User reviews

This is not a good film, and much of the criticism of it is justified, but the comment that the use of the LeMat revolver is ahistorical may be mistaken. This film is set prior to the Civil War, and thus before 1861, but subsequent to California statehood, and thus after 1850. The LeMat was first manufactured and sold in 1856. If this is set between 1856 and 1861 the presence of the LeMat doesn't need to be a problem. The use of a katana, on the other hand, is a problem. Extremely few Japanese, or those familiar with the Japanese, arrived in the U.S. before the 1880s, and those who came then were almost exclusively farmers, rather than samurai: Katanas would be very unlikely to be found in antebellum California.

What makes this an unfortunate effort is the waste of a pretty good cast. There are good performances, which are made more remarkable given the context. Tom Laughlin was in complete control of this film, so, like it or hate it, he gets the credit or blame. Beautiful scenery. Decent production values. However, Laughlin's performance as Finley, the Master Gunfighter, will remind viewers of Billy Jack, for those familiar with the self- rightious character Laughlin portrayed in the movie of the same name. Billy Jack's unquestioned acceptance and popularity may have, at least in part, been bolstered by the country's emerging sympathies for society's downtrodden. Civil rights and anti-war protesters were making daily news, and, for some, "dogooder" Billy Jack may have been a cinematic (though melodramatic) symbol of the times. A similar Gunfighter theme opened years later with the country a bit less emotional and perhaps skeptical of the more simplistic notions, "make love not war", "give peace a chance", and "he's my brother" of a few years earlier. Not that everyone or even most shared these ideas, but they did dominate the news of the day. Gunfighter was greeted by a culture where many competing views gained traction regarding complex social issues. Left to stand on its own merits, Gunfighter appeared cliché, redundant, and shallow, not adding much to the ever more complicated social conversation.

A terrible film set against the natural beauty of the California coast (my guess is the creators knew what a dog they had). Mexicans with samurai swords and training? A gun that looks like a six-shooter but holds 12 shots (is this a LeMat)? TOM LAUGHLIN? He should credit himself as "Laugh (as in "funny")-lin". The best scene occurs when Laugh-lin (astride his horse) faces off against a bad dude about to commit rape. As in "Billy Jack," Laugh-lin woodenly tells the dude "I don't want to kill you. I'll just ride away." The dude can't deal with the karma emanating from Billy - oops, I mean Finley, and Billy - sorry, Finley - kills him. The dude doesn't know that when Billy - er, Finley - takes off his hat and rubs his hand on his head and face and speaks in a weary tone, that's it! Yikes!

A better title may be "Billy Jack - Sorry, Finley - Kicks Ass on the Monterey Peninsula." Punctuated by really boring gun and sword battles (other viewers will anxiously wonder - as I did - who's going to win). This should be a "0."

This movie apparently takes place in pre-Civil War California and everybody rides horses instead of Harleys, but other than that it's a typical Laughlin film, except even dumber. Laughlin plays a guy who is trying to save local Indians from being sold into slavery. It's difficult to figure out who exactly the bad guys are, because Laughlin kills whites, blacks, Mexicans, Indians, rich, poor . . . in fact, he blows away just about everybody (in the name of justice and equality, of course). Laughlin's idea of conveying anger (the only kind of emotion he shows in the picture) is to grit his teeth, talk slow and appear to be constipated. He carries an odd kind of shotgun/pistol (which didn't exist at that time, but why quibble...) and a samurai-type sword and proceeds to use both on everyone within eyesight. Fred Williamson, usually a reliable actor, also conveys a lot of anger, but it's probably directed at his agent or whoever got him to agree to do this movie. The story bounces around and goes off into every tangent possible, the "acting" is generally atrocious, the photography at times is so dark it's hard to see anything. Laughlin was apparently trying to make an "anti-Western", but in one respect he falls back on a bit that a lot of B westerns did: he manages to fire a limitless number of rounds from a six-shooter without reloading. Then again, maybe it's supposed to be an early version of a machine gun; that would make about as much sense as anything else in this picture . . .

Let me say that I love Westerns and sword-play movies. Then along comes The Master Gunfighter. I'm sure there is a plot in there somewhere. But you owe it to yourself to see one of the worst movies ever. It was not made-for-TV, but a real, live in the theatre experience. People might have actually spent real cash to see this. Sad. The LeMat (pistol) actually existed as a .22 cal,with a .410 shotgun barrel, but was not introduced until the Civil War. A great many men carried Bowie knives at the time that this took place, but I imagine getting an actual Samurai katana would have been very difficult.

Tom "Billy Jack" Laughlin spends most of his movie speaking in a monotone, wearing silly-looking floppy hats, and either shooting people or hacking them up with a Samurai sword. The exterior scenes (filmed mostly along the Pacific Coast) are often strikingly photographed, but the dialog and acting are stiff and ridiculous. Like the BILLY JACK movies, Laughlin has a lot to say about man's inhumanity toward his fellow man. But, after about 10 minutes of listening to his preaching, you won't care anymore. With just a few changes to the screenplay, and an update to the 20th century, this could have been another BILLY JACK movie. At least the BILLY JACK movies were somewhat entertaining.

The master gunfighter(the character)is cut from the same glossy cardboard as Billy Jack. Same flat expression condescension, same arrogant and over done slow motion. Laughlin tried to borrow some of the childish, long and drawn out attempts to over dramatize that the spaghetti westerns make viewer suffer through. His versions were not as bad as the Italian directors. The movies only saving grace. He lost almost all the money he made on Billy Jack trying to make a dead horse get up and walk. The only other worse idea he ever had was running for President. The Master Gunfighter belongs on a list of the worst oaters ever made, along with The Outlaw and I Shot Jesse James. Where it should be listed (maybe #1) I'll leave up to someone else. If you have not seen this movie consider yourself blessed.

Educated in the Orient, peaceful pistol-packing Tom Laughlin (as Finley) is also a samurai swordsman. He shoots and slashes people who want to take land away from Native Americans and Mexicans. They've just stolen California from them. A US government shipment of two million dollars in gold is involved. "One Week Later," birds peck at what could be a carcass. Many shots of "The Birds" amount to what could be homage to director Alfred Hitchcock. An entire family is missing. Twitching the flesh around his left eye expertly, best friend or enemy Ron O'Neal (as Paulo) and others are led to believe Mr. Laughlin stole the gold. He's clearly full of himself. Helping pass many dull stretches is beautiful Barbara Carrera (as Eula).

*** The Master Gunfighter (10/3/75) Tom Laughlin ~ Tom Laughlin, Ron O'Neal, Barbara Carrera, Lincoln Kilpatrick

Great music score,great scenery,interesting camera angles,good atmosphere(especially during the showdown moments),good to decent acting and gun/sword fighting and awesome cinematography. Whatelse can I say about the 'Master Gunfighter', it is a very entertaining Hybrid/Anti-western movie only Tom Laughlin and the crew could bring. Sure some of the movie elements could have been better like some of the editing (which wasn't that bad but could've been better) and some parts from the novelization of the movie should have been in the movie to explain some scenes better but all in all it is a really entertaining blend of Spaghetti western,samurai, and Tom Laughlin.

The story revolves around Finely (Tom Laughlin, one of the coolest figures in motion picture history) a guilt tripped gunfighter and swordsman who witnessed a massacre of a peaceful coastal Native Americans by his brother-in-law and lifetime friend Don Paulo (Ron O'Neil, thats right Priest from 'Superfly') and his goons. Finely leaves but returns three years later when Paulo plains to do it again. This is where the gun play and samurai sword comes into play. Both Laughlin and O'Neil have a six chambered, double action pistol almost like a LeMot and a Samurai sword.

A lot of critics and people complain about the peace through violence or redemption through revenge method but "To expect peace, prepare for war"-(Tom Jane,THE PUNISHER). Either that or they complained that it is too much like Billy Jack or not enough like Billy Jack, this movie was never meant to be a 'Billy Jack' movie.

But I would suggest renting or borrowing the DVD, watch the movie and the special features to learn about the movie even more, it is actually quite interesting when I watch the interviews with the cast and crew. But if you are a western,samurai,Tom Laughlin, or just a 70s cinema fan then you should pretty much buy the movie. But everyone has their own opinions so I would say rent before buy.

The story was adapted from an 1969 samurai flick called 'Goyokin' and this movie alone was only made on a budget 3.5 million of the Laughlins' own money and it is better than most movie with 10 times it budget.

I also recommend 'Red Sun' or the legendary TV series 'Kung Fu'.

This film is set in southern California in the period shortly after California became part of the US. American settlers and the US government discriminated against the Mexican landowners and frequently took their land by force or legal skullduggery. This film focuses on wealthy Latino ranchers whose land and wealth are at risk. They decide to misdirect a US government ship carrying gold so that it will be wrecked and they can take the gold. To prevent themselves from being caught, they plan to massacre the local Chumash Indians. The hero is the now estranged adoptive son, a master swordsman (trained in Japan!) and gunfighter, who tries to prevent this while still saving his family. The plot reflects the sad history of double colonialism in California, the scenery is gorgeous (as is love-interest Barbara Carrera), and the action exciting.

Tom Laughlin didn't have to stretch much for this role, to be sure, but as the previous poster said, Barbara Carrera alone is worth the price of admission. If you liked the Billy Jack flicks, you'll undoubtedly like this as well. If you like westerns, you'll like this too. It's a pretty solid performance, and Laughlin is surrounded by a good cast. This movie also has considerably higher production values than the first Billy Jack pictures. This is particularly noticeable in the cinematography, as well as the set design. One would suspect this is because by the time this was made, Laughlin was beginning to enjoy some degree of success and fame due to the buzz generated by the two previous Billy Jack installments.

I remember seeing this when it first came out. At the time, considering the year of 1975, it was looked upon as quite an adventurous film, with dash and charm. I haven't been able to find it since, and I have been searching. One dealer advised me that, since this was a made-for-TV movie, it was probably never released to video. A real pity, if true.

The kind of film one would expect from the genius behind "Billy Jack Goes to Washington," the movie does distinguish itself in the area of weaponry. Apparently set in the era of old California, the gunfighter blazes away with a remarkable handgun called a LeMat--which didn't exist if the period is prior to the Civil War as it seems to be. Nonetheless, bringing this weapon to light is a nice historical touch. While the Union officers in the Civil War used six-shooter percussion revolvers, they were hard pressed if they came up against a Confederate with a ten-shooter LeMat (nine balls plus a shotgun round). The other milestone in weaponry is the use of swords not a la Zorro but in the fashion of Samuri, a ludicrous touch only Mr. Laughlin could have thought up. If you enjoy odd weapons or the odd use of them, you must see this film,