Don't go into this film expecting a typical Corbucci high body count shoot 'em up. This time around the famous `other Sergio' takes a stab at the comedy/spaghetti sub-genre which was ever so popular in the waning days of the Euro Western. `Bianco, il giallo, il nero, Il' is more or less a bizarro take on the East meets wild West classic `Red Sun'. Eli Wallach plays `Black Jack Gideon', a straight and narrow lawman who reluctantly gets mixed up in a quest to recover a prize Japanese show pony that's being held for ransom by a renegade band of army deserters with a penchant for dressing up like Indians. Accompanying him on his journey are the notorious bandit and womanizer `Swiss', played by Giuliano Gemma and `Sakura' the dung handler turned Samurai played by Tomas Milian. Many unintentional laughs and moments of genuine surreal weirdness set to the equally strange Guido & Maurizio De Angelis score almost guarantee this film to delight fans of the genre and confuse and frighten the average viewer.
8 Reviews
Sergio Corbucci's Western parody is packed with noisy action and silly humor
ma-cortes26 September 2010
A very funny Western about some roguish adventurers who attempt to rob a fortune of a rescue . Italian-Spanish co-production full of action , exaggerated characters, shootouts and lots of humor . This Spaghetti Western concerns about robbing a valuable Japanese pony from a train crossing American West and the Japan Ambassador had for gift to US . The thieves result to be some rebel Indians . Then a Japanese named Sakura (Tomas Milian), ¨the Yellow¨ along with a rogue thief Swiss(Giuliano Gemma) ¨the White¨ , and a sheriff (Eli Wallach) ¨the Black¨ team up as three unlikely heroes . This is a surprisingly low-key Spaghetti Western in which three diverse characters joining forces to find the sacred horse and rob a rescue .
This amusing picture contains an entertaining plot , action Western , shootouts and bits of campy and refreshing humor . It's an improbable blending of standard Western, tongue-in-cheek and Chop-Socky . A bemusing premise , gunslingers against samurais , and interesting casting full of usual Spaghetti make this oater well worth the watching . Delightful Western satire in which the grifter Giuliano Gemma using his wits , breaking all the rules and kicking virtually every cliché in the pants , as he relentlessly deceives, plunders and robs . Amiable but sometimes lumbering Western satire goes on and on about the same premise , as a lot of minutes are superfluous ,it has half hour of excess , as it packs overblown jokes and antics and some moments turns out to be dull and tiring . Tomas Milian steals the show as Sakura, he is very fine, he ravages the screen, he jumps, bounds and leaps, hit and run , besides receives violent punches, kicks and is ultimately buried . Furthermore, appears ordinary secondaries of Spaghetti/Paella Western as Chris Huerta , Tito Garcia, Victor Israel ,Dan Van Husen, Rafael Albaicin, Lorenzo Robledo, and many others . The film mingles slapdash, pursuits, high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining. There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing shootouts, fights or stunts every few minutes . The musicians Guido and Mauricio De Angelis, compose a jolly soundtrack with catching leitmotif and well conducted ; it's full of guttural sounds and commercial songs. Striking cinematography by Luis Cuadrado in Eastmancolor with negative well processed . Interior filmed at Paolis Studios , Rome ,and Ballesteros studios ,Madrid and outdoor sequences filmed , of course , at Almeria, Spain. The film follows in the wake of ¨ Hallelujah trail (65) ¨ by John Sturges ¨ Support your local sheriff ¨ and ¨ Support your local gunfighter ¨ by Burt Kennedy and of course ¨ Blazing saddles (74) ¨ by Mel Brooks , all of them are engaging Western satire and very fun . The picture takes part of a sub-genre in which during the period of the 70s combined Spaghetti Western and art martial with original influence of ¨David Carradine's Kung Fu ¨ series , for example ¨ Karate law in the west ¨(Tonino Ricci), ¨ My name is Shangai Joe¨(Mario Caiano) and ¨ Return of Shangai Joe ( Bitto Albertini)¨, in addition ¨ Red sun (Terence Young )¨ that bears remarkable resemblance to this one .
Sergio Corbucci's direction is well crafted, here he's more cynical and humorous and less inclined toward violence and packs too much action , but especially this slapstick Western contains broad comedy . The other Sergio made several Spaghetti classics as ¨ Django¨, ¨The great silence¨, ¨Hellbenders¨, ¨The specialist¨ , and Zapata Western as ¨The Mercenary¨, ¨The Compañeros¨ and ¨What am I doing in middle of the revolution¨ . In addition Sergio directed other inferior S.W. as ¨Far West story¨ ,¨Johnny Oro¨, ¨The white the yellow an the black¨ and ¨Minnesota Clay¨. It's an offbeat , muddle and uneven Western but will appeal to Corbucci aficionados . Rating : 5,5 , riotous Western spoof in which there's too much silly comedy and enough excitement
This amusing picture contains an entertaining plot , action Western , shootouts and bits of campy and refreshing humor . It's an improbable blending of standard Western, tongue-in-cheek and Chop-Socky . A bemusing premise , gunslingers against samurais , and interesting casting full of usual Spaghetti make this oater well worth the watching . Delightful Western satire in which the grifter Giuliano Gemma using his wits , breaking all the rules and kicking virtually every cliché in the pants , as he relentlessly deceives, plunders and robs . Amiable but sometimes lumbering Western satire goes on and on about the same premise , as a lot of minutes are superfluous ,it has half hour of excess , as it packs overblown jokes and antics and some moments turns out to be dull and tiring . Tomas Milian steals the show as Sakura, he is very fine, he ravages the screen, he jumps, bounds and leaps, hit and run , besides receives violent punches, kicks and is ultimately buried . Furthermore, appears ordinary secondaries of Spaghetti/Paella Western as Chris Huerta , Tito Garcia, Victor Israel ,Dan Van Husen, Rafael Albaicin, Lorenzo Robledo, and many others . The film mingles slapdash, pursuits, high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining. There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing shootouts, fights or stunts every few minutes . The musicians Guido and Mauricio De Angelis, compose a jolly soundtrack with catching leitmotif and well conducted ; it's full of guttural sounds and commercial songs. Striking cinematography by Luis Cuadrado in Eastmancolor with negative well processed . Interior filmed at Paolis Studios , Rome ,and Ballesteros studios ,Madrid and outdoor sequences filmed , of course , at Almeria, Spain. The film follows in the wake of ¨ Hallelujah trail (65) ¨ by John Sturges ¨ Support your local sheriff ¨ and ¨ Support your local gunfighter ¨ by Burt Kennedy and of course ¨ Blazing saddles (74) ¨ by Mel Brooks , all of them are engaging Western satire and very fun . The picture takes part of a sub-genre in which during the period of the 70s combined Spaghetti Western and art martial with original influence of ¨David Carradine's Kung Fu ¨ series , for example ¨ Karate law in the west ¨(Tonino Ricci), ¨ My name is Shangai Joe¨(Mario Caiano) and ¨ Return of Shangai Joe ( Bitto Albertini)¨, in addition ¨ Red sun (Terence Young )¨ that bears remarkable resemblance to this one .
Sergio Corbucci's direction is well crafted, here he's more cynical and humorous and less inclined toward violence and packs too much action , but especially this slapstick Western contains broad comedy . The other Sergio made several Spaghetti classics as ¨ Django¨, ¨The great silence¨, ¨Hellbenders¨, ¨The specialist¨ , and Zapata Western as ¨The Mercenary¨, ¨The Compañeros¨ and ¨What am I doing in middle of the revolution¨ . In addition Sergio directed other inferior S.W. as ¨Far West story¨ ,¨Johnny Oro¨, ¨The white the yellow an the black¨ and ¨Minnesota Clay¨. It's an offbeat , muddle and uneven Western but will appeal to Corbucci aficionados . Rating : 5,5 , riotous Western spoof in which there's too much silly comedy and enough excitement
Light hearted Samurai parody in the West
eugeniocll7 June 2019
Not every movie is made to become legendary and this is definitely one of them, so don't expect anything outstanding from this title. However, things are made for a purpose and "il bianco, il nero, il giallo" fully reaches its own. It's in fact a light hearted comedy with some puns and surrealism that you want to watch with your children on an ordinary quiet evening (eg. nobody ever gets hurt and the happy ending is served).
The novelty of the movie is represented by the exaggerated nonsensical samurai portray, brilliantly played by Milian who is the real star in here (and so much at ease!). Some great moments are the spit in the eye which is probably the best spit I've seen (it kept me laughing for a week at least!) and the identification of the pony Shimbè.
The movie has a feel good attitude all the time and some wanna-be morality is displayed, quite similarly to They call me Trinity. Noticeably, Sakura and Blanc the Blanc fulfil their dreams, while Black Jack retires after being prized, and the Indians are saved.
Good vibes have the power to take a bit of your soul and this movie does just that. I recommend to watch it without great expectations and to relax your mind.
The novelty of the movie is represented by the exaggerated nonsensical samurai portray, brilliantly played by Milian who is the real star in here (and so much at ease!). Some great moments are the spit in the eye which is probably the best spit I've seen (it kept me laughing for a week at least!) and the identification of the pony Shimbè.
The movie has a feel good attitude all the time and some wanna-be morality is displayed, quite similarly to They call me Trinity. Noticeably, Sakura and Blanc the Blanc fulfil their dreams, while Black Jack retires after being prized, and the Indians are saved.
Good vibes have the power to take a bit of your soul and this movie does just that. I recommend to watch it without great expectations and to relax your mind.
Failure, mistake and catastrophe!
RodrigAndrisan17 October 2021
I saw it twice in 1975, when I was only 16 years old. It delighted me terribly then. Through the myriad of communist films, whether Romanian, Russian, Bulgarian, Czech, Polish, Chinese or Vietnamese, this was a rare bird. Watched again in 2021, I consider it just a big waste of time. Although, we have two very good actors in the cast, Eli Wallach and Tomas Milian, who both gave their best, the film is a failure, it has no fun at all, for me it's just a failed attempt to copy on Sergio Leone, everyone knows which movie, and "Red Sun" with Charles Bronson and Toshiro Mifune.
My copy was just about unwatchable.
planktonrules13 April 2013
Many of the problems I had with "Shoot First...Ask Questions Later" (a.k.a. "Samurai") had nothing to do with the original production. The DVD I got from Netflix was among the very worst discs I have ever seen--and that's saying a lot since I have rented thousands of their films. In fact, it might just be THE worst. It appears as if someone took an old videotape and literally filmed it with a home videocamera! The picture was super-blurry and crooked throughout. Ugly is perhaps the kindest thing I can say about the DVD!
As far as the film goes, it's not a good film either. It's all about some 'Japanese' folks in the West. Some might just have been Japanese but the main one was played by the Cuban-American Toma Milian and it's undoubtedly one of the most embarrassing roles he ever took. Seeing the guy in a goofy wig, mustache and kimono looked utterly stupid. Unfortunately, the film itself never rose much above this. Probably not worth your time unless you insist on seeing EVERYTHING made by Sergio Carbucci AND you can find a better DVD copy.
As far as the film goes, it's not a good film either. It's all about some 'Japanese' folks in the West. Some might just have been Japanese but the main one was played by the Cuban-American Toma Milian and it's undoubtedly one of the most embarrassing roles he ever took. Seeing the guy in a goofy wig, mustache and kimono looked utterly stupid. Unfortunately, the film itself never rose much above this. Probably not worth your time unless you insist on seeing EVERYTHING made by Sergio Carbucci AND you can find a better DVD copy.
Oddly enough - it made me laugh!
jalilidalili11 September 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I bought this DVD in a pack (3 films on one disc) for some spare change. I didn't expect much and also didn't get much. But it did make me laugh every now and again.
Amasingly enough, I laughed at some of the jokes too - not just at the movie.
In fact, I have to say, in this movie I saw something I though as original. A joke I haven't seen or heard anywhere else, nor did I think of anything like it. And it is not easy to find something like that, with as many comedies I've seen so far. This was something I really liked about this movie. It showed me something fresh - even though it was already very old.
*spoiler*
The Samurai is making a brew. The sheriff asks: "What are you making?" "It old Japanese recepy. This make you not sleep and not think of food." Sheriff: "You've got something there that will take my mind off of hunger? Give it here!" The sheriff drinks it and starts moaning really badly. The Samurai jumps up and said: "Now you no can sleep, now you no want food. You got toothache!"
Or something like that (it's not a transcript, but the point of the joke).
Amasingly enough, I laughed at some of the jokes too - not just at the movie.
In fact, I have to say, in this movie I saw something I though as original. A joke I haven't seen or heard anywhere else, nor did I think of anything like it. And it is not easy to find something like that, with as many comedies I've seen so far. This was something I really liked about this movie. It showed me something fresh - even though it was already very old.
*spoiler*
The Samurai is making a brew. The sheriff asks: "What are you making?" "It old Japanese recepy. This make you not sleep and not think of food." Sheriff: "You've got something there that will take my mind off of hunger? Give it here!" The sheriff drinks it and starts moaning really badly. The Samurai jumps up and said: "Now you no can sleep, now you no want food. You got toothache!"
Or something like that (it's not a transcript, but the point of the joke).
Starring an Asian Tomas Milian
BandSAboutMovies19 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Also known as Samurai and Shoot First... Ask Questions Later, this is the last Italian Western that Sergio Corbucci would make after a career that brought the world Django, The Great Silence, Companeros and The Hellbenders. It is the gateway to his next career of making comedy films, often with Adriano Celentano and Terence Hill, such as 1980's Super Fuzz.
I was wondering how this movie got away with such a racist Japanese interpretation, with Tomas Milian playing an Asian man named Sakura in the most stereotypical way possible. I hate to say, "It was a 1975 exploitation movie made in Italy," but you can also explain that this is a parody of the much bigger film, 1971's Bronson and Mifune vehicle Red Sun.
Long story short, a Japanese horse that was to be given to the government of the United States is stolen and Sheriff Edward "Blackjack" Gideon (Eli Wallach), outlaw Blanc de Blanc ('Giuliano Gemma, Ringo himself) and Sakura have to get it back.
Milian must have liked playing this role, because he brought it back for the movie Delitto al Ristorante Cinese, the eighth chapter in the Nico Giraldi film series, which was also directed by Corbucci. Also - keep an eye out for Mirta Miller as a redhead in the saloon.
There's a cute moment at the beginning of the film as the Sheriff and his wife have an argument and she replies, "For a fistful of dollars. For a miserable fistful of dollars that are not even already your share! At least I did that for a few dollars more... but "vamos a matar", compañeros! Always around in the good, the bad and the ugly times! Head down, dear; you're at the day of reckoning, now!" If you get the joke, you're my kind of person.
I was wondering how this movie got away with such a racist Japanese interpretation, with Tomas Milian playing an Asian man named Sakura in the most stereotypical way possible. I hate to say, "It was a 1975 exploitation movie made in Italy," but you can also explain that this is a parody of the much bigger film, 1971's Bronson and Mifune vehicle Red Sun.
Long story short, a Japanese horse that was to be given to the government of the United States is stolen and Sheriff Edward "Blackjack" Gideon (Eli Wallach), outlaw Blanc de Blanc ('Giuliano Gemma, Ringo himself) and Sakura have to get it back.
Milian must have liked playing this role, because he brought it back for the movie Delitto al Ristorante Cinese, the eighth chapter in the Nico Giraldi film series, which was also directed by Corbucci. Also - keep an eye out for Mirta Miller as a redhead in the saloon.
There's a cute moment at the beginning of the film as the Sheriff and his wife have an argument and she replies, "For a fistful of dollars. For a miserable fistful of dollars that are not even already your share! At least I did that for a few dollars more... but "vamos a matar", compañeros! Always around in the good, the bad and the ugly times! Head down, dear; you're at the day of reckoning, now!" If you get the joke, you're my kind of person.
Lamentable yellowface comedy
Leofwine_draca17 June 2017
Warning: Spoilers
SAMURAI is the worst spaghetti western I've seen from the usually assured Sergio Corbucci, a director known for adding a lightness of touch to his genre movies. The problem with this one is that it's an ethnic comedy in which the typically reliable Tomas Milian comes a cropper as he dresses in yellowface and speaks gobbledegook in his role as a lowly Japanese servant. If you thought Mickey Rooney's turn in BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S was racially offensive, you haven't seen anything yet.
The rest of the film is a tired mix of genre tropes and repetitive slapstick comedy. Giuliano Gemma shows up playing the usual square-jawed cowboy hero while Eli Wallach hangs around and looks faintly embarrassed by it all, and who can blame him? I have no idea what they were thinking when they made this one and the only folk who come across looking good are the hard-working stunt team.
The rest of the film is a tired mix of genre tropes and repetitive slapstick comedy. Giuliano Gemma shows up playing the usual square-jawed cowboy hero while Eli Wallach hangs around and looks faintly embarrassed by it all, and who can blame him? I have no idea what they were thinking when they made this one and the only folk who come across looking good are the hard-working stunt team.
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