Sabata, o Homem que Veio para Matar

Lee Van Cleef stars in the first of the Sabata films. Here he plays cat and mouse games with the leaders of a town who have attempted to steal an army payroll. Sabata stops their scheme and then attempts to blackmail them for his silence, a price that climbs with each failed attempt on his life.

This is a fun western full of great action, twists and wisecracks. Van Cleef is the perfect western hero, a man of few words (and most of them smart ass remarks) he is clearly up to something, although what it is is never fully apparent. He is enjoyably helped by Carrincha a large civil war hero who is forever broke, and his pal a tall silent acrobat. The pair make for one of the best sidekick teams I've ever run across. Also wandering through the film is William Berger as Banjo, a man of decidedly mercenary loyalties, who is Sabata's equal in cracking wise, and who is forever waiting for the right angle to act act upon.

I really liked this movie a great deal, even if it really isn't clear whats going on at times. The main flaw of the movie is that after the first twenty minutes the film simply becomes attempts to blackmail the town fathers by our hero and their attempts to kill him. There's nothing wrong with this since the see saw battle is excellently done, rather it just engenders a sense that you're missing something since you would think something more should be happening.

Definitely one of the better westerns of I've seen. This should be something that those with a desire for good action should seek out.

Several spaghetti westerns inspired a number of sequels focussing on a particular kind of shady hero. Beside the widely known "man with no name" there are (amongst others) Django, Sartana, Ringo, Spirito Sancto and this one, Sabata.

Sabata is partly inspired by 'For a few dollars more', since Lee van Cleef plays the bounty hunter Sabata as a character with similar features to his Colonel Mortimer. Especially noticeable is his collection of shooting gadgets. Western fans are used to the never-reload always-hit one-mile -range magic revolvers of classic westerns. In this film, Sabata wins a shoot-out by simply staying out of the range of his opponents revolver and shooting him with one of his long-range weapons.

Despite being a bounty hunter, Sabata has his peculiar code of honor, as opposed to the villain of the piece, the sleazy rich land owner Stengel, played superbly by Franco Ressel. As you might expect there is little doubt how it will all end but director Parolini keeps us guessing about Sabata's next moves.

A superior spaghetti western.

This is one of the most wonderfully cartoonish and over-the-top spaghetti westerns ever.

The great Lee Van Cleef plays Sabata, the bounty hunter who has more tricks than Bugs Bunny. Van Cleef was born to be in spaghetti westerns. Nobody plays these roles better. He is to spaghetti westerns what Bela Lugosi is to Dracula. He is as great as ever in this movie. William Berger is superb also in the role of Banjo, the cool, laid-back, and deadly musician. He and Sabata have a similar on-again-off-again "partnership" to the one that Blondie and Tuco share in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." Franco Ressel is perfect as the weird over-the-top villain, "Stengel."

The music score is excellent, especially the title tune, which is one of my favorite spaghetti western theme songs. I also really like the use of the organ in the score. It's a nice touch.

All spaghetti western fans should have this movie. It's a classic of the genre.

Absolutely ridiculous, totally entertaining ultra-spaghetti western featuring one of entertainments greatest, and ugliest, bad guys - Lee Van Cleef. Here he plays one of his rare good guy roles as Sabata, the cool gunhand who toys with a huge gang, none of whom could put a slug in him. He, on the other hand easily shot and killed them by the bushel basket, using guns, dynamite, and the blade. If you like offbeat westerns with clouds of gunsmoke, and a ton of lead then this is the one for you.

Good, exciting western action film. Some originality that's surprising -- i.e. very good acrobats. "Banjo" is obviously Johnny Guitar, but it's still refreshing to see in an Italian western. Van Cleef is brutal and excellent as Sabata, a bounty hunter on the make, and the story is pleasingly ironic, humorous, and without sentimentality or moralizing. Pleasing fun for fans of the genre.