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The basic story was very interesting, and parts of it were well executed. Especially the GREAT ending, which gives Van Cleef a chance to do some excellent acting without having to say a word.

The problem with the movie is that (uncut) it's too long, and way too drawn out. It could have been edited down by twenty minutes or so. Also, the movie does not explore Van Cleef's character's transformation enough, with is a serious mistake.

The more you like spaghetti westerns, the more chance there is you'll like it. You also get to see Bud Spencer without his beard!

(1968) Beyond The Law/ Al di là della legge DUBBED SPAGHETTI WESTERN

I was somewhat involved with the movie for for the most part until the ending which really sucked. Lee Van Cleef as Billy Joe Cudlip he is one of a trio of thieving bandits who succeeded into stealing a small bag of money from a locked stagecoach compartment. The group also includes a pretentious preacher (George Sanders) and an African man (Al Hoosmann). Unsatisfied, the trio want to score a much bigger jackpot except that Billy is starting to build a rapport with a European dude named Ben who's general responsibility was to make sure money would be traveled safely to it's rightful owners. And things really become complicated as soon as Billy accepts a role as deputy of the small town with the only obstacle are another outlaw bandit named Burton (Gordon Mitchell) commanding a gang of outlaws who're also basically seeking for the same thing as the thieving trio which is undeserving amounts of riches. After seeing many Spaghetti westerns, there seems to be a trend where the general story lines demands spontaneous 'unpredictability' even if it doesn't make any lick of sense, and this is another example of another one of those movies where it doesn't feel the need to make any sense when it ends badly.

this spaghetti western is not too bad.i though the story was interesting,and there are some good performances.Lee Van Cleef is the main star,and is quite good here.but he is overshadowed by a few others.Antonio Sabato(father of pseudo-actor Atonio Sabato Jr.)for one puts in a terrific performance,as does Lionel Stander(80'S TV show Hart to Hart.i also liked Bud Spencer(who acted in numerous spaghetti Westerns)though i wish his role had been bigger.but the real standout,in my mind,is Gordon Mitchell,for his "ice water in his veins' portrayal of Burton.the big negative for me though is the length of the film.i feel it is at least 30 minutes too long,and it moves fairly slow at times.but the performances overcome that weakness.for me,Beyond The Law (1968)is a 6/10

I'm a huge Lee Van Cleef fan and he is awesome as always in this one. This film has a decent story line which is very easy to follow (unlike plenty of other Westerns). There's a few good plot twists along the way and also has a little comedy in some parts, which I found myself chuckling at so hats off the people who made this film. It doesn't have the real seriousness that the Man With No Name trilogy and many other Westerns have, but some times you just want to watch a Western that's a little bit more laid back. A real fun watch with plenty of action and I found the ending to be really nice. The copy I watched didn't have the greatest picture quality but the film is old now so I can deal with that. I'd be interested in trying to find a better copy some where to give this another watch and enjoy even more.

Contrary to popular belief, the American west wasn't some lawless prairie/desert where only the strong like John Wayne's Rooster Cogburn and Clint Eastwood's man with no name could survive. While the likes of Jesse James and Butch Cassidy made the headlines, the average day in the life of an American westerner was pretty dull. The majority of people who lived west of the Mississippi lived in urban areas, not out in the boonies. Gun violence was actually less common in the western territories than back east and the majority of those who went out west were first generation immigrants, not idealistic white folk provoked by called for manifest destiny. Beyond the Law (1967) is a movie that may not dispel the myths of the wild, wild west, but like many Spaghetti Westerns it does put a new spin on things.

Lee Van Cleef stars as Billy Joe Cudlip, a craven thief who steals the payroll of a mining community from a naïve Czechoslovakian payroll clerk named Ben (Antonio Sabato). He is of course helped by his gang of thieves and conmen, Preacher (Lionel Stander), who dresses like his name to get rubes to trust him and James (Bud Spencer) a black man with a friendly face. Things go according to plan until Billy befriends Ben and is shoved into helping the locals recover the money. Preacher and James see this as an opportunity to steal more loot but things get further complicated when a rival gang of thieves led by Burton (Gordon Mitchell) comes into town.

Now Beyond the Law is far from a perfect movie. The acting ranges of the supporting characters range from okay to terrible and the cinematography is simplistic. Directed by Italian director Giorgio Stegani, Beyond the Law or The Good Die First brings to mind less severe Spaghetti Westerns. Rather than go the path of A Fistful of Dollars (1964), Stegani and his international crew made a movie closer to My Name is Nobody (1973) and My Name is Trinity (1970). It has the tendency to be funny and even unintentionally goofy at some points with Lee Van Cleef showing he can make the best out of a paycheck that bills him with non-English speakers.

If you're a western buff who's easy to please then Beyond the Law may be a perfect little surprise for you. It's a movie that is comfortable in its own banality. The story itself is strong, partially written by prolific Italians writers Mino Roli and Fernando Di Leo and the feel of the film is small but unique. The film was made only a year after Van Cleef's appearance in The Good the Bad and the Ugly (1966) and helped make Bud Spencer a star in his own right. It should at the very least be considered a decent B-movie.

If you're interested, try finding the 105 minute version through Diamond Entertainment and look to avoid imitators with bad digital transfers. There is a colorless butchered version that you can likely find at a bargain bin somewhere and there's a decent letterbox version you can find online. Go check it out before the ghost of Red Ryder comes back to re-mystify the west.

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