what are the best non- Sergio Leone Spaghetti westerns? (1 Viewer)

[eric tengren]

I picked up THE GREAT SILENCE and A BULLET FOR THE GENERAL on dvd and both films are brilliant. I was wondering if there were any Spaghetti Western fans that can recommend some others?

 

[Marcel H.]

Sure, you can try the western by Sergio Sollima:

"The Big Gundown" - with Lee van Cleef and Tomas Milian
"Run, Man, Run!" - with Tomas Milian
"Face to Face" - with Tomas Milian, Gian Maria Volonté and William Berger

And of course the original "Django" by Sergio Corbucci and the one and only Franco Nero. "Texas, addio" is somehow a sequel to this movie but not as good as the first one but much better than nearly all of the other Django-clones.
"Django, Kill... If You Live, Shoot!" is very good too but it's not a typical Spaghetti-Western, because the movie is full of criticism of society and political criticism.
"Death Rides A Horse" is another good Spaghetti-Western with Lee van Cleef.
Then there are the "Sabata" Westerns: They offer a good combination of comedy- and typical wester scenes again with Lee van Cleef as the leading actor.

I hope you can buy all of these DVD's in America.

 

[Jerry O]

Texas, Addios is not in anyway related to Django.

A few others well worth checkng out:
Compañeros (Nero, Milian, Palance)
Day of Anger (Van Cleef)
Keoma (Nero, Strode)
Mannaja: A Man Called Blade
Ace High (Hill, Spencer, Wallach)
Django the Bastard (The Stranger's Gundown)- If you like Eastwood's High Plains Drifter then see the original first.

For more comedic Spaghetti Westerns:
They Call Me Trinity (Hill, Spencer)
Trinity Is Still My Name (Hill, Spencer)
My Name Is Nobody (Hill, Fonda)

 

[Dave Fredriksen]

ERIC,

Here are a few of my favorites, not named by you - many are released by Blue Underground & Anchor Bay:

DJANGO
MANNAJA, A MAN CALLED BLADE
FOUR FOR THE APOCOLYPSE
THE BIG GUNDOWN
THE STRANGERS GUNDOWN (Django, The Bastard) - a definite influence on High Plains Drifter
KEOMA
BLINDMAN
DEATH RIDES A HORSE

one's I didn't really care for:

DJANGO, KILL!
DAY OF ANGER

 

[Richard--W]

I understand there is a widescreen region 2 DVD of Giulio Petroni's DEATH RIDES A HORSE although I haven't located it. The film is a remarkable revenge thriller by any standard and not a bad copy-cat of a real western. Watching Italian westerns made me a fan of John Philip Law and Lee Van Cleef and this is their best film. Morricone's score dives into uncharted territory and is an adventure to listen to. I recommend the film if you can find it.

I also liked how Swedish director Jan Troell explored the American western in The Immigrants (1971), The New Land (1972) and Zandy's Bride (1974), but I don't believe these are on DVD. French director Claude Lelouch made an very interesting western called Another Man Another Chance (1977) which aired recently on the Encore Westerns Channel.

American director Monte Hallman went to Spain with Italian dollars to shoot CHINA 9, LIBERRTY 37 with Fabio Testi as a bounty hunter sent by the railroad to kill rancher Warren Oates so they can lay track over his range, but instead he falls in love with Oates' wife Jenny Agutter. Sam Peckinpah has a cameo. One of the best westerns of the 1970s that's screaming for a DVD release.

I also liked how Burt Kennedy toyed with the genre in HANNIE CAULDER (1971) which is on a region 2 DVD although I don't have it. More Italian dollars on Almeira locations. Strother Martin, Jack Elam, and Ernest Borgnine play a family of bungling thieves like The Three Stooges for real. After raping Raquel Welch and killing her husband she sets out to track them down under the tutelage of bounty hunter Robert Culp. It's the best thing he's ever done. Christopher Lee is great in a cameo as a gunsmith, probably his only western.

I just remembered another Italian western I taped off TCM called Deaf Smith and Johnny Ears (1973) with Franco Nero and Anthony Quinn as buddies on a rescue mission. Quinn plays a deaf-mute. The film achieves genuine pathos, but I don't think it's on DVD, either.

The rest is crap.

 

[Justin_S]

Lucio Fulci's Four of the Apocalypse and Sergio Corbucci's The Hellbenders are two that I thoroughly enjoy. The former is on DVD from Anchor Bay, and the latter is being released by Anchor Bay later this year.

 

[Richard--W]

I wasn't nearly as impressed as you were.
I found them both to be sour, miserable, depressing, sleep-inducing films closer to the horror genre than to the western.
The only thing worse would be watching Keoma or Cutthroats 9.

 

[Holadem]

Una Pistola per Ringo and Il Ritorno di Ringo are chilhood favorites (along with Django), apparently available in R2 only though.

--
H

 

[Andy Sheets]

I think Django, Kill! is worth seeing once, if only to experience how batshit crazy it is

 

[eric tengren]

After a Spaghetti- fest this week. I checked out a lot of these flicks and I have Really enjoyed them.A great deal of them fall into sub-genres, The horror western.4 of the Apocalypse,Massacre time,Cut throats nine,Keoma {worst soundtrack ever}. The Political westerns, The Great Silence,A Bullet for the General,The Big Gundown.The surrealist El Topo. I think two of the best Directors of Italian Westerns are the other Sergios, Corbucci and Sollima.I even picked up Alex Cox's Walker which has some great stuff in it. Monte Hellman's China 9 Liberty 37 is out there on cheapo Spaghetti Western collections they go for about6 bucks on deep discount dvd.

 

[R-T-C Tim]

I've just been watching through a boxset of Django films, and can highly recommend 10.000 Dollari per un Massacro (1967) and Per 100,000 Dollari ti Ammazzo (1967). Starring Gianni Garko, these are relatively minor genre entries but amazingly well written and directed. The German boxset includes full English subtitles, even on the 50 minute interview feature with Garko himself.

The set, and 26 other SW titles on DVD are reviewed at my Spaghetti Western Guide.

 

[Lord Dalek]

The Big Gundown and Navajo Joe are amazing but sadly not on R1 dvd.

 

[Jim_K]

My Top 5

The Big Gundown
The Mercenary
The Great Silence
Death Rides A Horse
Companeros

Still a couple notables I'd like to see (Face To Face & Hellbenders)