Gunfighter

I recently viewed Gunfighter (1999) on Tubi. The plot unfolds with a wandering singer entering a nearly empty saloon, striking up a conversation with the lone man in the corner. The man shares a tale from his past involving two rivals whose animosity escalates to a final shootout.

Directed and written by Christopher Coppola (Deadfall), the film features Martin Sheen (The Departed), Robert Carradine (Revenge of the Nerds), Clu Gulager (The Return of the Living Dead), and Will Hutchins (The Shooting).

Despite a solid cast, the movie has a peculiar made-for-television vibe. It's disappointing as one would expect more from such talent. Regrettably, the writing is average, the acting feels awkward, and the dialogue lacks authenticity. Even the background music is just passable, and the action scenes fail to salvage the overall experience.

In conclusion, Gunfighter is a lackluster addition to the western genre. I would give it a 3/10 and suggest skipping it.

"Gunfighter," aka "Ballad of a gunfighter," (1999) stars Chris Lybbert as Hopalong Cassidy in a story more akin to creator Clarence E. Mulford's yarns than William Boyd's films, although it's really a marriage of both. The Bar 20 Ranch, where Hopalong's babe (Adrienne Stout) and her uncle (Clu Gulager) reside, is raided by an embittered enemy (Louis Schwiebert) and his rustlers. Cassidy aims to get his girl back and set things a'right.

The movie poster proclaims in huge letters "Francis Ford Coppola presents" but, actually, Francis had nothing to do with the making of this picture; he didn't even produce it. The film was written/directed by his nephew Christopher Coppola, who's the brother of Nicolas Cage. Francis' name (which was still revered in the industry in the late 90s) was attached to the movie simply to attract viewers, which worked with me because, otherwise, I would've never checked it out.

In any case, this is a very low-budget production, falling somewhere between the micro-budget of Glenn Ford's last film, the made-for-Turner "Border Shootout" (1990), and the quality TV production "Purgatory" (1999), but closer to the former. If you can't stomach the micro-budget vibe of Westerns like "Border Shootout," I suggest skipping this.

That said, the flick has several highlights if you can acclimate. For instance, unlike the town-bound "Purgatory," there are several scenes with a glorious Western backdrop. Also, Lybbert is stalwart as the noble gunfighter protagonist. It is stressed that he embraces limited pacifism, which only resorts to violence when absolutely necessary (as opposed to the idiotic total pacifism, which foolishly refuses to ever turn to violence, even when family members are threatened with murder or rape).

Meanwhile, Adrienne Stout is hot and formidable as Mary and Schwiebert is daunting as the resentful black hat antagonist, Tex. I also liked the story-within-a-story framework wherein Martin Sheen conveys the Hopalong tale to a dispirited minstrel played by Robert Carradine. Lastly, I appreciate how the tale mixes the mythical with the realistic and leaves you with a pleasant aftertaste, rather than sour.

The movie runs 1 hour, 34 minutes and was shot in Elko, Nevada and Los Angeles, California. Johnny Rivers wrote the superb theme song "Ballad of a Gunfighter," which plays over the end credits.

GRADE: B-/C+

Hopalong Cassidy with a horse who is not white & not named Topper? Go figure!

This travesty does a gross injustice to the greatest of all cowboy heroes, Hopalong Cassidy. The actor who plays him is young versus old, blond haired versus white haired and kills people versus shooting the gun out of their hands. Will the real Hopalong please stand up!

One of the worst movies ever made &,believe it or not, by the person who brought us the Grandfather saga!

This movie appears to have been an on the job training exercise for the Coppola family. It doesn't seem to know whether to be an "A" or a "B" western. I mean, the hero is called Hopalong Cassidy for God's sake. William Boyd must be spinning in his grave.

All the "B" western cliches are here. The two-gun pearly toothed hero in the white hat with the trusty steed ("C'mon Thunder"), the all-in-black bearded villain, the heroine in distress, the rancher in trouble, the cowardly sheriff, over the top bad guys etc.

The acting, with few exceptions, is strictly from the Yakima Canutt School of Acting. Chris Lybbert (who?) as the hero and Louis Schweibert (who?) as the villain look like they would have been more at home in a 30's Poverty Row quickie. The addition to the cast of veteran performers Martin Sheen, Robert Carradine, Clu Gulager and Will Hutchins helps a little, but they are not given enough to do to salvage this one.

What was the point of the Martin Sheen/Robert Carradine framing sequences? Are we to believe that the Sheen character was a ghost? What was the purpose of the black gloves? It just didn't make sense.

Being a great lover of westerns from all genres, I tried hard to find some redeeming qualities in this film. The cinematography was quite good and the settings looked very authentic. Aside from the hero and main villain, the other characters looked authentic.

If the producers were going to resurrect the Hopalong Cassidy character, they might have given some thought to portraying him as he was originally written - a grizzled foul-mouthed ranch hand with a chip on his shoulder, the kind of part Lee Marvin would have excelled in.

What else can I say but..on Thunder, on big fellow.

We saw this on the shelf at the local video store, saw "Coppola" in the credits and got excited. That was the one and only time this movie raised any interest. I could never quite work out if it was an attempt at a humourous film that failed miserably, or an attempt at a serious film that failed miserably. In general, the entire production seemed incredibly amatuerish. The sound in particular was absolutely dreadful, especially in the scenes shot in the little bar; the dialogue was so corny in parts it was unbelievable. Very disappointing.