Spaghetti Western fans?

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Comments

  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    chrisisall wrote: »
    Would Back to the Future III count

    Hahahahahahahaha!!!

    On a more serious note: Terrence Hill had a couple of great ones...

    I presume You're talking about the 'Trinity' films with Bud Spencer? Great fun.
    And he also starred in 'My Name is Nobody'
    with Henry Fonda

    Love the spaghetti films.
    Got into them first many years ago when BBC2
    did a season during a very hot Summer.
    'A Fistful of Dynamite' opened it and they showed the Dollar films, Trinity and Sabata ones plus more. I miss those special seasons BBC2 used to do like Moviedrome and the horror double bills on a Saturday night!
    Surprised we share love for something mutual. Haha!

    Seriously, though, good to see Spaghetti Western fans here coming out. It's a very underrated and overlooked genre that sadly went extinct.

    Terence Hill did quite a few serious SW films, too. But, he was more successful in the more comedy-oriented entries. Bud Spencer also did a few standalones, not to mention comedies. There's one segment in Buddy Goes West that gets me every time when he assumes the identity of a doctor, helps an ill man drink acid with bullet powder and then... you know the rest. :))
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    I know SW stands for Spaghetti Western, but I read Star Wars.
  • Posts: 6,825
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    chrisisall wrote: »
    Would Back to the Future III count

    Hahahahahahahaha!!!

    On a more serious note: Terrence Hill had a couple of great ones...

    I presume You're talking about the 'Trinity' films with Bud Spencer? Great fun.
    And he also starred in 'My Name is Nobody'
    with Henry Fonda

    Love the spaghetti films.
    Got into them first many years ago when BBC2
    did a season during a very hot Summer.
    'A Fistful of Dynamite' opened it and they showed the Dollar films, Trinity and Sabata ones plus more. I miss those special seasons BBC2 used to do like Moviedrome and the horror double bills on a Saturday night!
    Surprised we share love for something mutual. Haha!

    Seriously, though, good to see Spaghetti Western fans here coming out. It's a very underrated and overlooked genre that sadly went extinct.

    Terence Hill did quite a few serious SW films, too. But, he was more successful in the more comedy-oriented entries. Bud Spencer also did a few standalones, not to mention comedies. There's one segment in Buddy Goes West that gets me every time when he assumes the identity of a doctor, helps an ill man drink acid with bullet powder and then... you know the rest. :))

    There ye go! I was thinking the same thing!
    But I agree the Spaghetti western outside of the dollar films and Once Upon a Time in the West are overlooked or forgotten about!
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    chrisisall wrote: »
    Would Back to the Future III count

    Hahahahahahahaha!!!

    On a more serious note: Terrence Hill had a couple of great ones...

    I presume You're talking about the 'Trinity' films with Bud Spencer? Great fun.
    And he also starred in 'My Name is Nobody'
    with Henry Fonda

    Love the spaghetti films.
    Got into them first many years ago when BBC2
    did a season during a very hot Summer.
    'A Fistful of Dynamite' opened it and they showed the Dollar films, Trinity and Sabata ones plus more. I miss those special seasons BBC2 used to do like Moviedrome and the horror double bills on a Saturday night!
    Surprised we share love for something mutual. Haha!

    Seriously, though, good to see Spaghetti Western fans here coming out. It's a very underrated and overlooked genre that sadly went extinct.

    Terence Hill did quite a few serious SW films, too. But, he was more successful in the more comedy-oriented entries. Bud Spencer also did a few standalones, not to mention comedies. There's one segment in Buddy Goes West that gets me every time when he assumes the identity of a doctor, helps an ill man drink acid with bullet powder and then... you know the rest. :))
    There ye go! I was thinking the same thing!
    But I agree the Spaghetti western outside of the dollar films and Once Upon a Time in the West are overlooked or forgotten about!
    Agreed. And that's why someone should revive the genre. Because, as much as I like Tarantino, he doesn't get the SW style and ends up making a Quentin Tarantino film, instead. People have to study both Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci's style to embody the spirit of the Spaghetti Westerns. These men made the SWs what they are.
  • Posts: 5,821
    Funny thing about Terence Hill : back when he was just plain young Mario Girotti, he played a part in a Sauerkraut Western : Winnetou 2. Teil, with Lex Barker, Pierre Brice and Karin Dor (that's a Bond connection for you.

    02.jpg

    And My Name is Nobody is the best western he ever played in, IMHO, of course.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    chrisisall wrote: »
    Would Back to the Future III count

    Hahahahahahahaha!!!

    On a more serious note: Terrence Hill had a couple of great ones...

    I presume You're talking about the 'Trinity' films with Bud Spencer? Great fun.
    And he also starred in 'My Name is Nobody'
    with Henry Fonda

    Love the spaghetti films.
    Got into them first many years ago when BBC2
    did a season during a very hot Summer.
    'A Fistful of Dynamite' opened it and they showed the Dollar films, Trinity and Sabata ones plus more. I miss those special seasons BBC2 used to do like Moviedrome and the horror double bills on a Saturday night!
    Surprised we share love for something mutual. Haha!

    Seriously, though, good to see Spaghetti Western fans here coming out. It's a very underrated and overlooked genre that sadly went extinct.

    Terence Hill did quite a few serious SW films, too. But, he was more successful in the more comedy-oriented entries. Bud Spencer also did a few standalones, not to mention comedies. There's one segment in Buddy Goes West that gets me every time when he assumes the identity of a doctor, helps an ill man drink acid with bullet powder and then... you know the rest. :))
    There ye go! I was thinking the same thing!
    But I agree the Spaghetti western outside of the dollar films and Once Upon a Time in the West are overlooked or forgotten about!
    Agreed. And that's why someone should revive the genre. Because, as much as I like Tarantino, he doesn't get the SW style and ends up making a Quentin Tarantino film, instead. People have to study both Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci's style to embody the spirit of the Spaghetti Westerns. These men made the SWs what they are.

    Maybe Robert Rodriguez could do it justice.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    chrisisall wrote: »
    Would Back to the Future III count

    Hahahahahahahaha!!!

    On a more serious note: Terrence Hill had a couple of great ones...

    I presume You're talking about the 'Trinity' films with Bud Spencer? Great fun.
    And he also starred in 'My Name is Nobody'
    with Henry Fonda

    Love the spaghetti films.
    Got into them first many years ago when BBC2
    did a season during a very hot Summer.
    'A Fistful of Dynamite' opened it and they showed the Dollar films, Trinity and Sabata ones plus more. I miss those special seasons BBC2 used to do like Moviedrome and the horror double bills on a Saturday night!
    Surprised we share love for something mutual. Haha!

    Seriously, though, good to see Spaghetti Western fans here coming out. It's a very underrated and overlooked genre that sadly went extinct.

    Terence Hill did quite a few serious SW films, too. But, he was more successful in the more comedy-oriented entries. Bud Spencer also did a few standalones, not to mention comedies. There's one segment in Buddy Goes West that gets me every time when he assumes the identity of a doctor, helps an ill man drink acid with bullet powder and then... you know the rest. :))
    There ye go! I was thinking the same thing!
    But I agree the Spaghetti western outside of the dollar films and Once Upon a Time in the West are overlooked or forgotten about!
    Agreed. And that's why someone should revive the genre. Because, as much as I like Tarantino, he doesn't get the SW style and ends up making a Quentin Tarantino film, instead. People have to study both Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci's style to embody the spirit of the Spaghetti Westerns. These men made the SWs what they are.

    Maybe Robert Rodriguez could do it justice.
    Lord, no. :))

    If there's a director I heartily despise, it's Rodriguez.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    He has been a bit up and down for me. Some clunkers and some great stuff.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    He has been a bit up and down for me. Some clunkers and some great stuff.
    To me, his films are call caricatures of past filmmaking styles, it's as if he's taking the piss. He just ups the violence and gore, and people like it (I'm not one of them).

    Desperado was enjoyable, but that's about it. I'm glad he didn't get to direct The Mask of Zorro.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Desperado is one of the clunkers for me.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    Desperado is one of the clunkers for me.
    I can see why, actually. Its sequel was worse.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Both of those were horrible.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    Both of those were horrible.
    Can't argue with that. Apparently, it's a trilogy, but Banderas didn't star in the first one. Not that I've seen it.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou. I can still hear my old hound dog barkin'.
    Posts: 8,701
    Gerard wrote: »
    Funny thing about Terence Hill : back when he was just plain young Mario Girotti, he played a part in a Sauerkraut Western : Winnetou 2. Teil, with Lex Barker, Pierre Brice and Karin Dor (that's a Bond connection for you.

    02.jpg

    And My Name is Nobody is the best western he ever played in, IMHO, of course.

    That Mario Girotti, later to become Terence Hill, played in that German movie (among others) is not so surprising if one knows that he was born to an Italian father (who however worked for the Schering pharmaceutical company in Germany) and a German mother, grew up initially in Dresden (surviving the bombings), and only spoke German until he was six.

    It surprised me much more to discover him in Visconti's Il gattopardo a few years ago.

    By the way, I recently rewatched My Name is Nobody a while ago after having seen it at a cinema in the Seventies...and was deeply disappointed by it this time around. It really was the start of Hill/Girotti's career playing for cheap laughs in mostly stupid comedies, along with Bud Spencer. Both of them could do far better, but that's what the public seemed to want.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    So, is Hannie Caulder a fish'Nchips western?
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    chrisisall wrote: »
    So, is Hannie Caulder a fish'Nchips western?

    Speaking of which, BONE TOMAHAWK is a cannibal western, and it sounds disgusting, but really is a fantastic film.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    I think Hannie Caulder is a British production, so it might not count as a Spaghetti Western, @chrisisall. I don't know, though.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,691
    I think Hannie Caulder is a British production, so it might not count as a Spaghetti Western, @chrisisall. I don't know, though.

    British production, but shot in Spain... so... Spaghettish Western-?
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    chrisisall wrote: »
    I think Hannie Caulder is a British production, so it might not count as a Spaghetti Western, @chrisisall. I don't know, though.
    British production, but shot in Spain... so... Spaghettish Western-?
    I don't know, really... I'll have to ask my friends at the Spaghetti Western forums.
  • edited April 2018 Posts: 2,107
    Just found my copy of My Name Is Nobody yesterday. Should give it a watch after so long. It maybe being my favorite sw with Terence Hill.

    What about those israeli westerns?
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    My review of the recent three SW films I saw within the weekend.
    10. My Name Is Nobody (1973):

    22nXDLF0IkaX3Ou2zezsbZ97k4g.jpg

    This semi-comedy of a Spaghetti Western stars two leading men who cemented their names in the world of cinema with utmost popularity and cult following. Terence Hill plays a mysterious but lighthearted figure of a character going by the moniker 'Nobody', a sobriquet often addressed to as a pun in a line during dialogues and conversations. The second protagonist whom Nobody looks up to is a "legendary bounty hunter" who made a name for himself as a quick-draw gunslinger and killed more bandits than one could think of, a middle-aged man called Jack Beauregard, played by the late great Henry Fonda.

    The story revolves around Nobody following Beauregard around as the latter goes to hunt down a corrupt gold mine owner whose beneficiaries had the former's brother killed in a botched deal of business partnership. In the meantime, Beauregard wants to get out of the west and leave for Europe with the intention of having this life of bounty hunting and gunfights left behind, only to find Nobody in his way who indirectly insists that if he wants to go out, he has to go out in style, thus making Beauregard all the more cautious of him, despite finding him on his own side for the most part.

    Hill's scenes play out in the jocular comedic tones that he was made popular with in the Italian cinema. He doesn't intend to harm anyone with edginess nor shows a rough side, despite his malicious stares telling the viewer sometimes of his existent dark side, making him a character not to fiddle with. A tone in his films I personally enjoyed over the years, thus making me a fan. Henry Fonda, on the other hand, plays a hero this time as opposed to his villainous character in Once Upon A Time In The West (1969), behaving more like himself as well as coming off halfway between a grandfatherly and uncle figure to those around him, often showing wisdom through his expressions and philosophical explanations. A rather enjoyable entry that I look forward to seeing again, sometime.

    11. The Big Gundown (1966):

    5ed927feedce8c4c6117e7afc78aeded.jpg

    Fresh out of the set of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966), Lee Van Cleef takes on the role of a heroic protagonist again rather than his charismatic albeit terrifying villain he played in the aforementioned film. Playing a similar character to that of Henry Fonda's in My Name Is Nobody, a renowned middle aged gunslinger named Jonathan Corbett who is thinking about retiring from the bounty hunting game and run for senate, whose campaign is promised to be backed by Brokston (Walter Barnes), a railroad tycoon, as long as Corbett himself supports Brokston's plausible cause. Soon after the town is terrified by the news of a twelve year old girl being raped and murdered, a few witnesses claim that they saw a petty Mexican outlaw called Cuchillo (Tomas Milian) being responsible for which Corbett goes out to hunt him down and bring him to justice. As the game is afoot, Corbett finds out at leisurely pace that things are not as they seem, nor Cuchillo, who's smarter and craftier than he pretends to be, is actually behind the crime he was accused of.

    The film is somewhat slow-paced, but does tend to get exciting every now and then as Lee Van Cleef dominates the whole picture, which is why he's my all-time favourite among all the actors who starred in Spaghetti Westerns. Tomas Milian, on the other hand, plays himself, or at least his screen self he's often known of embodying the templates he's given throughout his career, which is interesting for some, whereas I'm indifferent to him. The one actress however who steals some scenes is the beautiful Nieves Navarro, playing a rather ruthless queen bee of a figure with many armed goons of men on her payroll. A femme fatale if you will. Enjoyable experience overall, but not entirely recommended for the regular viewer. It's only for Spaghetti Western purists and completists.

    12. Long Days of Vengeance (1967):

    Long_1.jpg

    Made in a time when the westerns were being reinvigorated by the Italians, this one feels rather different from the rest of the Spaghetti Westerns, and does not rely on the formula of The Dollars Trilogy or the Django franchise, resembling the 1950s American made westerns with an Italian spin given to it, as well as the escapism forming large part of the movie's tone. Starring Giuliano Gemma as Ted Barnett, a man who was framed for the killing of his father and a Mexican General, he escapes imprisonment after three years of sentenced with working labor, travelling back to his hometown to find out the truth behind all the schemes that was planned against him.

    According to a Spaghetti Western historian, Marco Giusti, the film is a loose adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo, which furthermore resonates with me as that story happens to be one of my all time favourites. It's a typical Giuliano Gemma film that feels very much the same as most of the rest of his westerns, and he always brings a certain Italian charisma with him on the screen. As in The Big Gundown, the lovely Nieves Navarro makes yet another appearance, and this time in a more prominent role that helps Barnett unearth the truth and evidence against a decorated arms dealer who set him up in the first place. Then, there's the lovely actress Gabriella Giorgelli who plays a leading lady that's unlike the other women in spaghetti westerns in general, and she's definitely not a damsel in distress but a rebel of a girl who fights her assailants as much as she can without being defenseless. Armando Trovajoli's score elevates the film's value more so than the visuals of the screen, but then again, the film is yet to be remastered in full. The title describes the film perfectly as it does feel like long days of vengeance. A fairly watchable western that's recommended as a one-timer for the general audience.
  • Posts: 615
    24 Essential Spaghetti Westerns
    My IMDB List... If you've seen these two dozen Spaghetti Westerns, you've pretty much got the genre covered. (Listed by year/alphabetically.)

    imdb.com/list/ls053336952/

  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    edited April 2018 Posts: 15,423
    CraterGuns wrote: »
    24 Essential Spaghetti Westerns
    My IMDB List... If you've seen these two dozen Spaghetti Westerns, you've pretty much got the genre covered. (Listed by year/alphabetically.)

    imdb.com/list/ls053336952/
    I've seen most of them alright. :)

    Although, I'd discard a few, like Django, Kill! (which, to those who don't know, has nothing to do with Django) which was horrid piece of an addition in the genre. Some scenes are overly disturbing in it and the violence feels forced.
  • edited April 2018 Posts: 616
    Although, I'd discard a few, like Django, Kill! (which, to those who don't know, has nothing to do with Django) which was horrid piece of an addition in the genre. Some scenes are overly disturbing in it.

    Yeah, I thought DJANGO KILL was borderline unwatchable and a waste of Tomas Milian's talent. I'm always surprised that film gets so much attention.

    I'm much more fond of DJANGO, GET A COFFIN READY a.k.a. VIVA DJANGO, which stars Terence Hill and was intended as an official sequel to DJANGO (with the same producer and writer).
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    edited April 2018 Posts: 15,423
    Agreed. It was one of those lame marketing stunts that the Italians did with their films back then to name their films after famous titles to cash in on the success of the originals. Tomas Milian wasn't even playing Django. And neither was Anthony Steffen in Viva Django! (another Viva Django released in 1971, I believe).

    Terence Hill's Django, Prepare A Coffin! was definitely a genuine Django film as it was a retelling of Corbucci's original Django. Only instead of Major Jackson being responsible for the death of his wife, this time it's the politician David Barry who double crosses him. Horst Frank always made for a terrific villain, anyways.
  • edited April 2018 Posts: 616
    Terence Hill's Django, Prepare A Coffin! was definitely a genuine Django film as it was a retelling of Corbucci's original Django. Only instead of Major Jackson being responsible for the death of his wife, this time it's the politician David Barry who double crosses him. Horst Frank always made for a terrific villain, anyways.

    There are some other variations. Hill's character poses as an executioner and stages fake hangings to put together a team of men, all believed to be dead, to hunt down Barry and his lackeys (including the towering George Eastman, who turned up in a lot of Italian exploitation movies). The men soon turn on each other, almost ruining Django's plan. Django also has an interesting relationship with a gold-hungry Mexican farmer and his benevolent wife. It's a very different movie, even though it retains the revenge premise and Django's trusty machine gun.

    I've only seen parts of the other official sequel, DJANGO STRIKES AGAIN (starring Franco Nero), and should probably give that another look.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    edited April 2018 Posts: 15,423
    Escalus5 wrote: »
    Terence Hill's Django, Prepare A Coffin! was definitely a genuine Django film as it was a retelling of Corbucci's original Django. Only instead of Major Jackson being responsible for the death of his wife, this time it's the politician David Barry who double crosses him. Horst Frank always made for a terrific villain, anyways.

    There are some other variations. Hill's character poses as an executioner and stages fake hangings to put together a team of men, all believed to be dead, to hunt down Barry and his lackeys (including the towering George Eastman, who turned up in a lot of Italian exploitation movies). The men soon turn on each other, almost ruining Django's plan. Django also has an interesting relationship with a gold-hungry Mexican farmer and his benevolent wife. It's a very different movie, even though it retains the revenge premise and Django's trusty machine gun.

    I've only seen parts of the other official sequel, DJANGO STRIKES AGAIN (starring Franco Nero), and should probably give that another look.
    A loose remake, a different movie indeed, but it almost narrates the same principles. I believe Franco Nero turned down to star in this movie so they rewrote the script as a retelling. It also pursues gold which was the MacGuffin in the original movie, too. The cemetery climax was definitely an homage to the climax of Nero's version, only this time he uses a machinegun, like you said, with fully functional fingers, whereas in the original film, he struggles to fan the revolver over the few assailants at him. Hill's Django is also nicer and less mean compared to Nero's. Don't want to spoil it further for those who haven't seen, of course.

    I also haven't seen much of Django Strikes Again which was poorly received due to the direction. Corbucci wrote the script but couldn't direct due to his poor health. He died before production began. There's news that a third Django film with Franco Nero is in development called Django Lives! which is to be set 50 years after the events of the film.
  • Lancaster007Lancaster007 Shrublands Health Clinic, England
    Posts: 1,874
    Would Back to the Future III count

    No. Obviously.
    Title of the thread is Spaghetti Westerns - although some non Italian films probably still count due to their influence on them. I've always said that Fist of Fury starring Bruce Lee is a 'spaghetti western'!
  • Lancaster007Lancaster007 Shrublands Health Clinic, England
    Posts: 1,874
    Man, this just happens by luck. Having recently watched the first two Sartana films, I only found out a few hours ago that Arrow Films announced a remaster of the whole Pentalogy! Today!

    4cb71bb4-395f-4a80-bacb-5c1bc1cd2dcc.jpg

    https://arrowfilms.com/product-detail/the-complete-sartana-limited-edition/FCD1762

    Here's a clip for those interested:

    Seriously thinking about this one. I know it would be an excellent package as I already have a few Arrow Video box-sets. Just need to find the money somehow.
    Waiting for the double-bill of A Pistol for Ringo/The Return of Ringo to arrive. Should go nicely with my dollars trilogy and Day of Anger and Django: Prepare a Coffin.
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