This film has many admirers, and it certainly deserves it for the superb cinematography, creative & stylish direction, rousing soundtrack by Morricone , and excellent performances by most of the cast, though the dubbing distracts from that a bit.. in fact the English dub (which is my usual preference for KungFu & Spaghettis) is shoddy and jarring with a terrible sound-mix.
Reynolds acting is quite wooden but that doesnt really matter, what does matter is the story.
The 'idea' isn't bad, but the execution is really awful.
The great overview here by Danimal-7 hits most of the problems, though the biggest hash is the 'back-turning' moment, which actually ruins the film & any heart warming resolution, which would have actually suited this tale.
The writers included well known director Fernando Di Leo,who is also an uncredited collaborator writing the classics Fistful of Dollars, A few dollars more, Django,both excellent Ringo films, Massacre Time & several other great westerns.. He was joined by b-movie hack Piero Regnoli the writer of Hills Run Red from the same year as this, and the talented Ugo Pirro, a writer of dozens of worthwhile Italian films. Here they seem lost in creating spectacles, rather than substance or logic.
Now that Corbucci is being re-appraised as one of the best genre film-makers of the time it's become a regular sight to see this film praised, and the initial criticism of it laughed at as being 'wrong'. Well, it is actually an example of terrible storytelling, redeemed by excellent talent. It does maintain the viewers interest , and moves at a decent pace, just induces several groans of disbelief.
Still, it's well worth viewing with this in mind.
However, if you want treasure seek out Django, Professional Gun , Campaneros, Great Silence. Hellbenders and even Minnesota Clay which set the stage for more hard hitting westerns , while not being a fully fledged 'classic' Euro-western.
Reynolds acting is quite wooden but that doesnt really matter, what does matter is the story.
The 'idea' isn't bad, but the execution is really awful.
The great overview here by Danimal-7 hits most of the problems, though the biggest hash is the 'back-turning' moment, which actually ruins the film & any heart warming resolution, which would have actually suited this tale.
The writers included well known director Fernando Di Leo,who is also an uncredited collaborator writing the classics Fistful of Dollars, A few dollars more, Django,both excellent Ringo films, Massacre Time & several other great westerns.. He was joined by b-movie hack Piero Regnoli the writer of Hills Run Red from the same year as this, and the talented Ugo Pirro, a writer of dozens of worthwhile Italian films. Here they seem lost in creating spectacles, rather than substance or logic.
Now that Corbucci is being re-appraised as one of the best genre film-makers of the time it's become a regular sight to see this film praised, and the initial criticism of it laughed at as being 'wrong'. Well, it is actually an example of terrible storytelling, redeemed by excellent talent. It does maintain the viewers interest , and moves at a decent pace, just induces several groans of disbelief.
Still, it's well worth viewing with this in mind.
However, if you want treasure seek out Django, Professional Gun , Campaneros, Great Silence. Hellbenders and even Minnesota Clay which set the stage for more hard hitting westerns , while not being a fully fledged 'classic' Euro-western.