Barbarosa

A legendary outlaw(Willie Nelson) join forces with a youngest(Gary Busey) who converts his protégé. One was a legend the other would become one, both are usually on the lam and pursued by vengeful men caused for family blood feud carried out by Don Braulio (Gilbert Roland).

This gentle western contains action-Western, adventures, pursuits and brief touch of comedy about the enjoyable relationship between master and pupil. Most of the action of this modest Western takes place on breathtaking outdoors similarly to marvelous landscapes of the majestic John Ford .Packs a light touch in the wake of ¨Paul Newman- Robert Redford's Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid¨ adding a little bit of violence.There are some good action scenes that can fit in the previous film.The straightforward screenplay and unglamorous production give a true feeling of the Old West set in Texas. The performances by outcast, free-spirited Willie Nelson and Gary Busey do bring pleasure. Nelson shows the many sides of his spirited character.Australian director Fred Schepisi has flavorfully directed a nice and interesting Western.His greatest hits took place in the 80s such as proved in ¨Iceman,Plenty,Roxanne,Cry in the dark¨¨and of course ¨Barbarosa¨.For sheer spirit-lifting entertainment you can't do better that watching this picture.

I've seen this movie several times over the years, since it first came out on VHS. All of the people in and behind this movie should do more movies like this, again...Schepisi has the confidence to let this story tell itself at its in own pace. Although the plot may seem to skip over key details, I really feel that Schepisi was only trusting in the audience's intelligence and ability to piece the puzzle together. The way he presents the different approaches of the families' blood rivalries is particularly subtle . Busey is amazingly lively. Nelson and Roland each have great screen presences, are good throughout, but particularly in their one scene together. I enjoy this movie everytime I see it.

After accidentally killing his brother-in-law in a fight a young farmer by the name of "Kurt Westover" (Gary Busey) rides away from his small German immigrant village in Texas and heads for the Mexican border in an effort to escape the vengeance of his father-in-law "Herman Pahmeyer" (George Voskovec) and his other two sons "Otto Pahmeyer" (Kai Wulff) and "Floyd Pahmeyer" (Wolf Muser). However, not being used to the life of a fugitive, Kurt soon finds himself out of his element and it's then that he meets a notorious outlaw by the name of "Barbarosa" (Willie Nelson) who reluctantly takes him under his wing and teaches him how to survive against both nature and ruthless people in general. It's also during this time that it's revealed that Barbarosa has met a similar situation with his father-in-law "Don Braulio Zavala" (Gilbert Roland) who has also sent family members after him to avenge the murder of two of his sons as well. But what neither Don Braulio nor Herman Pahmeyer realize is that-based on the mutual support of their two intended targets--gaining their revenge is going to be even more difficult from that point on. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this turned out to be a surprisingly better film than I initially realized due in large part to the acting of Willie Nelson who seemed quite suitable for his specific role. Admittedly, a couple of the scenes could have used a bit more substance here and there but all things considered I found this to be an enjoyable film for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

The title role of Barbarosa is played by Willie Nelson and he's a former Texas Ranger turned outlaw who's on the run from his various crimes and from his in-laws who don't like him very much. They resent this Anglo marrying into their family and family patriarch Gilbert Roland got his leg shot off while trying to break up that marriage. He's lost several other family members in trying to kill Nelson to avenge that.

But Nelson picks up Gary Busey a farm kid on the run from a feud himself because he accidentally killed his brother-in-law. Busey takes up with Nelson and his outlaw ways and the two become an amiable pair.

Judging by the other reviewers Barbarosa seems to have a bit of a following. I wouldn't call it great by any means, still it's certainly entertaining enough for the discriminating western fans.

Barbarosa's significance to me is that it is the farewell performance of Gilbert Roland whose career went back six decades into the silent era when he was touted as a would be Valentino successor. His career never quite fit that mold, but he was always a favorite of mine. The part as the family patriarch is not the usual carefree, but tough Gilbert that we usually see. He's an understandably bitter man in this film and it was a good performance to go out on.

Western fans won't mind this one and Nelson and Busey have a nice chemistry between them.

This films drifts along through some absolutely gorgeous western scenery. The cinematography is beautifully done, and is one of the finer points of this movie. The storyline is pretty episodic, and many plot points are glossed over without much explanation. Willie Nelson (Barbarosa) has some good scenes, along with Gilbert Roland who plays his revengeful father-in-law, but Gary Busey steals the show as Carl, the hard luck "farmboy". It's not the greatest movie ever made, but I enjoyed watching it......more like a fable than a western. 6/10