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Total Film: The Modern Guide to The Movies

Reviews

Aug 15th 2005 By Total Film

After making it big in the last two-thirds of the Dollars Trilogy, regular support player Lee Van Cleef took the lead in a fistful of Spaghetti Oaters, including this riotous romp. Whippet-thin and as squinty as Clint, he could almost be the Man With No Name's dad as mysterious Sabata, who fights the little guy's corner when he squares up to the scheming bigwigs behind a Texan bank heist.

This may not have the mythic heft of vintage Sergio Leone, but it's no less flamboyant. Along the way, we get acrobats, banjos that double as guns, a deliciously camp baddie (smoking-jacket-clad Franco Ressel) and a zoom lens that acts like an amphetamised yo-yo. All set to a pseudo-Morricone jangle, of course.

The dubbing is disastrous, but the OTT action hits the mark. Coolest moment? The Looney Tunes-like gag where Van Cleef poses as a painting to fool his foes. Ah, how the West was fun...