Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

Scott LeBrun This Italian Western - which just so happens to be set at Christmastime - made a star out of the charismatic former stuntman Giuliano Gemma. Using his Anglicized pseudonym Montgomery Wood, he stars as title character Ringo, an amiable outlaw. Ringo is in jail for murder (which he says was done in self defense) when the town bank is robbed of a substantial amount by bandits. They hole up in a remote community, and take hostages. The law enforcement types come up with the idea to have Ringo infiltrate the criminal gang, which he does in his own inimitable style."A Pistol for Ringo" is a solid and engaging example of the Spaghetti Western. It may not be as well known, or well regarded, as the most famous films in the genre, but it offers ample entertainment. A large part of the appeal is Gemma himself. Handsome, charming, and sly, he does a fine job at portraying a man who doesn't seem to have any real loyalty to anything other than money. He actually offers his services to the bandits if they will promise him a larger percentage of the take than the law. We're never quite sure what to make of him, but we do know that he's fun to watch.The exceptional composer Ennio Morricone, who's done hundreds (!) of scores during his life and career, gives this film a typically atmospheric soundtrack. The widescreen photography is first rate, and Gemma has a fine supporting cast to work with. The prolific, corpulent, robust character actor Fernando Sancho has a field day as bandit leader Sancho. Lorella De Luca as Miss Ruby and Nieves Navarro as Dolores are simply beautiful. Antonio Casas is excellent as the hospitable Major Clyde, as is George Martin as Sheriff Ben, who is in love with Ruby (you can't blame the guy).Exciting action scenes and a healthy dose of humour also make this quite pleasing to watch.Seven out of 10.

D_vd_B Based on the dubbed Koch media version.If we would take one genre and analyze it, the western is the most obvious. Themes appear and come back because they work. Style means everything, the story comes in second. Acting is not really required; (most characters are sociopaths anyway) as long as the stars of the film have the right face. Spaghetti westerns have style.The greatest weakness of this movie is exposed in the opening shot; the lack of style. Sure, there is a form of style, but its not the style a western need. The spaghetti western is a pretty vulnerable subgenre since the lack of budget requires for real talent. Choices must be made and especially in Italian westerns, these choices push the film towards greatness or towards weakness. The first shot says a lot. The camera work is completely uninspired. We see all characters from a strange distance most of the time (I saw the widescreen version), almost like a stageplay filmed from the audience! Most scenes are played out in one shot, leading to an enormous lack of intensity in almost every scene! The characters seem to be dressed by the wardrobe department of a western TV series for children (clean shaven, way too much color, clothes in excellent condition and stupid looking hats).A western seems to profit from being unrealistic, creating a myth of some sorts, but this movie does none of the above. That not every director is Sergio Leone or John Ford for that matter, seems obvious, but some link is needed to feel for the story. The story itself is good. In the hands of a more skilled director, it might even be a real classic! It doesn't matter it's over the top sometimes, but it does matter if the things that ARE over the top are not filmed that way. Someone being smashes through a wall seems very silly if filmed like a dialog without any notable emotions. It's just the action we see, nothing more.The locations are good. The exteriors are superb, the interiors are weaker. Not that the locations are not good, but the light is completely uninspired! The interiors look like the are filmed under the light of TL light. It looks like a modern office! The cast itself is good; they do what they should. Only two of the main characters (Ringo and the Sheriff) seem schoolboys playing cowboy. Fernando Sancho as Sancho is a great villain, but the camera doesn't seem to appreciate him. Only beauty Nieves Navarro seems to be aprreciated by the camera. Maybe the director or the DOP fell in love with her and only concentrated on the shots with her in the center. The sound quality of the English track is a bit muddy sometimes, but understandable.The music is good. I say good, while it could have been great. Morricone composed yet another great score. The tracks itself are good. Some honky tonky music is present, but the real western themes are great. From a main theme that sometimes seems to be bordering lounge music, to a soaring trumpet theme; Maestro Morricone is really the absolute best in his line of work! It's a shame that the editing is never really done to the pace of the music. The music works, but could have carried the movie if only it was not used as ambient.There is many more to tell about this movie, but it comes down to one thing. There is a lot to see in this one, but when it's simply not filmed or filmed incorrectly, there is not much left to admire. Maybe it's due to lack of budget, but if they somehow could make this movie really work, it might become a classic.

bensonmum2 The leader of a band of Mexican outlaws is wounded as the group makes its getaway after a bank robbery. The bandits decide to hold-up at a nearby ranch. The outlaw leader, Sancho (Fernando Sancho), threatens to kill two hostages per day unless he and his gang are allowed passage to Mexico. The local sheriff feels hamstrung as he fears for the life of his girl, one of the hostages, if he makes a move against the bandits. Reluctantly, he turns to a prisoner he's holding, Ringo (Giuliano Gemma), for help. The plan – have Ringo, an outlaw himself, infiltrate the group and work from the inside to free the prisoners.A Pistol for Ringo is an interesting and entertaining early Spaghetti Western. It's interesting to me because I look at it as something of a bridge between the traditional Hollywood Westerns and the Euro-Westerns just getting cranked-up in 1965. It's a mix of old and new. Old – costumes, the unrealistic portrayal of violence (no blood), and the lack of dirt (it always bugs me that no one in old Westerns ever gets dirty). New – the anti-hero, bandits like Sancho, the body count, and crazy plot points and twists. It's really cool to see these different elements blended into one movie like A Pistol for Ringo. As for entertaining, well it's just fun. Lighter feeling than some of the other early Spaghetti Westerns, A Pistol for Ringo has something of a playful tone to it despite the violence. The script is well written and includes many interesting pieces of dialogue – the bit about what makes men different in Texas being one of my favorites. The script also includes a well written, but heart wrenching, twist near the end that I really didn't see coming. It completely caught me off-guard. Director Duccio Tessari keeps things moving at a nice pace with lots of action, gun fights, and interesting set-pieces throughout. The acting is a real highlight. Gemma, Sancho, and the beautiful Susan Scott (Nieves Navarro) help make A Pistol for Ringo worth watching. Finally, there's Ennio Morricone's score. It's what I've come to expect from Morricone – wonderful

MARIO GAUCI This is one of the better Spaghetti Westerns I've watched but whose reputation – despite the popularity of the title character – seems to me to be relatively underrated (and the film itself criminally unavailable in an affordable DVD edition; the same thing goes for its follow-up, THE RETURN OF RINGO [1965]).While pretty straightforward in comparison to later efforts in the genre (often politically-motivated and thus heavy-going), just because it's unpretentious the film emerges as more readily enjoyable than most of its type – benefiting from the presence of Giuliano Gemma (certainly one of the more likable Italian stars in spite of a somewhat limited range), a typically fine score by Ennio Morricone, but also the unusual time-frame of the plot (it's set largely inside a hacienda under siege over the Christmas period!). Besides, there are agreeable (though not over-emphasized) touches of humor throughout to counter the exciting action sequences, some surprisingly good dialogue (director Tessari also wrote the script) and, equally unexpected for such an early Spaghetti Western, interesting characterizations. In fact, the milksop hero is an opportunist who's extremely resourceful at outwitting burly villain Fernando Sancho; the latter's woman – played by Nieves Navarro, better known as Susan Scott, and the wife of the film's co-producer Luciano Ercoli – is an elegant and seductive Mexican who wins the affections of the aristocratic owner of the remote mansion where the gang is holed in; while the old man's daughter, fiancée of the sheriff but who gradually falls for Gemma, is coveted by one of Sancho's lecherous cronies.Most of the cast and crew were re-assembled soon after for THE RETURN OF RINGO which is superior to the original (mainly because the Homeric inspiration of that film's narrative adds some much-needed depth to the protagonist) but, starting off with Gemma coming home from the Civil War, is actually a prequel to it: his military duty is mentioned in passing in A PISTOL FOR RINGO, though not the fact that he had been married (the latter is possibly an added element to the second film – so that Gemma could finally get together with leading lady Lorella Di Luca, billed as Hally Hammond).