Bandidos

Although very obscure and unsung, this is truly one of the best spaghetti westerns I ever saw! Massimo Dallamano's "Bandidos" has a good and compelling plot, albeit working from familiar western themes like blood vengeance and dueling gunmen, and most of all, it's unrelenting, mean-spirited, vile and extremely violent! First, a word of advice that I sadly must mention in too many of my user-comments: do not read the plot synopsis that is described here on the website! You are not supposed to know from beforehand who the protagonists of the story are and what connects them! The synopsis bluntly gives away why the three lead characters (Richard Martin, Billy Kane and Ricky Shot) hate each other's guts, but only in the final act of the film the pieces of the puzzle fit neatly together.

Everything obviously revolves around the extremely bloody train raid at the beginning. This is undoubtedly one of the cruelest massacres in western history! Relentless gangster Billy Kane and his fierce gang rob a driving train, steal all the passengers' belongings and then nihilistically execute everyone on board. Well, everyone except one, the meticulously sharp-shooting Richard Martin, whom Billy Kane clearly knows from a previous life. Kane shoots holes in both of Martin's hands, though, so that he can never operate a pistol again. Years later, Martin desperately tries to make a living out of training young gunslingers into masterful shootists and perform live-acts at town squares. His pupils keep getting killed by jesters, however, but then he meets a handsome and mysterious young stranger. Martin's intention is clearly to train his new pupil to be capable of murdering Billy Kane for him, but the clever Ricky Shot has his own secretive reasons for wanting to confront Kane.

"Bandidos" certainly hasn't stolen its title! It's full of loathsome, egocentric, double-crossing and furious men whose lives aren't worth more than the price of the bullets that kill them. The three relatively unknown lead actors give away terrific performances and Dallamano's direction is downright stupendous. I don't know what it was about this man, but practically every genre that he touched turned into gold! His "What have you done to Solange?" is my all-time favorite giallo (and I've seen more than 120 of those) and his "Colt .38 Special Squad" is one of the better Poliziotesschi thrillers out there. With "Bandidos", he also nailed the Spaghetti Western genre! As I watched the film in its original version, my sole complaint is that the characters' names sound ridiculous when pronounced in Italian.

"Bandidos" is a great, action-packed revenge story that is set up by a very dramatic opening scene that has a rogue gunfighter meet up with the man who taught him to shoot. The gunfighter shoots his former friend in both hands, and then tells him to try to get revenge if he's able to hold a gun. The stage is set, and the film doesn't let up until the very end.

All the elements of a great spaghetti western are here. There is a cool music score, an engaging story, suspenseful gunfights, cheesy acting, a couple of great one-liners, and it is all done way over-the-top, like a good western should be. This movie is loaded with style, and style is the reason why the Italian westerns are so much more fun to watch than the ones made in the U.S.

There is a lot of great camera work in this movie. The interesting use of camera angles here gives the film a distinct character in much the same way that the use of close-ups marks the Leone westerns.

My favorite scenes in the movie are the ones that take place in saloons. There is one especially amusing one in which a man who has just lost a gunfight is sitting at a table drinking and harassing customers and saloon girls while he waits to die from his bullet wound. This old woman tells him to "hurry up and die," and he decides he wants to shoot one of the saloon girls so that he can take her to hell with him.

"Bandidos" is a must-see for anyone who likes their westerns Italian style.

This film starts with a classic sequence in which a train is held up by Billy Kane (Venantini) and his bandits. All the passengers are brutally massacred because, as Kane rightly states, if you don't want your face on any reward posters, you don't leave any witnesses. There is one survivor however - Richard Martin (Salerno) - a renowned fast gunslinger who attempts to take on the gang singlehandedly. There is previous history between the gunmen, and to remove the threat Kane shoots and cripples both of Martin's hands, ending his gunslinging days for good.

Years pass, and Martin is now travelling from town to town, hosting a gunslinger show. Fate brings him face to face with escaped convict Ricky Shot (Jenkins) who he takes under his wing, passing on his prowess with a gun, with the aim of using the young hotshot to gain his revenge on Kane. As it happens, Ricky Shot has his own motive for facing Kane, as we find out as the story unfolds.

Bandidos is a classic spaghetti western in the revenge sphere. Whilst the cast features none of the usual spaghetti stalwarts that we know and love, it is well casted, particularly Salerno in the part of Martin. It is also superbly directed by Dallamano, a man better known for his thrillers.

The film contains some superbly tense gunfights, matched with a decent soundtrack. The story is at all times riveting, making Bandidos a highly recommended film for all lovers of Italian westerns, and maybe a few more besides.

I saw this film after reading the good review by Coventry n I am happy to c this film.

I admire Coventry's knowledge of films especially the obscure ones.

Avoid reading the plot summary as it is rightly advised by Coventry too.

The plot synopsis on IMDb n Wiki gives away major stuff about the film. It gives away major spoilers. I heeded Coventry's advice n I enjoyed this film tremendously.

This film marked the directorial debut of cinematographer Massimo Dallamano (he did the cinematography for For a Few Dollars..... n Fistful of ....) No wonder the cinematography is top notch in this film. The scene at around 44th min, the place where the horse carriage is shown below the tree next to the river looked straight outta poetry and very picturesque.

The film is about three characters: Billy Kane, a dreaded robber who is very sharp at shooting, in fact the first shoot out where he shoots a train traveller, Richard Martin, confirms that Kane is truly a mean n dreaded killer.

After the shootout, Martin, now a handicap n without his thin moustache, recruits a wanted convict, Ricky Shot.

Together they organise shooting amusement shows for public earning money but both have agendas of their own.

The film has ample amount of tension, suspense n action.

The direction n acting is first class.

Highly recommend to fans of the Spaghetti Westerns.

This is really worth watching: Excellent cast (pity Salerno and Venantini didn't do more Western), good story, turns and twists, fine camera work (no wonder: Dallamano has control). Brilliant opening scene. Highly recommended.