★ 5 / 10
**_Vengeance Western in the shadow of the awesome
Wuchak
**_Vengeance Western in the shadow of the awesome Sierra Nevadas_** Robert Lansing and Patrick Wayne star as bounty hunters seeking their wicked prey (Slim…
**_Vengeance Western in the shadow of the awesome Sierra Nevadas_**
Robert Lansing and Patrick Wayne star as bounty hunters seeking their wicked prey (Slim Pickens). If there’s any doubt as to how evil the latter is, the opening scene removes it.
Steely-eyed Lansing is surprisingly good as the laconic protagonist. You might remember him as Gary Seven in the Star Trek episode “Assignment: Earth,” which he did shortly after this movie. He went on to costar in “Empire of the Ants” ten years later wherein his character’s range was limited to grim and grimmer. Meanwhile Patrick Wayne is fine in the role of the sidekick; I don’t get where critics say he was miscast or that his acting was lousy.
The first half is pretty much as good as any 60s’ Western you could name, featuring brutal action, quality drama and spectacular locations, but the flick drops the ball in the second half with a contrived dilemma and the unlikely (not to mention tedious) way it plays out. Then Lansing’s character does something at the end that is inorganic to the proceedings and so the movie leaves you with a bad taste.
Despite my criticisms, if you like mid/late 60s’ Westerns like “Nevada Smith” and “Will Penny,” as well as traditional ones like “Shane,” this is cut from the same cloth. It’s just the weakest of ’em for the reasons cited. But at least it tried something different, I suppose. Plus it’s nice to see Gloria Talbott, whom some might remember from “I Married a Monster from Outer Space” eight years prior. She called it a day in acting after this.
It runs 1h 32m and was shot in Jan-Feb 1966 at Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, which is a 3½ drive north of Los Angeles in the Sierras, as well as Olancha Dunes, which is a 35-minute drive south of there.
GRADE: C+
★ 7 / 10
A Tale of Two Crippled Gunfighters
zardoz-13
The gimmick in "The Fastest Guitar Alive" director Michael D. Moore's western "An Eye for an Eye" is that the two protagonists must adapt to the tragic…
The gimmick in "The Fastest Guitar Alive" director Michael D. Moore's western "An Eye for an Eye" is that the two protagonists must adapt to the tragic misfortunes that crippled them after they attempted to kill a notorious outlaw. The older protagonist is injured by gunfire and cannot use his gun hand to draw his revolver, while the younger protagonist has blinded and cannot see where to shoot. The combine their talents to thwart the villain. This off-beat tale of vengeance turns on the fact that the hero is searching for the villain who raped and murdered his wife as well as his son in retaliation for the hero who killed the outlaw's brother. American westerns were experiencing changes during the middle of the 1960s as a consequence of the Spaghetti western. Although this morality yarn about two bounty hunters competing for the same outlaw is a traditional western, the problems that they encounter and the way that they resolve their problem makes for a predictable but interesting sagebrusher. Undoubtedly, freshman scenarists Bing Russell and Sumner Williams must have either seen or heard of the crippled Japanese swordsman "Zatôichi" (1962) when they sat down to pin this melodrama. Actually, a fluke of fate pulls the rug out from under our two heroes and the villain emerges as even more antagonistic before this 92 minute oater concludes with an equally unfortunate ending. Lucien Ballard's color cinematography and the backdrop of the rugged Sierras as well as the dusty terrain make this frontier western look rather authentic. Indeed, this is a down-to-earth western about men who are given a second chance to achieve their objective under the worst circumstances.
Veteran second-unit helmer Moore puts a solid cast headlined by "12 O'Clock High" television actor Robert Lansing and John Wayne's son Patrick through the paces and "An Eye for an Eye" doesn't wear out its welcome. Nevertheless, the ending remains pretty downbeat. Not even the use of a young boy (can we say "Shane") to appeal to the hero's sense of responsibility can change his decision to ride clear of relationships. Slim Pickens has been ideally cast as a no-account, low-down, dastard. Typically, Pickens appears as comic relief in most westerns, but after "One-Eyed Jacks" the former rodeo clown received some straight-up villain roles that differed entirely from his comedic roles. Later, American actor Tony Anthony adapted the "Zatôichi" narrative for a western entitled "Blindman." This Spanish-lensed Spaghetti western is a man without sight who decimates the bad guys after have stolen the mail-order brides that the workers paid him to deliver. Before this western came out, nobody had made a dust-raiser like "An Eye for an Eye." "An Eye for an Eye" opens with desperado Ike Slant (Slim Pickens of "One-Eyed Jacks") tucking in his shirt as he leaves a room where a couple of people are screaming. Basically, Ike has just raped a married woman and he is annoyed by their crying. He smashes a lamp on the wooden floorboards and sets the house ablaze as Jonas (one-time only actor Jerry Gatling) and Charley Beetson (Henry Wills of "The Sons of Katie Elder") scramble outside. Before he leaves, Ike shoots the woman once and the little boy second. Retired bounty hunter Talion (Robert Lansing of "A Gathering of Eagles") rides home to find his shack wreathed in flames. He can do nothing to either stop the blaze or save his wife and son. Trumbull (Strother Martin of "Slap Shot") sneaks up behind Talion and informs him that he knows who burned down his house. When he begs for money in exchange for his information, Talion disarms him and holds him at bay with his own revolver. Afterward, Talion wanders into a camp on the trail. He meets another bounty hunter Benny Wallace (Patrick Wayne of "The Alamo"), and they strike up an uneasy friendship that suffers from the strain put on it because they both are searching for the same dastard, Ike Slant. Our heroes begin their search for Slant, and they descend into an area where an older man, Brian Quince (Paul Fix of "Nevada Smith"), mistakes them for lawman and allows them to sample the food that his daughter, Bri Quince (Gloria Talbott of "Daughter of Dr. Jekyll"), serves them. Bri's little boy, Jo-Hi (Clint Howard of "The Courtship of Eddie's Father"), takes a shine to Talion and they become friends. Meanwhile, Brian labors under the impression that Talion and Benny are lawmen, not bounty hunters. Later, after he learns that our heroes are bounty hunters, Brian forbids them to enter their property. Moreover, Brian sets out to discourage his daughter, Bri Quince, from having anything to do with him. Talion and Benny ride out and catch the Beetson brothers and Ike in the open. A brief gunfight erupts. Talion loses the use of his right hand when Ike knocks the six-gun out of his fist. Benny blasts the two Beetson brothers as they try to escape on horseback.
Some days pass before Talion admits to himself that he can no longer wield his revolver in his right hand. Ironically, Benny observes that Talion, who struggled to take care of him, cannot take care of himself. Meantime, Benny's head gash has affected his vision so that he is practically blind. Talion breaks down and explains to Benny that their only hope for survival is to challenge Ike to a duel but they will stand alongside each other. Talion has established a system for Benny. They set up a target practice range, and Talion calls out a number that indicates where Benny will shoot. While all of this is transpiring, Talion and Bri become romantically linked. Unfortunately, neither is allowed to wed each other. Ike Slant meets Talion and Benny in the street and Benny drops him. The treacherous Turnball makes an unscheduled appearance again and he guns down Benny moments after Benny drops Ike.
"An Eye for an Eye" qualifies an entertaining, off-beat, violent western.
80%
AUDIENCE
· 50 ratings
6.1/10
549
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bounty hunter teams up