbucci was also good and imaginative.
For me the plot could have been tighter. I found the film needed more humour and less violence. I felt kind of sorry for all those innocent soldiers that were gunned down in their dozen.
The best bit of the film must be the music by Ennio Morricone. That man was a genius. Check out the soundtrack on Spotify. Simply divine.