5 gachettes d'or

Dario Argento… Italian horror-specialist?! Well one of them anyway. Yep Argento co-penned this highly enjoyable spaghetti western that had a strong ensemble cast of interesting names to boot. Featuring Brett Halsey, Bud Spencer, William Berger and quite a memorable Tatsuya Nakadai… with a machete! Not only fun and absorbing, but one of the better entries of the long-listed and wide-ranged spaghetti sub-genre. The story is your basic revenge formula, but the script is sharp, unsparing and riddled with well-judged humour that never takes away from the gradual build-up to a thrilling, if offbeat standoff in swampy woodland terrain. These final passages are very well delivered by director Tonino Cervi, by pulling out an atmospheric tone together with the bold violence. But before even leading up to all of this, are some reliably creative and gusty set-pieces that aren't out of place. The brisk style is evident, and music composer Angelo Francesco Lavagnino's flamboyant score randomly punctuates some uncanny sounds. While, the formidably cunning camera-work of Sergio D'Offizi adds to the intensity. Japanese actor Nakadai is stupendous, and had me transfixed with his vibrant expressions as the shady, clever weasel-like villain. He stole every shot he was in. Halsey basically just looked good in black, and stared you down with that steely glance in a fitting performance as the revenge seeking heroine. Spencer bombards the screen with his robust personality and stature. The pacing stays tight, and pretty dry with little in the way of lapses.

After five years in jail, Bill Kiowa (Montgomery Ford) is released and he hires four skilled men for his gang: the tough O'Bannion (Bud Spencer); the sheriff Jeff Milton (Wayde Preston); the gunman Bunny Fox (Stanley Gordon); and the gambler Francis 'Colt' Moran (William Berger), using the money his father gave to him. Bill seeks revenge against the sadistic leader of the Comancheros James Elfego (Tatsuya Nakadai), who killed his Indian wife Mirana Kiowa (Diana Madigan) and framed Bill that was sent to prison.

"Oggi a me... domani a te!" is an entertaining western with a story of revenge written by Dario Argento and the director Tonino Cervi. The poor DVD released in Brazil by Diafilme Distributor has many mistakes in the cover: the name of Dario Argento is highlighted as actor in the front cover; the synopsis is totally wrong; and the name of the director is also wrong (Giulio Petroni, instead of Tonino Cervi). Further, the DVD does not have the original audio in Italian, but only dubbed in Portuguese and in English without subtitles. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Mato Hoje, Morro Amanhã" ("Kill Today, Die Tomorrow")

My first positive review for a while, and it's for this little Western potboiler. A guy who has spent five years in prison for the murder of his wife which he was not responsible for organises a band of the meanest hombres around and goes to kill the real culprit of the crime. The murderer happens to be the leader of a bunch of merciless gangsters who hold up stagecoaches and dispose of anyone who gets in their way, so our hero and his desperadoes have their work cut out for them. But where there's a will..

Lacking the technical expertise of Clint Eatwood's finest, this is still a thoroughly engaging spectacle. So what if the dead bodies sometimes move, and the fists obviously never make contact with skin? Thanks to robust characterisations, lashings of wit, enthusiastic gun battles and an infinitely hissable villain this is well worth catching at the wee crack of dawn when you can't sleep. In fact, it's so entertaining I am postponing my own bedtime at 2.30 a.m to recommend it to everyone. Now that's commitment. YAWN. 6/10.... ZZZZZZZZZ *Head collapses on Z key*

WOW ! This was one good western, and it also has Bud Spencer (one of my fave actors) as one of the main roles! Heres the plot :

A man named Bill Kiaowa was sent to prison for 5 years for killing his wife....a crime which he didn't commit.When he's released from jail, he rounds up his old buddies to help him kill the man who killed his wife....

Yeah, your thinking, oh, just another boring western! It is just one of those simple westerns that were rip offs of " The good, the bad, and the Ugly" but give it a shot! Its worthwile!

Today it's me.... gets 6/10

I've always liked Italian westerns and I enjoyed this one as well. Good script by Argento, great music by Lavagnino (who composed the score for such great Italian as Tutti a casa). But let's admit it, there is an evident problem with the casting. Bud Spencer, William Berger and the other dude are O.K. within the limits of the genre, but - oups ! - in the role of the bad guy, they're facing one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, no less. Ladies and gentlemen, Tatsuya Nakadai ! English being only my second language, I am a little bit limited when it comes to finding the right words to describe the work of this phenomenal actor. His fame outside Japan mostly came from a series of outstanding samurai movies such as Hara-Kiri, Sword of doom or Goyokin. (Among many others) Yet all those samurais are remarkably different from one another, for Nakadai's trademark is mercurial versatility. His acting technique sometimes seems so different from one movie to the next that you'd hardly believe it's the same man. And of course he interpreted plenty of other characters besides samurais, such as the unfortunate hero in Kobayashi's monument The Human Condition.

I could go on talking about this artist for quite a while. Suffice it to say that watching this western put me somewhat in a sad mood. I'm sure Mr. Nakadai enjoyed himself a lot doing this movie - and it shows ! - but when you have the incredible luck to get such an actor in your cast, frankly it is your responsibility to come out with an outstanding spaghetti western, not just an average-to-good like this one unfortunately is. It's too bad such a project didn't fall in the hands of a more imaginative Italian western director - Sollima or Corbucci or even Colizzi.

Yet again, this western is good enough, and is certainly worth watching would it be just for Tatsuya Nakadai alone, playing the villain - and madman - James Elfego with rejoicing maestria. Since the character is in no way a Japanese, Mr. Nakadai does not have his legendary 'sword of doom' with him - but watch your head, for he does have a machete !