★ 7 / 10
I had this recommended to me a very
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I had this recommended to me a very long time ago when I was first starting to get into and review westerns. It has taken this long because the genre still…
I had this recommended to me a very long time ago when I was first starting to get into and review westerns. It has taken this long because the genre still hasn't endeared itself to me for the most part, and I watch them sparsely. Still, I have been going through this western pack of late and the middle entry on it is God's Gun. A western done by Golan and Globus before their Cannon days I am assuming. This meant that the movie is goofy fun at times, and kind of stood out from the other spaghetti westerns I have seen in a good way. Well good for my sensibilities.
God's Gun is about estranged twin brothers, one a priest and the other a gambling shoot first style gunfighter, both played by Lee Van Cleef. When the priest is killed, a young boy from the town journey's to find the brother and get revenge. Sound pretty normal except that for a small amount of the time the gun fighting brother plays it of like he is the specter of the priest to scare and kill the gang that outnumbers him. Those parts were great. In fact, although the movie takes a long time to get set up, the payoff is totally worth it.
It wasn't all great though. As I mentioned, the movie takes its time getting going. It seemed to prefer introducing all the characters in long scenes, drawing out everything until the priest is killed. Jack Palance kind of got on my nerves as well. Although it was funny to see his villainous character slap and laugh his way through everything, he seemed more like a joke than anything else. He acted like a drunken fool and laughed at everything that happened. But, for me at least, the laugh looked so fake and weird...I don't know, maybe Palance just weirds me out. Also, there is a scene where the gang goes into the bar, after stealing two young girls and proceeds to have a sexual assault party that went on way too long. It was off-putting.
Still, flaws aside, I did like this movie. It did feel a bit cheap and fun, while also feeling a bit sleazy at times. The basic premise and Van Cleef's characters make it worth recommending.
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★ 6 / 10
I had no idea that this Italian Western
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I had no idea that this Italian Western was an Israeli co-production and just a few years before they'd make it to the USA, Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus…
I had no idea that this Italian Western was an Israeli co-production and just a few years before they'd make it to the USA, Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus would work with The Irwin Yablans Company and Cannon Film Distributors to bring this movie to screens all over the world.
Sam Clayton (Jack Palance, as always, a grinning force of complete menace) and his gang have taken over Juno City, stabbing men and assaulting women before leaving the town in the bloody dust. No man will ride out to stop them, except Father John (Lee Van Cleef), a holy man who rides out unarmed and takes the guilty gang members to jail.
The gang breaks them out of jail and kills the priest, sending a young boy named Johnny (Leif Garrett!) to Mexico to bring Lewis, the twin brother of the dead man of the cloth, and he comes back with vengeance on his mind, even if it turns out that Clayton ends up being Johnny's father.
Also known as Diamante Lobo and A Bullet From God, this is Lee Van Cleef's last filmed Western (and second movie with Garrett). It was a rough film for Richard Boone, who had started having health problems, then got drunk and walked off the set, leaving the Israeli location before he even dubbed his dialogue. He'd say in an interview, "I'm starring in the worst picture ever made. The producer is an Israeli and the director is Italian, and they don't speak. Fortunately it doesn't matter, because the director is deaf in both ears."
That deaf director was Gianfranco Parolini, better known in America as Frank Kramer, and the maker of some wild stuff like Sabata; Yeti: Giant of the 20th Century; Kiss Kiss, Kill Kill; The Three Fantastic Supermen and writing If You Meet Sartana… Pray for Your Death. It was written by John Fonseca, whose career is all over the place, acting in The Uranium Conspiracy (also produced by Golan), serving as a dialogue coach and even shooting stills on the sets of Don't Open Till Christmas and Slaughter High.
How did I get this far without telling you Sybil Danning is in this movie? Am I slipping?
This may not be the best Italian Western you've ever seen, but honestly, the end with Palance rambling in a cemetery and alternating between being paternal and horrifying, well, that's worth the price of this blu ray. And Lee Van Cleef? Always just right.
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★ 9 / 10
For all those out there that don't get
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For all those out there that don't get Spaghetti Westerns please don't review this movie because obviously you don't understand that this movie has everything…
For all those out there that don't get Spaghetti Westerns please don't review this movie because obviously you don't understand that this movie has everything that a spaghetti western should have, especially in the end the scenes when the whore blows off the back of one of the bad guys heads, with a double barrel shotgun. For Spaghetti Westerns, It doesn't get much better than that. Also the end scene when Lee Van Cleef shoots the gun out of the bad guy's hand and then shoots it in midair is classic. Then he goes on to quote from the Bible before he shoots him. I think we now know where Samuel L Jackson stole that from. Oh yeah and when's the last time you did see an intelligent Spaghetti Western, anyway, give me a break.
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