Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Scarecrow-88 The hunt is on as American lawman chases after a "dog of Juarez" (a Mexican Revolutionary who thought Mexicans deserved to be free from the tyranny of the country's government) accused of raping and murdering a 12-year old girl, following him into his native Mexico. Brokston, an American railroad tycoon, quite wealthy and ruthless, is protecting the true rapist, Shep (when he gets drunk, and spots a teenage girl, he usually accosts them, as we see later when a Mexican servant, carrying a tray of drinks, is nearly raped by him), because the scumbag has precious land (this land will serve as a path for the railroad), who will participate in the hunt with Van Cleef's black-clad officer of the law. Cuchillo, crafty and evasive, uses cunning techniques to escape Van Cleef (such as a supposed snake bite) and prison (a cool scene where an also imprisoned Van Cleef must watch as his quarry, in a separate cell, had already previously devised a plan of escape just in case he was jailed there again), and continues on the run, soon in deep trouble when his position is discovered in cane fields. There's the inclusion of a primpy, flamboyant showboat (Gérard Herter; who puts on a cape and wears a monocle for crying out loud) who talks about reading the eyes of those he draws against, waxing poetic to Van Cleef (Van Cleef, amusingly, just stands still in silence, but we know he thinks this blowhard is full of blarney and will get his just desserts eventually) about his skills.Before Brokston's overall involvement in the movie, "The Big Gundown", is ultimately about Van Cleef hunting Cuchillo through hot mountains and desert (and we see the dirt and sweat, the lawless frontier of Mexico is certainly established in the second half of the movie when Van Cleef loses Cuchillo and must pursue him in his terrain), each outsmarting the other at times. No new ground, plot-wise, is broken, but there's plenty of action, gun-fights, and stylized violence.There's really nothing earth-shattering about the movie, though, but as a Van Cleef fan, I just want to see him as the focal point of the action and, true to form, he doesn't disappoint. You never get the impression that he won't come out on top, however, so the western is predictable in that regard, but his opposition is loathsome enough that anyone he knocks off is deserved of his fate. Van Cleef's character approach pretty much remained the same in his "hero" movies, a pillar of resolve and unflinching when facing down gunfighters, he always seems (or, most of the time) to be the smartest character in the scene, but occasionally he was able to spread his wings within the spaghetti western genre. In this one, he's essentially the same character you would see in Death Rides a Horse. For someone like me, that is just fine, while others would probably complain that he is one dimensional. An actor who is as cool and charismatic as Van Cleef can get away with it, I feel, while others bore you to tears…some actors were born with this, some simply were (and are) not.Tomas Milian (Almost Human/Don't Torture a Duckling) is a treat as Cuchillo and really invests a lot in the role (one scene has a widow's hired hands/gunmen burying him in pig slop!) while Nieves Navarro (Death Walks on High Heels/All the Colors of the Dark) has a small, but memorable, part as a ranch widow who offers Van Cleef a position next to her side (Cuchillo smartly stirs up her knuckle-head brutes into engaging in a gunfight that does not go well for them). Amazingly Ángel del Pozo is uncredited as the slimy son-in-law of Brokston (Walter Barnes), despite his memorable showdown with Cuchillo which involves a knife.

classicsoncall One of the things I like about the IMDb is reading the reviews of serious fans who often offer even more perspective than the film itself. For this picture, I would direct you to the reviews of FilmFlaneur and MARIO GAUCI, who almost make me envious with their obvious passion and insight for the spaghetti genre. As for myself, the best I can muster is that I liked the picture, particularly as a vehicle for one of my favorites, Lee Van Cleef. By now I've seen him in so many variations of the Western genre, that his presence is almost expected. That would include a guest appearance in just about every classic TV Western series at least once.So even though this is one of the better Italian Westerns I've seen, I had to scratch my head over the treatment the script gave to hero Corbett (Van Cleef). Not only was he bushwhacked from behind by a thirteen year old girl, but he was also bamboozled by a phony snake bite gimmick engineered by the nominal villain Cuchillo (Tomas Milian). That bothered me, because even as a layman, I could tell that wasn't a poisonous snake, so a desert traveler like Corbett should have known it too. That was a little weak.As for Cuchillo himself, I thought it pretty odd that he would play into the story planted about his being a child rapist and murderer. Always on the run and barely eluding Corbett a number of times, his actions did more to convey guilt than the final resolution would ultimately suggest. However the big gundown of the finale is worth the wait, and aptly involves not one, not two, but three showdowns that bring together the film's principals, somewhat in the manner of "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly". If you think about it, this one had the three of those as well.

JasparLamarCrabb A very entertaining although not always coherent spaghetti western. Lee Van Cleef is hired by railroad baron Walter Barnes to track down accused rapist/murder Tomas Milian. Milian proves to be far more elusive than anyone could imagine. Director Sergio Sollima makes great use of the wide open spaces as Van Cleef and Milian play an almost comical game of cat and mouse. Van Cleef is stolid, cracking only the occasional smile and Milian is just plain crazy. The supporting cast includes creepy Gérard Herter as Barnes's Austrian "bodyguard," complete with black cape & monocle. The score by Ennio Morricone is masterful and cinematography by Carlo Carlini is at times stunning. The movies definitely suffers from some sloppy editing, but it's still a lot of fun.

zardoz-13 Director Sergio Sollima's Tex/Mex manhunt horse opera "The Big Gundown" qualifies as an above-average Spaghetti western with more elements of irony and social conscienceness than most Italian oaters rustle up. Scenarist Sergio Donati, who contributed to the Sergio Leone epics "For A Few Dollars More" and "Once Upon A Time in the West" intertwines the themes of intolerance, racism, and greed in his literate screenplay bristling with surprises and reversals. Furthermore, Donati and Sollima give the protagonist and the antagonist several engrossing dialogue exchanges that heighten the conflict between them. Lee Van Cleef and Tomas Milian are evenly matched as hero versus villain. Ennio Morricone provides another classic orchestral score with a compellingly philosophical title tune warbled by Christy. As usual, the Spanish terrain substitutes splendidly for the parched southwest frontier setting.Basically, the story depicts the search for a footloose Mexican drifter who has been accused of raping and murdering a 12-year old girl. This happens while the hero, Jonathan Corbett (Lee Van Cleef of "Sabata"), is visiting the home of a wealthy, influential Texas power broker. Brokston (Walter Barnes of "Rio Bravo") admires Corbett, his tenacity and compares him with Davy Crockett. Brokston wants to run Corbett for the Texas senate so that he can obtain his support for a railroad that he dreams of building between Texas and Mexico. Brokston learns from his ranch hands about a penniless Mexican, Manuel 'Cuchillo' Sanchez (Tomas Milian of "The Mercenary") and his heinous crime. Corbett promises Brokston that he will bring the rapist back to stand trial. "The Big Gundown" amounts to a hare and the hound western with Corbett catching and then losing Cuchillo in a series of misadventures that take Cuchillo back to his native country.The best movies boast heroes and villains that evolve during the running time of the film. The Lee Van Cleef hero changes over the course of the action. He suspects that something about the crime and the criminal may not add up. Sergio Sollima and Sergio Donati pay tribute to "For A Few Dollars More" by dressing their hero so that he resembles Colonel Mortimer. Later, the showdown at the end of "The Big Gundown" when the son-in-law shoots it out with Cuchillo imitates the finale in "For A Few Dollars More" when the Man with No Name intervened and make a duel more fair.The slippery Mexican thief Cuchillo is rather thoughtful for a character of his kind. He lives by his wits and has a knack for improvisation. This trait is exemplified when he uses his feet to get a cactus thorn and scrape Corbett in the back and fooling him into believing that a snake bit him. The last shot looks like a variation on the Ricky Nelson & John Wayne scene from RIO BRAVO when Nelson pitched Wayne his Winchester repeating rifle. Here, Brokston fires away at Corbett from the top of a mountain knowing full well that no hand gun can reach him. Cuchillo notices this and kicks a Winchester up into the arms of Corbett. He knocks Brokston out of the saddle with one shot. Before they ride away to their different destinations, Cuchillo reminds Corbett that he never caught him.