Le Grand retour de Django

This film is very interesting. Many people will scoff at it's production values, but when you consider it's era, it's really not that far off from its contemporaries. Many people make the mistake of comparing this movie to the Rambo franchise.

I suppose this is based on the way the Italians chose to market the film (with Nero with a headband and giant veiny muscles). But the more appropriate comparison should be with Arnold Schwartzenegger's "Commando".

In both films, a burly guy trying to forget his violent past has his daughter kidnapped and is forced to kill hundreds of ethnic stereotyped Hispanic folks to get her back. It's even got exploding guard towers and guys getting stabbed in Arnie "stick around!" style!!!

I really was happy to see Franco Nero reprise his role as Django 20 years after the original. The opening scene is fantastic.. But then it also kind of hypes you up to the dark carnage of the original.. Not so.. Django is a monk now.. Trying to avoid his murderous ways of the passed. Can he do it? I liked this movie. I didn't expect or want a rehashed Django.. They did seem to avoid that and it made for a good story. The famous machine gun makes a comeback as well, of course. The 1st movie was so dark.. This one isn't really but it does carry some from the original. I still can't believe he had any hands left after the beating he got in the 1st Django.. If you are a Django fan you should check this out for sure. Right now there is a double dvd with both the original & Django Strikes Again housed in one case and it usually runs around $11-12 which is a great deal. Worth watching! A good continuation of one of the great western characters.

The only official (but certainly not the best) and up to now the latest sequel to Sergio Corbucci's 1966 masterpiece Django, "Django 2: Il Grande Ritorno" aka. Django Strikes Again, is definitely not worthy of the original, but it is still an entertaining Action/Spaghetti Western genre mix.

Django, who calls himself "Brother Ignatius" now, has turned his back to violence and become a monk, living in a Mexican monastery, when a fatally ill former mistress tells him that he has a daughter and asks him to take care of the child after she's gone. The lady dies a short time later, and the daughter, along with other villagers, has been kidnapped by a ruthless gang of former Hungarian soldiers under the leadership of villainous Orlowski, a man who brutally enslaves Mexican civilians to drudge in a silver mine and forces women and little girls into prostitution, and is therefore referred to as "El Diablo" by the poor population. In order to rescue his daughter, "Brother Ignatius" has to return to his violent former ways and become "Django" again.

The story is not very imaginative, and the locations are a little bit too tropical for a Western, even though the movie is set entirely in Mexico, but Franco Nero's performance makes up for the movie's weaknesses. Made in 1987, 21 years after the original, "Django Strikes Again" is a mixture of a Spaghetti Western and a typical eighties action movie. It is certainly fun to watch, but it's certainly not a masterpiece like the original. Django Strikes Again may be the only official sequel, but it's certainly not the best. I've seen "Django" sequels much better than this, but I've also seen much worse. 6 out of 10 stars because of Franco Nero, the one and only original Django, who saves the movie.

It strange that they make a offical sequel 15+ years later, but this time Franco Nero teams up with TOP LINE director Ted Archer in a so-so sequel. Intresting supporting cast like the late Christopher Connelly, Donald Plesance, and Andy Sidaris regular Obreigon. It's worth a look, and I noticed the film finally came out on video after 12 years. I had to get a copy from Japanese video just to see it. Recommended to Nero fans.

Following the release of Sergio Corbucci's "Django" in 1966, there were a number of movies that had Django in the title but had nothing to do with the original movie. But now comes an authentic sequel, with Franco Nero reprising the role of the crime-fighting westerner. Set many years after the original, "Django 2: il grande ritorno" -- "Django Strikes Back" in English -- has the title character now living in a monastery. But when a rogue general (Christopher Connelly) arrives and starts making trouble, Django digs up his buried machine gun and takes charge. And he's ten times badder than in the first movie! Admittedly, there was a lot of silly stuff in the movie. For starters, many of the Mexicans have accents and lines that appear to be based on Speedy Gonzales. But in the grand scheme of things, this is a truly fun movie! And I get the feeling that they had fun making it. Quentin Tarantino is apparently planning another Django movie. I'll be eager to see that one.