Non aspettare Django, spara

This film should really be called Wait Django…just wait because that's what he does for most of the film! Periodically some guys turn up to be shot but it's all about the waiting.

Y'see, Django (this time played by Ivan "I'm a man, not a fish" Rassimov) is out for revenge after some bandits double cross his dad, steal his dad's money, then steal the money from themselves, then get themselves killed by another guy who steals his dad's money, then hides in a hotel with Django outside while some other guys come to Django's house and are all like 'where's Django at?', who then get themselves killed so some other guys turn up asking "Where's those guys at who were asking where Django's at?" and so on and so forth until just about everyone ends up dead.

Ivan and Rada Rassimov really look alike, eh? Never noticed that before. This one at least tries to be different, but in a rather uneventful way that must have saved a fortune on locations –Seriously, there's like four different locations here – Django's house, Bad guy number one's house, the village where the guy hides out, and bad guy number two's ranch. That's it! Thrown in a comic drunk guy, a fat sidekick and a whole lot of doing nothing and there's your film.

Good 'nervously tapping a silver dollar on a table' action though

Django (played by Ivan Rassimov in this incarnation) returns home to find out that his father has been killed, by local banditos, in a business deal gone wrong . Revenge is sworn, and a mixture of lone gun men, gang members and other assorted western types get involved with the search for a pouch of money, missing from the deal.

To me this film just seems to be a poor mans Leone flick. All of the elements are there, gunslinging good guy, evil gang leader, revenge, a general lack of respect for life by everyone, a Morrcone style score and stylistic cinematography. The problem is that none of it is up to the Dollars trilogy standard. Ivan Rassimov is no Clint Eastwood (or Franco Nero for that matter, the original Django), it has neither the pace nor timing of something like The Good, The Bad and the Ugly and the music is pretty much cookie-cutter Morricone, that seems to have come out a bit misshapen.

Another problem Django Don't Wait has is that it has too many characters, all of them who have their own agenda, making it a bit difficult to follow exactly what happens. The lack of action and over abundance of talking, and just general filler, is probably one of the reasons I did not want to put the effort into following the plot line.

DON'T WAIT, DJANGO...SHOOT! is a lame attempt to jump onto the Django bandwagon, and it's obvious from the outset that the main character's name has merely been changed to Django in post production in order to cash in on the success of the Franco Nero movie. It's nothing like a Django film at all, the titular character doesn't even wear the trademark clothing, and is instead a standard vengeance-seeking gunslinger.

The film opens as an elderly man is gunned down by a gang of Mexican cut-throats, leaving his grown up son and daughter seeking revenge for the crime. This revenge takes an inordinately long time to play out, with the running time interspersed with routine intrigue and some very unexciting shoot-outs.

One of the most interesting things about the production, for me, is the presence of Ivan Rassimov in the leading role. Rassimov is well known for his appearances in '70s movies like DEEP RIVER SAVAGES and it's fun to watching him play against his real-life sister, Rada, but he doesn't make much of an impression in this one. Pedro Sanchez has a supporting role and plays the usual larger-than-life character. The truth is that nobody's on fire here, particularly director Edoardo Mulargia who churned out at least a dozen of these cut-price spaghetti westerns.

Django (Ivan Rassimov) returns to the family home to find his father has been robbed and murdered by bandits. Ignoring the advice and pleas of his sister Mary (played by Rassimov's real life sister Rada), Django sets off to town for revenge. But this is merely the beginning of things...

There's enough enjoyment here for the very hardcore Spaghetti Western fan, but expectations levels really should be set at low. There's plenty of the standard Spag shootings, stand-offs and posturings, moody atmosphere and the music is pretty ace (Felice Di Stefano), but the structure of the pic is off.

Directed by Edoardo Mulargia and written by Vincenzo Musolino, the creators take a gamble by having the revenge aspect played out very early in the piece, the plot then thrusts a multitude of characters involved - in one way or another - in the search for the missing money taken when Django's pa was killed. The whole piece feels like a string of sequences stacked up against each other without a flowing sense of rhyme or reason. It doesn't help that this incarnation of Django is bland and it is in fact his side-kick Barrica (played by Ignazio Spalla) that engages more on the fun and entertainment front. The low budget shows on occasions (watch out for that deja vu feeling), whilst logic jumps and daftness are never far away.

Needlessly complex in telling and structure, pic is marginally saved by the action and some colourful characters, but really it is for those die-hard Spag fans only. 5/10

"Don't Wait, Django...Shoot!" is a great looking movie. It has has some great colors. It almost looks like a Hammer movie. Unfortunately, the look of the movie is undermined by a weak script. There was a bunch of time where I wasn't even sure what was going on. "Don't Wait, Django...Shoot!" does scratch the spaghetti western itch but it's not very good.