Glory Glory

As other reviewers noted, the story wasn't bad, but the costuming was the absolute worst I think I've ever seen. Leather cowboy hats?? SERIOUSLY!? The clothing looks like they scoured every Goodwill shop in California to find anything that was remotely a western-like flair quite despite any accuracy or logic. And why did every male character have to have the worst fright wig long hair. Long hair for men was not popular during the era portrayed. The civil war scenes were something awful, too. One has to watch this movie and suspend any thought that it is in the least bit a real western and is just a fantasy movie. A lot of the actors are recognizable, from other shows over the years, so at least they hired real actors for the piece. That really helped.

Aging Western fans fondly remember the fantasy Wild West of their youth. The cowgirls of early TV and popcorn movie matinée's were perky and assertive. Dressed like Barbie dolls at the rodeo, those B Western cowgirls could be mighty appealing, but they were rarely given much to do. Most of the riding, roping, fighting and shooting was left up to the boys.

Hooded Angels(aka Glory Glory) finally shows cowgirls some respect. The women here actually populate the landscape outside of a saloon. Furthermore, these gals can ride, shoot and aren't afraid of a high noon showdown.

I would have enjoyed this would-be-Western a lot more though, if it didn't seem so surreal. This tale supposedly takes place in the American Old West, but there isn't an authentic ten gallon hat anywhere in sight. This doesn't look like the fun, stylized Old West of early Hollywood, or even the gritty, less romanticized frontier of more contemporary Westerns. Most of the characters have assorted global English accents that don't exactly sound "home on the range". Gary Busey, in a small role, is one of few that sounds reasonably authentic here. These gorgeous gals wear wardrobes that defy description, like the post-apocalypse types in a Mad Max movie. For a fantasy Western without any high-falutin' pretenses, flattering jeans and Western styled shirts would have been a lot easier on the eye and far more appropriate for an escapist Western.

The cinematography is OK, and Hooded Angels features some decently staged action sequences.

I hope some intrepid film makers attempt this kind of material again, but next time with more affection and understanding of the mythical American Old West.

A good many of the cast are from south africa and newcomers to the big screen, and a few veteran actors like johnson and busey from the usa help keep this from being a washout ... i'd suppose the reason for so much leather in the western wear is because that's what they wear in south africa ... one of the cast members is a former miss south africa, chantell stander and she shows why in this film ... it looks much like a female revenge plot rather than a plain oater ... it was watchable

"Hooded Angels" aka "Glory Glory" is a movie that should come with a warning label, something like: "caution- watching this movie is a waste of time-the ending does not deliver anything useful". When you begin watching a movie that physically looks professional (decent cinematography-good film stock) you tend to assume that its other elements (story, acting, production design) will also be professional. Inside this professionally shot package is a story about a group of aging beauty queens and models robbing banks in the American West, wearing a selection of clothes from the Neiman-Marcus Leather Shop, showcasing acting talent on the level of your local high school's senior play, and engaging in a whole lot of poorly staged violence. So it would seem reasonable to assume that there is more here than meets the eye since nothing could be unintentionally this bad.

Midway into the movie you conclude that this is some kind of ambitious "expressionistic" masterpiece (insert David Lynch here). So you watch the rest of it, waiting for director Paul Matthews to pull all these surreal qualities into a nice package of allegory and metaphor. But this does not happen because this is actually supposed to be serious (insert "realism" here), it is actually supposed to be taken literally. Its record-breaking score on the lameness meter is unintentional.

"Hooded Angels" is what would happen if someone were unwise enough to cross "Taxi" (2004) with "The Quick and the Dead" (1995) and mix in a little Sergio Leone texture. Unfortunately nothing good results, only bad and ugly.

The earlier comments give a reasonably accurate detailing of the story. This may not be the worst movie of all time but it is a strong contender.

Pathetic ending completely ruined the story. No idea what the script writer and director were thinking. The premise was good and it was going well so far. Then they decided to take this movie into a completely wrong direction.

Pathetic ending completely ruined the story. No idea what the script writer and director were thinking. The premise was good and it was going well so far. Then they decided to take this movie into a completely wrong direction.

Pathetic ending completely ruined the story. No idea what the script writer and director were thinking. The premise was good and it was going well so far. Then they decided to take this movie into a completely wrong direction.