As the railroad builders advance unstoppably through the Arizona desert on their way to the sea, Jill arrives in the small town of Flagstone with the intention of starting a new life.
"There were three men in her life. One to take her… one to love her —and one to kill her."
All what you can expect from a western....
With apologies (not really) to fans who disagree, this is truly a classic western. I read a criticism that some scenes run long with agonizingly lengthy close-ups, but I found the cinematography intriguing. Those shots divulge nearly as much into the characters' personalities as a wad of dialogue from older traditional westerns.
Sometimes in a spaghetti western I find myself thinking, aw, why did that innocent person have to die, but innocents did die in the old west, I imagine. I am sure there was a lot of senseless violence then, just as there is now. And Bronson seemed like an odd choic...
I can't say that this script doesn't play on Clint Eastwood's "Man with No Name" (which Sergio Leone also directed), but it's not important. If you're a spaghetti western fan, this film is a step up. The idea of putting Fonda in a bad guy role, and casting Bronson as anti-hero was a little shocking at first. At the end, I see how it worked to film's advantage by making all the characters more complex, ambiguous and real. If you were a Clint Eastwood, you'll love this film....
The worst of the worst Leone Westerns.
Leone destroyed the Westerns with his garbage, but the blame goes on to the critics who praised his lack of motivation, lack of inspiration, lack of credibility, lack of entertainment value, lack of strategy, just a total lack.
This is the worst of his stupid Westerns. It's the most contrived of his contrived Westerns.
It's another "classical Greek hero" story of gods, demigods, and cannon fodder. The more of a homicidal maniac you are, the more of a god you are. Great message.
Here, we have a traditional Greek demigod hero who is out for revenge, the...
**One of the great western movies.**
Western movies made in co-production by Italians and Americans (called "spaghetti-western") have been considered among the best that emerged within their genre, cleverly combining the tough action of Wild West gunslingers with the taste for raw realism and detail of the Italian filmmakers. I believe that such a thing may displease North Americans, who consider the cowboy a figure that is "true USA". I therefore invite them to visit the Brazilian city of Barretos, or the rural areas of Goiás, Mato Grosso or Tocantins in Brazil. There are plenty of cowboy...