Texas, addio

(aka: THE AVENGER)

Sheriff Burt Sullivan (Franco Nero) leaves his job temporarily to go down to Mexico with his kid brother Jim (Alberto Dell'Acqua) and hunt down Cisco Delgado, the man who killed their father. Only there's an added surprise complication since the Delgado is related to Sullivan in a way which I won't reveal.

I had no problem with the dubbing since it's no worse that what you find with many films in this genre, but there's some pretty sloppy editing here. For example, early in the movie Sullivan (Nero) is ambushed by a man with a rifle up in some rocks. He has a shootout with the man and eventually kills him, but he doesn't go over to investigate and find out who the man was or find some clues as to why he was after him. Instead he turns the other way and finds his brother Jim waiting down at the bottom of the hill, playing a banjo. Bizarre to say the least.

The opening title track sung by Don Powell isn't any great shakes, either. Some of the later music cues in the film sound like surf instrumentals with a slightly Spanish tinge to them. Like out of KILL BILL or something. They sound pretty cool in light of the dreary opening track.

I must say that I did like the Almeria locations that vary between desert and rocky high ground as well as beautiful canyons and a river that could pass for the Rio Grande, but that's not enough to take it over the edge, imo.

The beautiful widescreen anamorphic Anchor Bay DVD comes with a 10 minute featurette where Franco Nero discusses the making of the film and how he used stuntmen in the fight scenes to make it look more believable, and he's right. Some of the fist fights do look good.

As it is, it doesn't hold a candle to DJANGO or Nero's previous western before this, TEMPO DE MASSACRO (MASSACRE TIME) which is one of my favorites. I wish Anchor Bay would release that one since it not only stars Franco Nero, but was directed by master horror director, Lucio Fulci.

In the meantime, I consider Texas, ADDIO below average.

4 out of 10

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This isn't a bad Italian western at all--though compared to the rest of the films in this genre, this one is even lighter in plot and mostly consists of a lot of shooting and killing. Now, it's reasonably well-done shooting and killing, but if you're looking for depth, this movie isn't for you.

Franco Nero plays a sheriff in a Texas town. After YEARS of waiting, he and his brother inexplicably decide NOW is the time to track down their father's killer in Mexico. However, when they arrive and even mention the guy's name, Delgado, folks get a bit ornery and the killing begins. In fact, once they are in Mexico, practically not a single minute goes by when someone isn't shot!! And, eventually, a dark secret is learned--but I'll leave that for you to discover. And, also to discover is the wonderfully bloody and bullet-riddled finale.

This film is pretty good but it all boils down to lots of death and not much more. Nero is handsome and very good in the lead but an otherwise ordinary sort of western.

While Texas, Addio may not be among the high water mark of European Western filmmaking, I find it baffling that one would completely dismiss a film because of the quality of its post-production dubbing in a language different from that of its country of origin. Filmmakers are rarely responsible for how their film is presented in foreign language markets, so to place the blame on Mr. Baldi and the producers for the relative poorness (which I must also disagree with--there have been much, much worse dubbing jobs) of the dub is the same sort of ill-informed ignorance that says that the Godzilla films produced by Toho Studios in Japan are "badly acted" because the American dubbing is sub-par.

Aside from the dubbing, there's really no other reason to state that the studio and/or producers were incapable of making a Western. While Texas, Addio may not on par with Red River or The Searchers, the film delivers what most Western audiences ask for--a solid hero, a hissable villain, a believable conflict, plenty of gunplay, and a scenic atmosphere (and again, I'm baffled by statements that label the Spanish location as unattractive or, at the very least, not reminiscent of the American West).

If you're interested in Italian Westerns, I urge you to see beyond the dubbing and invest the time in this film.

Like almost every Western starring Franco Nero after Sergio Corbucci's 1966 masterpiece "Django", "Texas, Addio" was marketed as a Django-sequel in Germany and Austria. Although it has neither anything to do with Django, nor is it anywhere near "Django" in it's value as one of the genre's highlights, Texas Addio is still a good Spaghetti Western. Besides the great Franco Nero it features typical Spaghetti Western supporting actors like Luigi Pistilli, Livio Lorenzon and Gino Pernice. When It comes to Ferdinando Baldi's Westerns, however, I would personally recommend "Blindman" way over "Texas Addio".

Along with his younger brother Jim, Burt Sullivan, a former Sheriff in Texas, leaves to Mexico to search and capture his father's murderer, Cisco Delgado, and bring him to justice...alive. Cisco, however, has in the meantime become a powerful landowner and crime boss.

Franco Nero has once said that out of all the Westerns he played in, "Texas Addio" is the only one that could also be an American Western. This is kinda true, on the one hand, since Nero's character Burt Sullivan is not the typical anti-hero, but a man who is looking to bring his father's murderer to justice alive, rather than just taking revenge. On the other hand some characters, like the grouchy and cynical Alcalde Miguel, played by Livio Lorenzo, are very typical Spaghetti-characters. Franco Nero's performance is great as always, many of the supporting actors are very good too. All things considered, "Texas Addio" is a fairly good Spaghetti Western, not one of the genre's highlights, but definitely worth watching.

Sheriff Burt Sullivan and his younger brother Jim want to take revenge for their murdered father and say "Good bye, Texas!" to head for Cisco Delgado, the hiss-and-hate bad guy, who resides in Mexico. Unlike in many other Spaghetti Westerns the hero is never really slick and instead decides for an against-all-odds approach. The darkness of other serious spaghetti westerns is missing.

The sung score is memorable, the cinematography of Enzo Barboni is mediocre, Franco Nero is good as usual while the other actors do their job with little ambition. Overall this Western has average quality.

5 / 10.