Les Dalton

Paté/Schnitzel/Paella Western parody co-produced by France-Germany-Spain , it is packed with ridiculous situations , noisy action , exaggerated roles and lots of silly humor . Based on characters from comic books by Morris and writing credits by Ramzy Bedia , Michel Hazanavicius , Eric Judor , being badly directed by Philippe Haïm (Barracuda, Secret Defense). This amusing as well as absurd picture contains an entertaining plot , action Western , shootouts and bits of campy and embarrassing humor . It deals with four Dalton brothers (Eric Judor as Joe , Ramzy Bedia as Averell , Saïd Serrari as Jack , Romain Berger as William) and all of them take on Lucky Luke (Til Schweiger). They are the worst outlaws in Wild West history, whose criminal flops are such that their own mother is turning against them. This is a surprisingly low-key Spaghetti Western in which four diverse characters joining forces to find a magic hat and rob a bank . But it's only once Ma Dalton (Marthe Villalonga) kicks her boys out of the home that they decide to make her proud by robbing a City Bank, where security is so tight that even the bank tellers are combat-trained. Having failed the robbery, the brothers are thrown in prison , where their dim-witted Mexican cell mate exposes information about a magic hat that renders its wearer invincible. They immediately resolve to get the sombrero , so the boys escape of prison and head straight for Mexico and attempt to rob a fortune from a Bank . The Dalton Brothers breaking all the rules and kicking virtually every cliché in the pants , as they relentlessly deceive, plunder and rob. They go to Mexico leaving a trail of chaos in their wake where face off a villain named El Tarlo (Javivi) who besieges a village similarly to ¨The magnificent seven¨ .

Western satire with a bemusing premise , there is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing shootouts, fights or stunts every few minutes . It's an improbable blending of standard Western, tongue-in-cheek , silly humor , Comic-book and realized in Spaghetti/Fagioli/Trinity(Terence Hill-Bud Spencer) style . But the main problem is that if you are foreigner you will have to know well the French society to understand the double-senses and jokes said by the four main actors playing Dalton Brothers . Amiable but sometimes lumbering Western satire goes on and on about the same premise , as a lot of minutes are superfluous ,it has half hour of excess , as it packs overblown jokes and antics and some moments turns out to be dull and tiring . The film mingles slapdash, silly scenes ,pursuits, and it's fast moving and embarrassing . The musician Alexandre Azaria , composes a jolly soundtrack with catching leitmotif and well conducted . Composer Alexandre Azaria was inspired by Alan Silvestri's scores for Back to the future III (1990) and Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) to such an extend that in several scenes the music sounds almost exactly the same . Colorful cinematography by cameraman David Carretero filmed on location in Cologne, North Rhine - Westphalia, Germany and Tabernas, Almería, Andalucía, Spain . The picture is dedicated to Morris and Rene Goscinny . This is the worst version based on famous Lucky Luke comic books . Other adaptations are the following : Lucky Luke (2009) Played by Jean Dujardin / Mathias Sandor (as Young Luke) and television series starred by Terence Hill . And cartoon version as "Go West: A Lucky Luke Adventure" 2007 , "The New Adventures of Lucky Luke¨ ,¨La ballade Des Dalton (1978) , ¨Lucky Luke the intrepid¨ (1971).

Well i've been terribly disappointed with this movie. Theorically the movie is an adaptation of the known Morris' comic, but it is very different, neither of the characters is like the comic (except Rataplan, the dog), the story is totally annoying and the actors are pathetic, in addition, the directing is not better. In addition, in Spain the movie was translated by two known humorist (el Neng and Corbacho), that could not be bad, but they don't ever try to adapt themselves to the characters, they just make their usual part (like theirs on TV) but with the faces of Joe and Averell Dalton.

Surprisingly has two good things: it is very short (82 minutes) and the task of adapting the environment is quite decent (not very much, but it is the better of the film, by far), I am talking about the atrezzo, which is the best adapted of all the movie (which is not very difficult, if we think about the horrible work of characters and history). To sum up: If you could,you should avoid seeing this film.

As opposed to the TV series where Terence Hill did a rather weak and watered out portrayal of Lucky Luke this movie does an extraordinarily tremendous job! Everything you saw in the comics you will experience here; from the personalities of the characters to the colorful sceneries of this stylized Wild West, plus you get a little modern update which only makes it more enjoyable. Even though I haven't seen anything else with Eric & Ramzy I must say they are flawless in playing Joe and Averell Dalton. Joe is the stubborn, bossy hothead he's always been and Averell is an utter moron who constantly aggravates his brother, mostly resulting in a merciless battering. Til Schweiger does pretty good as Lucky Luke, keeping his head cool and always being one step ahead. Too bad he doesn't have that much screen time, but perhaps that is something to expect in a sequel.

On the whole, this is a nice movie and those who watch it ought to have an open mind and not mind American cowboys speaking French or people dressing mainly in primary colors like in an old western movie.

That should describe it quite well: a French comedy. And even they have a hard time laughing. No problem, the government will churn more.

A lot of people seem to like to trash this film, granted it ain't "Gone With the Wind", but it's not "The Terror of Tiny Town" either.

Judor and Bedia as Joe and Averell are okay - obviously they have their act down very well - so well in fact, that it can be very tedious at times, very.......Their constant mugging, while entertaining generally, gets in the way of the rest of the film's pacing at times.

I grew up from the late 60's on with Lucky Luke comics, so I'm more than familiar with they humor involved.

The film is reminiscent of "The Three Stooges" in it's scope, pity they weren't around to do it! Can you imagine Moe as Joe, Curly as Averell and Larry and Shemp as the other brothers. WOW!

When I show the DVD to friends I mention that if they like the Stooges, they'll like this film.

Complaints about the lack of Lucky Luke's air time is valid, but, of course, this is a film about the Daltons and Luke is just along to keep it interesting.

The fiesta at El Tarlo's is wonderfully done and reminiscent of "Three Amigos" but a lot more surreal in nature..

I recommend it as a nice diversion.