Viva Django!

This moving Spaghetti packs noisy action , thrills , emotion , gun-play with exciting final . It deals with a strange gunslinger named Django (Terence Hill) is hired by a political wealthy man (Horst Frank) and his hoodlum (George Eastman) as a hangman to execute innocent villagers accused by the local crooked boss , who wishes their land . What the governor doesn't know is that Django isn't hanging the inmates at all , just making it look like he is, and using the prisoners he saves from the gallows to create his own band (Jose Torres , among others) in order to take revenge on the governor , but he then is caught up in a struggle against them . As mysterious Django looks for vengeance against the spouse's murderers and ultimately takes the law on his own hands .

This meaty Western contains an interesting but well known plot , violence , shoot'em up and results to be quite entertaining , though drags at times , balancing in ups and downs . Above average Spaghetti Western follows the Sergio Leone/Sergio Corbucci wake and it is proceeded in violent style . The film packs violence , shootouts , high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining . It's a thrilling western with breathtaking confrontation between the protagonist Terence Hill against the heartless Horst Frank , George Eastman or Luigi Montefiori and his underlings who caused the death of his wife years before . Terence Hill is fine , he ravages the screen , hit and run and kills . This movie is a lot of fun to watch . It's an agreeable story with a touch of peculiarity , some particular characters, and an amazing music score . The picture is a tale of justice and revenge, as a man returns to carry out a relentless vendetta . The basic plot is typical spaghetti western fare , but what makes this movie stand out is its style . This is an exciting film, plenty action , thrills, fights , gun-down and breathtaking outdoors from Lacio , Rome , and interiors in Elios Studios . In the picture appears Spaghetti habitual secondaries playing brief interventions such as Guido Lollobrigida or Lee Burton , Gina Lollobrigida's brother , Spartaco Conversi , Luciano Rossi ,Giovanni Ivan Scratuglia or Ken Wood as a henchman , Remo De Angelis and Andrea Scotti . The notorious Spaghetti actor , Terence Hill is good in his usual tough role . The pic is well starred by Mario Girotti or Terence Hill , he began playing secondary roles into typical examples of popular Italian films of the late 50s as sword and sandal epics, comedies, adventures and was with spaghetti westerns that renamed achieved worldwide stardom . His acting is often accused of being wooden, but in many manners is ideally suited to playing the steely-faced gunslinger synonymous with the genre . Since then he has concentrated on action/adventure films starring himself and often working with long time partner Bud Spencer. He appeared in 18 films with frequent co-star Bud Spencer , both of whom starred Spaghetti , Fagioli Western , comedy ,adventure and police stories .

There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shoot'em up or stunts every few minutes. There is a very odd implementation of shots in the camera work during some particular scenes as the film approaches its climax , as in the final gunfights and the customary showdown conclusion . The movie gets the usual Western issues, such as avenger antiheroes , violent facing off , exaggerated baddies, soundtrack with Morricone influence , among them . The sense of pacing is such that his film can be counted on to move quickly and smoothly . Good production design creating an excellent scenario with luminous outdoors, dirty and rocky landscapes under a shinning sun and fine sets shot in Monte Gelato Falls, Treja River, Lazio, Italy . Brilliant cinematography by Enzo Barboni who subsequently directed to Terence Hill and Spencer in Trinity and Bambino saga . Great musical score by Gianfranco Reverberi , furthermore a catching and emotive leitmotif , including enjoyable song in main titles .

¨Viva Django¨ was compellingly realized by Ferdinando Baldi . Direction by Ferdinando Baldi is well crafted, here he is less cynical and more inclined toward violence and packs too much action . Baldi makes a nice camera work with clever choreography on the showdown , fighting , stirring shootouts and bemusing scenes . Baldi was a craftsman who directed all kind genres but especially Western such as "Carambola's Philosophy: In the Right Pocket" , "Blindman" , ¨Il Pistolero dell'Ave Maria" or USA original title "Forgotten Pistolero" , ¨Adios Texas¨ , ¨Rita in the West¨ and of course ¨"Django Sees Red" at his best . "Django, Prepare a Coffin" ¨ is an outlandish , surprising and uneven story that will appeal to Western aficionados . Rating : 7 , riotous Western in which there's too much action and violence and excitement enough . ¨El Mio Nome e Django¨ (1969) is an acceptable Western to enjoy the Spaghetti fans .

After successful original ¨Django¨ by Sergio Corbucci with Franco Nero , it was followed by several imitations , rip offs and cheesy copies , such as : ¨Pochi dollar per Django¨ or ¨Alambradas De Violencia¨ (1966) by Leon Klimowsky starred by Anthony Steffen , Gloria Osuna , Frank Wolff ; ¨Django Le Bastard¨(1969) by Sergio Garrone with Anthony Steffen , Paolo Gozlino ; ¨¨Django defies Sartana¨(1969) by Pasquale Squitieri with George Ardisson and Tony Kendall ; ¨Ein Pressen Fur Django¨ or ¨Barro en Ojos¨(1971) by Edoardo Mulargia with Anthony Steffen ; and the official sequel titled ¨Il Grande Ritorno¨(1987) by Nello Rossati with Franco Nero , Christopher Connolly and Donald Pleasence .

Of all the unofficial "Django"-sequels(40+), this is the one that sticks closest to the original. This time around, Django is portrayed by a pre-Trinity Terrence Hill. Hill does his best to copy the original performance by Franco Nero, and succeeds. Director Ferdinando Baldi co-wrote this with Franco Rossetti (who also co-wrote the Corbucci film), and the result is an extremely entertaining film, with plenty of action, and enjoyable performances. This is nowhere the really great spaghetti westerns such as "Keoma", "Bullet For The General", and the works of Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci, but fans of the genre will be more than pleased. The ending is the best bit, and was actually copied in the only official "Django"-sequel, "Django Strikes Again". Extremely hard to find, but well worth the search.

When Django is wounded, presumed dead and his wife is killed he starts working as a hangman while plotting his revenge.

Ferdinando Baldi's offering is a little rough round the edges but it has great Italian Spaghetti Western feel. Thanks to Franco Rossetti's story and setup, Django, Prepare a Coffin comes up trumps. There's vindication, retribution and unlikely relationships. With a twist and some memorable scenes including the fistful of hangings and showdown shootout Baldi delivers a rounded violent piece of entertainment.

Originally intended to star Franco Nero, thankfully, oozing screen presence Terence Hill comfortably slips in to Nero's boots. The supporting cast are solid enough. Actor Horst Frank is notable and refreshingly is not your typical villain. Staple Italian film actor George Eastman also appears. Gianfranco and Giampiero Reverberi's score is great (and decades later was partly sampled by Gnarls Barkley for the hit song 'Crazy').

Overall, it may not reach the heights of Sergio Leone Westerns or debatably Sergio Corbucci's Django, nevertheless to Baldi's credit it has a good time shooting for the stars thanks to Hill's spurring performance.

A gunfighter (Terence Hill) forms a gang of "deceased" execution victims to get revenge on the politician and outlaw who killed his wife.

This film is unique among the plethora of films which capitalized on Corbucci's hit "Django" in that it is not only a semi-official, legitimate follow-up, but was also originally meant to star Franco Nero. Of course, it ultimately involved none of the same cast or crew from the original. But when it comes to spaghetti westerns, this is as close as you're going to get. Personally, my knowledge of spaghetti westerns is limited, so I would not be able to rightfully say whether this is among the best or the worst... but it is certainly an enjoyable film.

What makes the film interesting today (2017) is its role in a relatively recent pop song from Gnarls Barkley. Though the score was probably not praised by many people over the last few decades, when someone hears it now, they are bound to recognize the sounds of "Crazy". It might be interesting to know where the musicians stumbled upon the film's score.

The Blu-ray from Arrow Video is excellent, as always, though not their finest work. The picture is cleaned up very nicely (the 2k transfer was created from a 35mm interpositive), so this is easily the definitive version to own. But the special features are lacking. Other than a very brief (10 minute) run-down of the Django films from author Kevin Grant ("Any Gun Can Play"), there are really no bonus materials. No commentary, no interviews, nothing that really provides insight into this film. So a must for spaghetti western fans, but maybe not a must for the casual film buff.

Here is a early film of Terence Hill as Django, the legendary machine-gunning mystery man always bent on revenge. This is a terrific film and the best Django since the original with Franco Nero. Terence Hill plays the part perfectly & along with a very good cast. Django had always been one of my favorite western characters. The character is always so dark and without the pretentiousness that some westerns have at times. If you like westerns that are dark & all about revenge you will really enjoy this. The soundtrack is great with the usual belting out of "DJANGOOOO!!!" that you'll find in various songs that are in the other 857645645645645 Django movies. If you ever find a copy of this film pick it up for sure, it is almost impossible to find these days.