Soldier's Revenge

Starring:John Savage, Maria Socas, Edgardo Moreira, Paul Lambert, Francisco Cano (III), Jorge Velurtas, Alberto Ure, Brian McKenna (II), Fiona Heine, SebastiÃ¡n Larreta, James Murray (VIII), Amparo Ibarlucia, Aldo Mayo, Daniel Leibiker, Cora McDonald
Director: David Worth (II)
Studio: Westlake Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

The final film by the legendary director Howard Hawks, released in 1970, found him paired with longtime leading man John Wayne in a story slightly similar to their more familiar Rio Bravo and El Dorado. Set at the end of the Civil War, the story finds Wayne playing a Union army colonel who recovers some stolen gold and roots out a traitor. Though a little creaky (Hawks had been making films since 1926), Rio Lobo nevertheless has his trademark, crackling dialogue, appealing characters, and ensemble spirit among the cast. This was a worthy finish to a fantastic career by a first-rank filmmaker. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

I love John Wayne Movies.......2007-05-12

My review title says it all. I have always loved John Wayne movies. I have never seen one I have not liked. Some are better than others, but all are enjoyable. Rio Lobo is one of my favorite westerns of his. The great thing about his movies is that I can watch them with my 2 grandsons and do not have to worry about them seeing something inappropriate for their young age unlike movies made today. We recently purchased a LCD HDTV so we can enjoy them like they were shown in theaters which makes them even more enjoyable to watch.

Better than I was expecting.......2007-05-08

I was under the impression this movie wasn't very good and it really is better than some of the reviews given about the movie. It also was different than Rio Bravo and El Dorado despite what had been said. It is a great addition to any John Wayne movie collector.

Farewell, my friend, farewell !.......2007-01-25

Rio Lobo was the swan's song of Howard Hawks. And you may realize how the personages are handled with such accurate blend of humanity, tenderness, kind manners and a good taste loaded of farewell.

The dialogues are incisive and snappy, John Wayne is an old wolf who will put order in a town submitted by an abominable gang with the consent of a corrupt sheriff.

And the rest of the plot runs for you. Under any circumstance you should not miss this unforgettable and very touching Western.

Rio Lobo - Seller/product review.......2006-11-05

I couldn't be more pleased with the results of this purchase. The item was in great condition, the service was prompt and efficient and the price was great!

Not one of the Duke's better movies.......2006-10-30

As many other reviewers have noted, Rio Lobo is not one of John Wayne's better western tales. Overall, it is pretty entertaining, but there is not much new to offer. In fact, the Duke kind of seems over the hill in this one.

The plot is pretty simple to follow, and there are some pretty good gun fights. But, the acting is pretty lacking. Therefore, I do not recommend watching this movie, unless you are a pretty big John Wayne fan. If not, check out some of his earlier Westerns.

Average customer rating:

Soldier Blue
Soldier Blue
Heady western
Too little too late
Soldier Blue

Soldier Blue
Starring: Marco Antonio Arzate , Candice Bergen , Dana Elcar , James Hampton , and Mort Mills
Director: Ralph Nelson
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000ION22Q
Release Date: 2006-12-12

Description

Honus Gent, a U.S. soldier devoted to his duty, and Cresta, a white woman who had lived with the Cheyenne for two years, are the only two survivors of a slaughter committed by the Cheyennes on a cavalry group. Together they are hoping to stay alive until they reach the cavalry's base camp. As they travel, Honus feels a growing affection for Cresta, but he is disgusted with her anti-American beliefs as she has more sympathy for Indians than for the U.S. government. They arrive at the cavalry outpost on the eve of an attack on a Cheyenne village, where Honus will learn who has been telling him the truth.

Customer Reviews:

Soldier Blue .......2007-06-27

I got this movie for my mother for her birth day. She like it and I don't know if she watch it. I have and it very good.

Soldier Blue.......2007-05-07

It is the Roy Budd's first film music work. We never listen to its brilliant title song in other media, such as soundtrack cd...It's one of the best Roy Budd fan's collector item.

Heady western.......2007-03-12

Graphic even by today's standards. With each of these movies about the
American West, you see the cavalry and the established tribes, interact.
Actually no good guys, no bad guys...just one group stronger at the scene
at the time. Sure, there are good people on both sides but crowd mentality
reigns when sabres are rattling, arrows are flying, tomahawks are threatening and gunpowder is exploding. A sobering movie about a different
scenerio but the violence is still existing today.

Too little too late.......2007-02-27

After an excruciatingly boring trek across the wilderness with C. Bergman and the other dull actor, we finally see a rather short version of America's version of genocide. The sound quality of the film is so poor, Buffy Sainte-Marie's brilliant title song is almost painful to listen to. It's also a bit different than the way she recoreded it on her albums. Buffy Sainte-Marie fans shouldn't bother with the film, as I did just to hear the song. Anyone involved in Native American rights knows the story anyway and it's not worth sitting through.

Soldier Blue.......2007-02-07

This movie broke ground for subsequent films in dealing with some facts that Non-Native America was not aware of. Some cheesy parts.

Average customer rating:

Immensely enjoyable adaptation... Highly abridged but true in spirit... Fine DVD
Another disappointment
"Even good men thought by going to war they would win a kind of honour."
Not bad but not Waugh

Sword of Honour
Starring: Richard Norton (IV) , Leslie Phillips , Simon Chandler , Julian Rhind-Tutt , and Daniel Craig
Director: Bill Anderson (III)
Manufacturer: Acorn Media
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000GYI3D6
Release Date: 2006-10-10

Amazon.com

War is hell, but it can bring out the best in the unlikeliest of men. Sword of Honour, a splendid British miniseries, is based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Evelyn Waugh. Waugh's alter ego in the film, Guy Crouchback, played with gravitas, fortitude, and a wee bit of vulnerability by a pre-James Bond Daniel Craig, joins the World War II effort as an older soldier because he feels a pure calling to fight evil. And fight he does, though the realities of war and army life are ultimately revealed to him in all their venality and haphazardness. The film sweeps across Europe, from pre-war England--where life for the upper crust is all crisp linen, martinis, and a fierce denial of the notion that the British Empire is, in fact, doomed--to Capt. Crouchback's missions in Vichy France, an utterly destroyed Crete, Egypt, and more. All the while, Crouchback fights his own demons along with the Nazis; his alluring ex-wife, Virginia (played with sultry sensuality by the American actress Megan Dodds, so memorable in the British series MI-5), to whom Crouchback is undeniably still drawn. The action and production values are topnotch, as is the ensemble cast. But the key is Craig, whose world-weary demeanor only barely masks the needs of a soldier--and a man--who is all too human. His performance is soul-stirring, and even those who think they aren't war-film fans will be captivated by the layered storytelling here. Extras include cast filmographies and a biography of Waugh. --A.T. Hurley

Description

Thirty-five-year-old Englishman Guy Crouchback returns home from Italy at the start of the war determined to fight the good fight. Horrified by Nazi barbarism and emotionally shattered by a painful divorce, Crouchback eagerly accepts a post with the elite Royal Corps of Halberdiers. But nothing has prepared him for the absurd reality of life in the British army or the return of his alluring ex-wife.

Based on Evelyn Waugh's semi-autobiographical World War II epic, Sword of Honour stars Daniel Craig (Casino Royale, Munich), Megan Dodds (Love in a Cold Climate), Richard Coyle (Coupling), and Leslie Phillips (Love on a Branch Line). "More powerful and moving by the minute" —The Times (U.K.)

Customer Reviews:

Immensely enjoyable adaptation... Highly abridged but true in spirit... Fine DVD.......2007-01-08

This is immensely enjoyable. It is a brilliant 3-hour adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's "Sword of Honour" trilogy. Given the time constraint, much material has been excised. Most of the religious content has been stripped out. The various supporting characters and events have been drastically reduced or eliminated entirely. But the essence of Waugh's work is here, his wickedly cruel humour, his biting satire, his bitterness and his elegizing of the loss of all that he considered good in British society. For me Sword of Honour is the work that best pairs the dark satirical humour of his earlier novels with the elegiac, spiritual quality of his later phase, so beautifully exemplified in "Brideshead Revisited". I wish this could have been as meticulously and faithfully mounted as the incomparable Brideshead but if you bear in mind that Brideshead ran for close to 11 hours, a similar enterprise on the same scale here, would stretch anywhere from 25 to 30 hours in length.

To its credit, despite the massive slashing, it does still remain true to the spirit of the book. The ending is changed but I'm not sure what a previous reviewer meant when he said that it was a "happy" ending. In the book, the story ends with Guy marrying Lady Plessington's daughter, Domenica, the good Catholic girl who cared for his dead wife's son in his absence. In the film, the Plessingtons are entirely eliminated. The film ends with the brief scene of Guy alone with his sister back in their ancestral estate. He tells her of how his Italian villa has been taken over by the murderous Ludovic and how he has come back to Broome to shepherd what is left of the once great Crouchback lands. From the book we know that most of it is actually gone. There is nothing particularly "happy" about this. In fact if you were to pause and reflect, you would realise that it was an intensely sad ending - not only has Guy lost most of his physical possessions, he has also seen the moral values he grew with cynically trampled underfoot; and in accepting Virginia's child as his own, he has given away all that remains of the Crouchback legacy to the son of a commoner and a bounder. For me that final shot where he embraces his dead wife's love-child as his own, shows more than anything, the immense goodness in his soul; that far from being diminished by all the liars, cheats, and traitors he has encountered and all the unfairness that life has thrown at him, he has kept intact his honour and the essential goodness which defines him as a man.

The story takes in all the places where Waugh himself saw action. So the film sweeps us along from England to Scotland, from Senegal to Egypt, from Crete to Croatia (Yugoslavia), and finally from Italy, back home to England. Some commentators have rightfully called it an anti-epic because despite the many hairy situations and exotic locations in which he finds himself, Guy never actually gets to fight in a major battle. The battles we see on screen, as in the book, are almost all farcical and point to the utter stupidity and futility of war. Guy finally realises the truth of this in his conversation with the Jewish woman Mme Kanyi who consoles him with the line, "Even good men thought that by going to war, they could win a kind of honour," to which he acknowledges tearfully, "God forgive me. I was one of them."

In this adaptation, the Sword of Honour is purely a metaphor. The actual physical Sword of Honour is never mentioned in the film. In the book, there is a physical Sword of Honour, embodied in the Sword of Stalingrad given by King George VI to Stalin in 1943 to seal the newly forged Anglo-Russian alliance. Crouchback like Waugh was aghast at this alliance with the Godless Communists and the apparent betrayal of all that he thought he had been fighting for - the defense of Christian civilisation. To him, the British alliance with Communist Russia and the betrayal of Catholic Poland and Croatia to Communism was simply trading one evil for another and this was the bitter irony that the physical Sword of Honour represented.

Daniel Craig (the latest James Bond), makes a fine Guy Crouchback. It's to his credit as an actor that he looks not the least bit like the suave secret agent he would later become. Here he is a naive, idealistic, earnest, slightly befuddled English gentleman; just a simple good man trying to do the right thing. Megan Dodds (Love in a Cold Climate) is absolutely gorgeous as Guy's fickle and materialistic wife Virginia. Richard Coyle (the clownish Jeff in Coupling) is engagingly funny as Trimmer/McTavish, the ex-hairdresser who becomes the unlikeliest hero and one of the many conquests of the faithless Virginia.

It's not perfect by any means. It will certainly infuriate many Waugh fans. But this highly abridged adaptation is very well done and a pleasure to watch. It doesn't deserve anything less than a 4-star rating. The DVD is in the original 1.78:1 AR (enhanced for widescreen TV). Picture quality is excellent. Audio is in the original 2.0 Dolby Surround but is rather boomy, with the dialogue less than crystal clear. Unfortunately, Acorn, as always, does not provide any subtitles. There are no extras whatsoever.

Another disappointment.......2006-12-28

Another disappointment, as was "A Handful of Dust" starring Kristin Scott Thomas. Have to agree with David Null, barely recognized the film. The books were great. Was somewhat shocked that Guy was never once referred to as "uncle" by the much younger temporary officers. I am convinced that if Waugh's books are to be converted to film then it will have to be on the scale of Brideshead Revisited (starring Jeremy Irons). Otherwise, why bother.

"Even good men thought by going to war they would win a kind of honour.".......2006-10-30

"Sword of Honour" is an excellent made-for-British television film based on the Evelyn Waugh trilogy: Men at Arms, Officers and Gentlemen, & The End of the Battle, and the novels are brilliantly adapted for the screen by William Boyd. The hero of the drama--idealistic, solid, and dependable 35-year-old Guy Crouchback (Daniel Craig) plagued by notions of chivalry, honour and heroic endeavors seeks a commission as an officer during WWII. At first he's rejected for being too old, but then his wealthy family's connections pay off, and Guy finds himself training for the Royal Corps of Halberdiers.

The Halberdiers are just the first stop for Guy as a military officer. Eventually transferred to the commandos, Guy's adventures include missions to Crete, Egypt and Croatia, and each step of the way, Guy's belief system is assaulted by the realities of war. To Guy's sense of honour, war should provide the opportunity to act for the collective good, but instead, his experiences reveal instances of supreme selfishness, and the abandonment of all morality in the face of self-preservation.

Some of the challenges to Guy's beliefs are the absurdities he encounters--the war-loving Brigadier General Ritchie-Hook (Robert Pugh) for example, whose efforts to possess a portable toilet known as a Thunderbolt end in demolition. But other experiences cannot align with Guy's naive notions of a war between "good and evil" conducted under honourable conditions by noble warriors. Guy witnesses the callousness of officers to the fate of the enlisted men, and the "expendability" of the relatively unimportant. This is an inept system in which scam artists, liars, and cowards thrive.

Episodes in Guy's military career are woven with interludes in his personal life. While WWII is raging in Europe, there's a certain segment of the British population who are whooping it up, and Guy's capricious, materialistic, self-centered ex-wife Virginia (Megan Dodds) maneuvers her way through life--leaving a trail of abandoned lovers behind. To her, war is a mere inconvenience that may force a cancellation of the next party. Since Virginia moves in the upper class military set, it is Guy's destiny to periodically meet Virginia, her other ex-husbands and ex-lovers. It is in his relationship with Virginia that Guy is shown as his most naive and vulnerable. In spite of Virginia's appalling behaviour, Guy still cherishes romantic notions for his ex-wife and sees her as a damsel-in-distress.

This 191 minute--2 DVD set is wonderfully entertaining and stuffed full of the sort of rich characters expected from the witty, savage pen of Evelyn Waugh. There's the fatuous pompous Major Hound (Robert Daws), the spit and polish, highly decorated Ivor Claire (Tom Wisdom) who acquires his medals under questionable circumstances, the opportunistic Ludovic (Guy Henry) who gathers material for his novel, and Trimmer McTavish (Richard Coyle)--the 'hero' of operation Popforce. Waugh fans should be delighted with this marvelous, entertaining, and well-acted satire--displacedhuman

Not bad but not Waugh.......2006-10-25

Inevitability a novel, especially one that is reflective, suffers when made into a film. Even a film as long as this one. This adaptation captures almost nothing of Waugh's emphasis on Crouchbacks's Catholicism and most of the Waugh's vividly written characters are hardly recognizable, if present at all.

Waugh would be infuriated at the "happy" ending.

Average customer rating:

Cops and Werewolves
Great Idea Done So Bad Makes You Want To HOWL In Pain! After Watching!
Very good movie!
Not bad at all
Good Idea, poor execution....

Full Eclipse
Starring: Mario Van Peebles , Patsy Kensit , Bruce Payne , Anthony John Denison , and Jason Beghe
Director: Anthony Hickox
Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005LO4I
Release Date: 2001-08-21

Description

Max Dire is invited to join an elite police force. Empowered by a secret serum, they attain the power of werewolves and fight crime with a vengeance.

Customer Reviews:

Cops and Werewolves.......2007-01-26

ok he is a cop, he is also the man running a elite crime fighting unit that manages to wipe out all crime in an area then moves on.... however after investigation (mario van peebles) discovers this has happened over and over city to city so he begins to Investigate a past on his elite unit boss and finds out some very disturbing facts. it would seem the serum they take to Enhance them in battle is something not natural. so he delves deeper to bring about the Shocking conclusion to this Exciting movie. lost one star for just a touch of cheese on some of the acting.

Great Idea Done So Bad Makes You Want To HOWL In Pain! After Watching!.......2006-01-20

I brought the DVD based on the core story line. I love all werewolf movies hence it is extremely hard to make a werewolf movie I do not absolutely LOVE! Full Eclipse manages to be a werewolf movie I absolutely hate with a passion. I can handle lame sets, card-"bored" actors \ acting, bad special effects, cheesey looking werewolves, innane campy over the top dialogue almost anything. Sometimes bad werewolf movies like Wolfen among others end up being incredibly funny which make me like them immensely despite their downfalls. Full Eclipse is dull bad as anything I have ever seen and is not one bit funny at any point along the way.

Full Exclipse lame from start to blessed finish takes itself way way way too seriously to ever for a moment be the least bit funny. Full Eclipse is trying desparately to be an action adventure flick but it never succeeds despite its many pathetic icreasingly lame attempts. I never ended up liking any of the characters despite getting to know them. Why these people did what they did was never fleshed out in ways that made me care about their mission. Full Eclipse came across as a job for B actors and everyone dutifully showed up said their lines worked on the set, put a way lame BUT completed film in the can and promptly went home to gag in isolated shame at the things they did for money that day.

What I can not abide however is a movie that holds itself out to be a werewolf movie that tries unsuccessfully to be more than just a slash and burn horror fest. In a low budget werewolf movie you don't need lots of intense background build up on the characters you just want to see liberial doses of blood, gore and entrails spead all over the place. This movie spends way too much time slowly plodding along calling itself developing the characters. I gave the DVD one star because it did such a bad job of developing the characters depsite almost the entire film wasted in the effort.

The real criminal in the making of Full Eclipse was the editor so much background stuff that should have ended up on the cutting room floor made the final cut into the film. The pacing of the film was so slow it put me to sleep twice before I finally managed to see all of it. Watching this werewolf flick was profound torture and I love most werewolf flicks. The full blooded dude to werewolf conversion in this movie was on the best I have seen but even that could not save this movie.

Full Eclipse suffers from being BORING BEYOND ALL WORDS which is the one cardinal sin I will not forgive in a werewolf movie. Given the chosen path this Werewolf movie had staked out, even I could have made a far more exciting satisfying movie than what was slapped together in Full Eclipse. Full Eclipse is not bad HA HA is is bad... Snore Fest - ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ wake me up when it is over. If I had a choice between watching this movie again and getting a root canal I'd be off to the dentist Office with a Big Toothy Wolflike grin with hugs for my dentist for his kindness.

Full Eclipse is painfully slow so bad that when my office has its annual DVD and Book Give away for charity I intend to offer Full Eclipse up for sacrafice. Full Eclipse is so bad I honestly do not want it in my collection and I rather pride myself on having most werewolf movies. Full Eclipse was so bad however it is one Werewolf movie I will brag about not having in my huge collection. If I could give Full Eclipse a less than one star rating I would. I have rarely been more disappointed by a werewolf movie. Dog Soldiers among others is much better choice than this mess.

Very good movie!.......2005-08-26

It's very cool in my honest opinion and very good action and special effects! And the very hot Mario Van Peebles makes it AWESOME!!

Not bad at all.......2004-01-02

After reading the other reviews, had to write this. I enjoyed the movie, thought the acting was allright, and the story line was pretty good. Also liked Bruce Payne in it. Not a great movie, but worthwhile werewolf movie to watch

Good Idea, poor execution...........2003-03-26

What can I say? I love werewolf movies. But this one bites. (No pun intended). Max Dire (more wolf pun names), is a down-on-his-luck police detective. With a series of tragic events threatening to overwhelm him, Max gets involved with a therapy group whose leader is a werewolf (the Howling anyone?)

At first intrigued by the group, Max soon learns that these officers mean business - they're injecting werewolf blood to fight crime.

Description

The `Spaghetti Western' Masterpiece From The Producer Of DJANGO

Franco Nero (DJANGO, THE FIFTH CORD) is KEOMA, a half-breed gunfighter weary of killing as a way of life. But when he returns to his troubled childhood home, Keoma is caught in a savage battle between innocent settlers, sadistic bandits and his vengeful half-brothers. In a wasteland gone mad with rage and pain, can one man massacre his way to redemption?

KEOMA is an extraordinary combination of potent symbolism, powerful performances and relentless violence, brilliantly directed by Enzo G. Castellari (STREET LAW, THE BIG RACKET). Woody Strode (ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST), William Berger (DJANGO STRIKES AGAIN) and Olga Karlatos (ZOMBIE) co-star in this one-of-a-kind classic that fans and critics consider to be one of the greatest `Spaghetti Westerns' of all time.

Customer Reviews:

Total Waste of My Money.......2007-04-30

A ridiculous, predictable film featuring the most annoying "vocal" theme song throughout the film. Keoma (Nero) is the half Indian son of a man with three other sons who dislike and are jealous of Keoma. The townsfolk are held under the thumb of bad guy Caldwell, and his posse. Well, Keoma takes care of them, along with a nameless woman he goes out of his way to protect. I was offended that the N-word was thrown about regarding the lone Black man who served as the banjo playing alcoholic who tries to help Keoma get the bad guys. A completely forgettable film.

Average customer rating:

Clint Walker is The Man!!
Formula cool

Yuma
Starring: Clint Walker; Barry Sullivan; Edgar Buchanan; Kathryn Hays; Peter Mark Richman; Morgan Woodward
Director: Ted Post
Manufacturer: Reel Enterprises
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000KJTCEQ
Release Date: 2006-11-13

Description

A Marshall is sent to clean up a frontier town, but he is the target of a plot to descredit him. He is stalked by the brother of a prisoner who was killed to make it appear that the Marshall did it. He must unravel the chain of events to unmask the plan's creator and discovers one of the killers was a soldier from a nearby fort.

Customer Reviews:

Clint Walker is The Man!!.......2007-06-27

Clint Walker goes back a long time. You gots ta like this big boys style. Yuma is a great movie, simply because of Clint, they don't make movies like these anymore. Trust me, you'll like the movie.

Formula cool.......2007-02-18

An easy way to pass a few hours - the best thing about the film is Clint Walker - his looks, his voice...his voice...A "formula" style western of its day - interesting to see John Kerr from "South Pacific" in a supporting role - would've been good to see more of him! A nice twist in the story.

Average customer rating:

Good Western, Bad Music Theme
Keoma kicks a**
Another spaghetti western winner
God Please Stop That Caterwauling!
You have to survive

Keoma
Starring: Franco Nero , Woody Strode , William Berger , Donald O'Brien , and Olga Karlatos
Director: Enzo G. Castellari
Manufacturer: Starz / Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000059PPU
Release Date: 2001-07-24

Customer Reviews:

Good Western, Bad Music Theme.......2007-03-28

This movie is cool. It's got what Spaghetti westerns are made of, but the horrible music track of that woman screaming throughout the movie took me off track every time. It sounded like a howling banshee. The quality of the widescreen DVD has been cleaned great, and all else is good.

Keoma kicks a**.......2007-03-11

I love this movie. The atmosphere is great. The action scenes are fantastic. I even love the music! Especially when Keoma's father meets his end. Olga Karlatos is great as always. I highly recommend this film to everyone who likes Spaghetti Westerns or just good films. If you don't own it, get it!!!

Another spaghetti western winner.......2004-08-17

Spaghetti westerns are, in my opinion, generally the best fictional films about the American West. You can argue that John Wayne made a bunch of great movies about life in the Old West, and you would be right to say so, but for some reason the Italians captured perfectly the specific elements of the era that made their movies seem more realistic. The frontier was a dirty, violent place full of unsavory types trying to get rich quick. Italian westerns capture this mood expertly whereas American films portray characters whose outfits look like they just came back from the dry cleaners. Hollywood films also tend to apply a black and white dichotomy onto their characters, the old "good guys wear white, bad guys wear black" philosophy that obscures the reality of the time and place. Not so in Italian films, where even the good guys often have distinctly unsavory traits. It's too bad spaghetti westerns went the way of the dinosaurs a few decades back; I never tire of watching these films even though I am not an expert on the genre. "Keoma," part of the larger Anchor Bay "Once Upon a Time in Italy" spaghetti western box set, serves as an excellent example of how powerful the genre once was.

Surprisingly, I discovered none other than director Enzo G. Castellari lensed this epic western, and actually made it when the spaghetti western genre was essentially dead on its feet. Castellari's name should ring a few bells with fans of low budget Italian schlock; he's the guy who made "1990: The Bronx Warriors" and "Escape From the Bronx," two science fiction films of such mediocre standards that anyone who appreciates such things should immediately check them out. With "Keoma," Castellari proves he's much better than most of his output. The story stars the ever reliable Franco Nero as Keoma, a brooding, mixed blood loner returning home from the Civil War to find his family and his town suffering under the throes of a plague and a gang of thugs. The cast of characters in this picture is a veritable who's who of low budget Italian movies. You've got Olga Karlatos, sans a splinter to the eye, playing a woman infected with the plague. Donald O'Brien turns up in the role of gang leader Caldwell. Then there's Woody Strode as George, a one time slave owned by Keoma's father who now ambles about town drinking himself into a stupor and plucking a broken down banjo. William Berger turns in a competent performance as William Shannon, Keoma's father as well as the father of the loner's three half brothers. How can you go wrong with such a cast?

Keoma has several problems. First, he can't stand to sit idly by as thugs prey on the townspeople. His concern in this area leads him to rescue Karlatos's character from the clutches of several gang members, something he must do occasionally throughout the film as none of the citizens in town want this infected woman living in their midst. Second, his three brothers--Lenny (Antonio Marsina), Cham (Joshua Sinclair), and Butch (Orso Maria Guerrini)--carry a huge grudge against their half brother. They always have, too, as we learn from flashbacks to Keoma's childhood appearing throughout the film. Third, Keoma must continually confront members of Caldwell's gang, no easy feat considering the sheer numbers of ex-Confederate soldiers now working for this brutal goon. You just know from the start that these three elements will eventually culminate in a frenetic, no holds barred shoot out with a high body count. Thankfully, Keoma possesses the necessary skills--a quick draw, piercing gaze, and flashing fists--to get the job done.

"Keoma" is a spaghetti western unlike "A Bullet for the General" or "Companeros," two of the other films in the box set, because Castellari refused to instill a strident political message in the story. In fact, if the biography of the director included in the extras section on the disc is any indication, Nero and Castellari made up the dialogue and scenes as they went along since the two men disliked the initial script. "Keoma" is more along the lines of a Leone/Eastwood epic in that the hero rides into town, purges the necessary evils, and then moves on at the end. It's a lesson in good versus evil, folks, and it's a very good exposition on that age-old cinematic dichotomy. Two other elements help "Keoma" shine in my eyes. First, the music score is unique to say the least. Imagine twangy, Leonard Cohenesque narrative songs praising the virtues and activities of the main hero as the action unfolds, and you'll have some idea of what the film sounds like. Or maybe not. You really need to hear the songs yourself in order to fathom the experience. Second, and most important, Castellari relies heavily on stylish, slow motion violence typical of Sam Peckinpah countless times throughout the movie. We see guys flying through the air full of buckshot, falling off of horses after catching a bullet, and splashing into water frequently. It's great fun.

Anchor Bay deserves our kudos for once again doing a great job on a spaghetti western. The widescreen transfer looks good (although not as good as "Companeros" or "A Bullet for the General"). Extras on the disc include a lengthy trailer, bios for Franco Nero and Castellari, and a ten-minute interview with Nero about the production of the film. Even more surprising is the inclusion of a commentary track with Enzo Castellari himself. The director promises to make another western in the future toward the end of the commentary track, but time will tell. I'd sure like to see a resurgence of the spaghetti western genre. Until then, I'll content myself with films such as "Keoma."

God Please Stop That Caterwauling!.......2004-08-07

I recently picked up Keoma as part of Anchor Bay's cool "Once Upon a Time In Italy" collection. This handy box-set also included "Texas Adios", "A Bullet For The General", "Companeros", and "Four Of The Apocalypse". After reading some pretty glowing reviews for Keoma, I had high hopes and expected it to be the best if not one of the better films included. Boy was I wrong!

While the film itself was fairly interesting and included some nice touches (especially an unexpected appearance by character actor "Woody Strode" - and some cleverly shot flashback sequences), it had an "overdone" quality to it. They were trying too hard for a "masterpiece". Mainly, this movie was plagued with the worst score I've ever had the misfortune to hear! The music itself wasn't the problem. What was however, were the annoying-as-hell female and male vocalists used to narrate the action throughout the movie. God they were AWFUL!!! They wouldn't shut up!

In the future, I plan to re-watch Keoma with the sound muted. That's the only way I feel I could sit through it again! Who knows? Maybe I'll enjoy it! I really wanted to like this movie.

I wouldn't normally recommend a movie that I gave a 2 of 5 star rating for, but If you can rent this one, you need to hear the score just for laughs.

You have to survive.......2004-05-05

Being a veteran of very few spaghetti westerns (I was on National Guard Duty at the time, so to speak), I wasn't sure what to expect from this one. I've seen KEOMA listed on a couple of top-100 westerns and decided to give it a go.
It's opening, atmospheric and a little over-the-top, fulfilled my expectations. A bearded, unidentified man (Keoma - Franco Nero) slowly rides into a desolate landscape. It looks like a town that has cantered over onto its side. The winds blow and small fires burn here and there. An old crone (The Witch - Gabriella Giacobbe) confronts Keoma, it turns out, is no stranger here. "I changed destiny," the Witch says, "when I decided that you alone would survive that useless massacre."
"Aren't you tired of killing?" The Witch asks the first of many questions thrown at Keoma throughout the movie. Keoma, thick bearded with hair down to the bare chest under his white duster, doesn't answer. His eyes flash, he gallops off a short way, turns and yells back to her: "You have to survive."
Keoma is back home from "the war" (the American Civil War, I think) and home has changed drastically. A plague has hit town and those who aren't dead are carted off to a internment center by the evil mine-owner Caldwell (who doesn't allow anyone to leave town to get food or medicine.) Keoma intercepts a cart loaded with plague-infected victims and rescues a pregnant woman, (the drop-dead gorgeous Olga Karlatos).
Keoma has to protect this woman and her unborn child, and defeat the evil Caldwell. It's a heavy task, but Keoma can throw a knife through the palm of a man drawing his gun from a half-mile off and shoot three men dead before any one of them has the chance to draw their gun from their holster. If he goes down, he'll bring a lot down with him.
Keoma will also have to deal with his three evil step-brothers; the massacre the Witch spoke of must have happened in an Indian village. Keoma is a half-breed, adopted and best beloved by his father and George (Woody Strode), and his half-brothers hate him for it.
KEOMA revels in its excesses and isn't to everybody's tastes. Dust is ALWAYS blowing through the broken down town unless a raging night thunderstorm rolls through. Keoma plays a savior of sorts and to show their appreciation the townfolk tie him down on a large wheel that is an obvious and heavy-handed reference to a crucifixion. When a bad guy is shot, he tumbles backward in a slow-motion shot that would make Sam Peckinpah blush. You'll either love or hate the soundtrack (I hated it. Hated it, hated it, hated it.)
This one wouldn't make my top 100 list, but it wouldn't make a worst-of list, either.

For the Boys: The Last Days of Patton/At War With the Army/In Which We Serve/Soldier's Revenge

Average customer rating:

For the Boys: The Last Days of Patton/At War With the Army/In Which We Serve/Soldier's Revenge
Starring: Thom Adcox , Xander R. Berkeley , Andrew Bilgore , Lada Boder , and Gabe Bologna
Director: Mark Rydell
Manufacturer: Westlake
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000G1R34Y
Release Date: 2006-07-04

Crash Masters Collection - 2 Great Cavaliers

Average customer rating:

mediocre kung fu adventure at best.

Crash Masters Collection - 2 Great Cavaliers
Starring: Chen Shing , Mao Ying , and Chen Sing
Director: Yeung Ching Chen
Manufacturer: Crash Cinema Media
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Dragon, The Hero
Mars Villa
Shaolin Traitorous
Shaolin Red Master
The Buddhist Fist

ASIN: B0002X7G7K
Release Date: 2004-10-26

Customer Reviews:

mediocre kung fu adventure at best........2006-03-22

The selling point to this is that it has like 7 of the biggest names in the biz. John Liu, angela Mao, Lo Lieh, Beardy, a swordsman who I should know the name of, and the baddie from jet li's iron rooster vs. centipede(this is only the second movie I have ever seen him in). So the story is ok, and other than the final fight and seeing john liu's leg go up high, this really sucked. It is like they didn't even try to make it look like any contact was made. The facial expressions sell what is going on, but I need SOME sort of realism in a serious movie like this.

Average customer rating:

What a piece of garbage
I know what's wrong with this DVD
READ the reviews first!!!!! UNWATCHABLE
What happened to the film?
Full of bug, unwatchable

One Armed Swordsmen
Starring: Yi Chang , Lieh Lo , and Yu Wang
Director: Yu Wang
Manufacturer: Videoasia
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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One Armed Swordsman vs. 9 Killers

ASIN: B00009WHT4
Release Date: 2003-08-19

Description

The Dragon Masked Bandit is the top criminal of the region. He is warded off by the One Armed Swordsman, who clashes with him and cuts off his arm. The stage is now set for a duel of one-armed experts whose battles take them all the way to Shaolin Temple where they must fight the High Priests to uncover the mystery of who the Dragon Masked Bandit is. Shaw Brothers superstars Jimmy Wang Yu, the original One Armed Swordsman, teams up with his replacement David Chang in their only film roles together. For the first time, two legends of martial arts clash! An epic on the Shaw Brothers level!

Customer Reviews:

What a piece of garbage.......2005-02-21

I don't know where the last guy got his DVD from, but I would love a copy since I liked this movie when I saw in on VHS many years ago. I got the same DVD everyone else did, the one that skips from scene to scene, and seems like its scratched or something. I returned this movie 2 times to the store I bought it from because I thought it was defective. Now I see that that is just the way the movie was made. It's a shame really, because it is a decent film. If anyone out there can find this movie released by a different company please contact me, because I would like a copy.

I know what's wrong with this DVD.......2005-01-25

This will be hard to explain!! I got this dvd and what it does is that in 12 minutes or so into the film the movie will cut to the instant action thing! You see, this DVD played all 1 hour and 50 minutes of the feature film on my dvd player for my computer! But it will do that 12 minutes then skip to instant action thing on regular DVD players or PS2 and I assume XBOX! But still I wouldn't recommend this product! Video Asia is just another piece of garbage DVD kung fu company who are uneducated monogloids who can't pay attention to what they do! I really like this movie despite bad picture but I'd trust bootlegs over
this crap!

READ the reviews first!!!!! UNWATCHABLE.......2004-07-19

I should have seen these reviews first, I usually do. this DVD is totally unwatchable. Each scene cuts to the next and you trhink something is wrong with the disc or player. Theire is also no apparent time line here, maybe 20 years ago we could have called this non-linearity "brilliant" but something is wrong with this disc, as the one reviwer stated, they should have QC'd this DVD before selling it.

What happened to the film?.......2004-04-13

Word of warning about this DVD - it's not the complete film.

It seems to be a collection of action scenes from the film, mixed together in a slapdash fashion, it is certainly NOT the full film.

For example during one fight scene there is a dead woman who you have no idea how/why she's there. The movie skips and then in the next scene she's alive and running around while the two who were fighting in the previous scene are now together and fighting a different character altogether.

Very disappointing.

Maybe the video is the complete film, but avoid this one.

Full of bug, unwatchable.......2003-12-12

...Two problems I had with this DVD:

(1) The movie kept jumping (skipping) scenes. The DVD itself has no scratch and looks clean. I tried with different players and had the same problem. I believe it was not authored correctly, perhaps with the Insta Action stuffs. They should have tested their products first (d*mn it).

(2) My mistake. I mistook this for One-Armed SwordsmAn, the original movie, starring the same Jimmy Wang Yu. The title of this DVD uses the plural form, "SwordmEn".

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