The Legend of God's Gun

This spaghetti western homage and slightly immature wannabe cult film looks interesting enough, with it's grainy, purposely scratched film-print look. The filmmakers get high marks for definitely knowing how to use a camera and edit a film successfully. The scenery is great. That's all fine.

The problem is that they left out a few essentials like interesting characters and a coherent plot. You just can't replace them with references to other movies and pretentious 1960's style film school tricks a'la Natural Born Killers!

Visuals are indeed strong and the music really good too, including a music video right in the middle! That's pretty much all there is to recommend about The Legend Of God's Gun.

Message to the filmmakers : Take a screen writing class, or may the good Lord smite thy motion picture cameras!

THE LEGEND OF GOD'S GUN...well, what can I say? I was suckered in by the glowing ratings on the DVD case, which compared this to Tarantino at his best. Well, the only Tarantino link here is that this is one of those tedious films which copies the look of his GRINDHOUSE double feature with Robert Rodriguez, with low-fi visuals and fake print damage. The story, about a vengeful gunslinger, is pure nonsense and the acting an embarrassment from a group of over-enthusiastic amateurs. However, it's the visuals which really take the biscuit. I can't imagine a cheaper looking or more inane kind of film. Style over substance works occasionally, but not when the style is pitiful - as it is here.

and was blown away. The first 15 minutes are slow and the acting a little bad, but after that -- Wow. I don't think I've ever seen a Western done for this little money -- I'm guessing someone in Hollywood is going to see the director and immediately put him to work on Crank 3 or something. The look of the film is daring, audacious, and totally makes the movie. The acting -- well let's say it's an homage to the Spaghetti Westerns of the 60's! Which is good.

There is one other low budget flick I can compare this too -- PARIAH. This film is just as ballsy, and I am impressed by both. Also PI! I don't want to give away the plot too much as it's not out yet -- my friend is a critic -- can't say for whom and he was reviewing it when we watched....

I've heard rumors it will be in theaters -- if it is -- you've got to check it out -- I guarantee you won't be disappointed. Otherwise buy it on DVD - this film reminds me of two of my favorites -- BOONDOCK SAINTS and SIX STRING SAMURAI -- for those of you who don't know Six String -- rent it now! Okay I'm not going to gush anymore, but I enjoyed it a lot.

My two cents.

I watched this movie based on the reviews above. I'm sorry, but its dreadful. Awful acting and poor cinematography are the hallmarks of this movie. It smacks of self indulgence, not really helped by the Dandy Warhols front-man's introduction.

Given the plot, I had hopes that it might be along the lines of a Tarantino or Rodriguez grind-house flick, or at least a Troma level movie. It really wasn't. It looks more like a film students first attempt. There are some potentially interesting attempts in the visual language, but nothing we haven't seen before in far superior movies. Some of the composition is decent, but follows conventions set down by Sergio Leone decades before.

This movie lacks any visceral moments, which weaken the thrust of the storyline.

My advice? avoid at all costs.

What do you get when you gather together a group of rock musicians - several from the band Spindrift - have them write, direct and star in a spoof of spaghetti westerns, then scratch the film stock and soundtrack so the whole thing looks and sounds like a newly re-discovered B-movie that's been moldering away in some studio vault somewhere? You wind up with "The Legend of God's Gun," a movie so unbelievably amateurish and inept that it makes your own home movies look like models of cinematic artistry in comparison.

And the fact that it's "supposed" to be bad doesn't make the movie one iota less torturous to sit through. What it does, in fact, do is make one pine for the days when the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" guys would have a rollicking good time mercilessly skewering such an obvious "Grindhouse" wannabe - one that plumbs hitherto unattained depths of awfulness in its race to the bottom.