Results 1 to 23 of 23

Thread: So... anyone got any good Spaghetti Western recommendations?

  1. #1

    So... anyone got any good Spaghetti Western recommendations?

    I've seen the very popular Clint Eastwood: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Which I thought was pretty slow.. but enjoyable.

    I've also seen The Great Silence, which despite voice-dub syncing was very good. The way I understand it, its quite common with italian westerns to voice dub and not all the actors may be speaking the same language in the film anyways! For all I know they could be pointing a gun at someone and saying "So, i read this great book last week. I really enjoyed it. you should check it out" and being replaced with "You killed my father, and I'm here for vengeance. Any last words, asshole?"

    There are hundreds of spaghetti westerns to wade through, and I'd prefer to watch some more "good ones". I've got a few ripped on my media center like Once Upon a Time in the West...

    So any good recommendations? Anyone?

    (Yes this thread is part of a very blatant plot)

    -K
    Last edited by Korova; 03-22-2007 at 11:59 AM.

  2. #2
    Spoony Bard
    Recurring Mini-Boss
    So... anyone got any good Spaghetti Western recommendations? Incognitus's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Location
    Inverted Clocktower
    Posts
    3,101
    Blog Entries
    169
    I think I see what you are doing here.

  3. #3
    Mr. Person Taco-Calamitous's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    Oregon
    Age
    39
    Posts
    5,705
    Blog Entries
    17
    Quote Originally Posted by Korova
    I've got a few ripped on my media center like Once Upon a Time in the West...

    (Yes this thread is part of a very blatant plot)

    -K
    Hm...

    Yeah, Once Upon a Time in the West is pretty awesome, though it's also kinda slow. I remember I actually liked the character development in it, however. I also liked Fist Full of Dollars, although I haven't seen the other two movies in that series (the last of which was The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.) I'm not really very knowledgeable on the subject...

    There's this movie that keeps on coming to mind, and I don't think it's a spaghetti western, but it was a lot of fun, I remember. Had Paul Newman and Robert Redford in it, and a song about rain drops, and their persistence in falling on one's head...

    Wuv, Yer Mom

  4. #4
    So... anyone got any good Spaghetti Western recommendations? Chickenballz's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    With pixies.
    Age
    88
    Posts
    2,460
    Good, Bad, and Ugly was probably one of the few movies that make ballzy all warm and delightful inside.


    So then we got Unforgiven to cap off the end of the westerns. Sure, it's not spaghetti, but does that matter? "Deserve's got nothing to do with it." Word.

  5. #5
    Hehe... i count Unforgiven as pseudo-Spaghetti, because it's Clint, and he's well connected to the spaghetti format. Plus its got his spaghetti music in it.

    I thought Unforgiven was great.

    I'm glad I grew up in the mountain west. So much great history, a lot of it twisted in the books.

  6. #6
    What about Back to the Future III? haha. It takes place in the "West" Hahahaha.. =P

    *disappears before I get hurt*



  7. #7
    don't put your foot in there guy SOLDIER #819's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    California
    Posts
    4,271
    Sometimes this simplest plans are the most brilliant. And this is pure brilliance.

  8. #8
    Princess Sugarsprinkles Quistis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Location
    Happily Every After
    Posts
    7,253
    *still seem to be missing something*

    I don't know what Spaghetti western means but I've seen Tombstone and it's not bad.

    Uh yeah...*disappears*







  9. #9
    don't put your foot in there guy SOLDIER #819's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    California
    Posts
    4,271
    I think spaghetti is just a term for being Italian-made, maybe. I don't think I've ever watched one though. =\

    Too bad there is no one here to tell me about all the great classics I should see. Maybe I should just watch anime instead.

  10. #10
    So... anyone got any good Spaghetti Western recommendations? Chickenballz's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    With pixies.
    Age
    88
    Posts
    2,460
    Oh c'mon S, we know there hasn't been any good anime since Burst Angel. Or before, for that matter.

    And that reminds me: Trigun. The Western emasculated.

  11. #11
    don't put your foot in there guy SOLDIER #819's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    California
    Posts
    4,271
    Quote Originally Posted by Chickenballz
    Oh c'mon S, we know there hasn't been any good anime since Burst Angel. Or before, for that matter.
    You know that hurt. You know that hurt so bad.
    Quote Originally Posted by Andromeda
    just turn off your PS3 or 360 go to your dust tomb and say you'll give birth to 1500 people a day for the 1000 that'll be killed until the doors to hades open and you can pull out ar tonelico and turn on that glorous PS2 and be bathed in its radiant warm glow

  12. #12
    Spoony Bard
    Recurring Mini-Boss
    So... anyone got any good Spaghetti Western recommendations? Incognitus's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Location
    Inverted Clocktower
    Posts
    3,101
    Blog Entries
    169
    Maybe we need to make a thread about European League hockey instead.

  13. #13
    Why don't you check out A Fistful of Dollars (Per un pugno di dollari) and For a Few Dollars More (Per qualche dollaro in pi&#249, the prequels to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly? I've only seen Fistful of Dollars, but it was pretty good (It's based on Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo, about the one mercenary who plays two warring families against eachother for personal gain---which later inspired 2005's Lucky Number Sleven, among other movies I'm sure....)

    So yeah, that is my recommendation. Put it in your pipe and smoke it.

  14. #14
    Lady Succubus So... anyone got any good Spaghetti Western recommendations? Victoria's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Inland Empire
    Age
    40
    Posts
    9,753
    Blog Entries
    2
    Bakuretsu Tenshi was a really good anime, but Scrapped Princess was kinda trippy for me.

    There are many decent and good anime out there if you look. I mean, just look at my sig. =\

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Rossferatu
    Maybe we need to make a thread about European League hockey instead.
    Patience.. its only been one day... let it soak...

    What I really need is someone who knows A LOT about Spaghetti Westerns to give me his opinion. Maybe someone who lets say for example: operates a Spaghetti Western website.

  16. #16
    Princess Sugarsprinkles Quistis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Location
    Happily Every After
    Posts
    7,253
    Ha! I knew it!






















    Nah, not gonna spoil it though I know K's plan now..







  17. #17
    Lady Succubus So... anyone got any good Spaghetti Western recommendations? Victoria's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Inland Empire
    Age
    40
    Posts
    9,753
    Blog Entries
    2
    o.o; Yes, spoil it. Put it in a spoil tag for those who don't know what his plan is. >.>

  18. #18
    Spoony Bard
    Recurring Mini-Boss
    So... anyone got any good Spaghetti Western recommendations? Incognitus's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Location
    Inverted Clocktower
    Posts
    3,101
    Blog Entries
    169
    Blending two completely different subjects for seemingly no reason, I have created an appearance of famed Russian hockey player, Pavel Bure, formerly of the Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers, and New York Rangers, and how said player would look in a Spaghetti Western film.

  19. #19
    Thanks Rossferatu for the image, it's great. :lol:

    And WoW, I sure didn't expect to see something like this in here...
    I'm not really knowledgeable on the subject, but I can say something...

    As was mentioned, the term spaghetti western refers to Italian made movies, but it sort of can mean different things to different people. There's really no rule... Some think it has to be atleast partly Italian produced, but others count all eurowesterns under the same term even if no Italians were involved... And some people require certain kind of style and music from the films. The term spaghetti western was originally used in a negative meaning but nowadays it's positive at least for the fans of the genre. In Japan they called them macaroni westerns. :drool:

    http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/...806100301/1023 There's Roger Ebert's very negative comments regarding the whole genre. :lol:

    Majority of the films were shot in Spain, but some were filmed in Yugoslavia, Italy, Canary Islands, Mexico, USA and probably several other places.

    The dubbing of the movies really might bother some people, but personally it has never been any kind of problem for me... even though with movies with good sync I am always bothered if it goes out of synch. And yeah, it was common in Italy to voice dub the films later. Sometimes they didn't even record any sounds and sometimes even if they recorded them, the tracks were trashed later and dubbed. Directors could have also been heard directing on the tracks (because they knew it would later be dubbed anyways...). The Great Silence was filmed without sound as was several other Corbucci westerns... and according to Corbucci he had some of his actors just counting (like one, two, three, four etc) in their own language. And there were actors from several different countries in lot of films... americans, british, germans, french, spanish and italian and probably even more.

    And when the dubbing for the Italian track was made, often they didnt even have the original Italian actors do the dubbing. Instead they chose the dubbers based on their sound... how they wanted the characters to sound...

    I would say the original soundtrack for most of the movies is Italian, but its very hard to say... I would think most of the time the director himself only handled the Italian soundtrack so the English and other languages might not be what the director intented... Then again Leone has been said to have made both Italian AND French soundtracks and make some changes to the French one based on cultural differences. I don't know how the English soundtracks for his movies were made (and those are the originals for me since theres Clint himself talking....) but he didn't really understand English at all at the time.
    Some English tracks were made in Italy and some weren't...

    Also because of the dubbing, it was quite easy to make some small changes to the story. For example the movie Taste of Killing... It has a bounty hunter who lets the bandits first kill convoys and then he goes and kills the bandits and gets a reward... Not very nice I would say as he doesnt even warn the convoys even though he could... so anyways... later in the film he goes after this one bandit... and I think in the Italian version he only goes after him because of the money, like always... but the English dubbing has tried to make him more sympathetic by adding lines of dialogue about his brother who was killed by that bandit... you can't even see him talk these lines as the dialogue is heard when we see something else (like the wanted poster for the bandit...) :roll:
    And the bounty hunter is only known as the 'lanky fellow' in the Italian version I think... yet in the English dub his name is Hank Fellows... :roll:

    Quote Originally Posted by Taco
    There's this movie that keeps on coming to mind, and I don't think it's a spaghetti western, but it was a lot of fun, I remember. Had Paul Newman and Robert Redford in it, and a song about rain drops, and their persistence in falling on one's head...
    Quite a coincidence that you would mention it... hmm.... Anyways, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid is the name of it. I really like it (no shit!).

    Quote Originally Posted by Keisuke Takahashi
    What about Back to the Future III? haha. It takes place in the "West" Hahahaha.. =P
    ... You're forgiven since the movie does have some spaghetti western references. ;)

    And Quistis is forgiven because she's Quistis............:drool:

    And about Unforgiven... its maybe the second best western ever... BUT YOU FOOLS... DONT CALL A NON SPAGHETTI A SPAGHETTI EVEN WHEN KIDDING. :shake: :huh?:


    Anyways... maybe some recommendations, eh? I haven't seen much but here's some...

    Once Upon A Time In The West is of course one, but it was already mentioned and you have it... so... but as Taco said, it's kinda slow... if GBU was slow to you, then... yeah, well, you could try if you can get past the first scene... Which btw is EVEN LONGER on the Italian language cut of the movie. But you might like it... its definitely Italian made, but there's a lot of things taken from american westerns, maybe even sort of pays some kind of homage to them...

    And then there's the rest of the Leone westerns which should be seen by all and I'm very glad that some of you have actually seen some of them at least. :drool:

    Then there's Bandidos which was directed by Massimo Dallamano under the pseudonym "Max Dillman" (it was quite common back then... for both actors and directors... because the audience would be more likely to see something with american names...). About a sharpshooter who loses his ability to use a gun and hires someone else to do the shooting for him... together they go after the bandit Billy Kane who has massacred a train. Dallamano worked as a cinematographer in Leone's first two westerns and then started directing. Only made one western but has several other good films as well before dying in 1976 in car accident.
    http://koti.mbnet.fi/~jani/band3.jpg


    Cemetery Without Crosses is mostly French production but definitely one of the best, I would say top 5 movies ever. :woot: Robert Hossein directed and stars in this film as a gunslinger Manuel. For reasons unknown Manual has left the life of gunslinger behind him and lives alone in a ghost town in middle of a desert, playing roulette by himself. But he is drawn into a kidnap revenge plot by Maria who's husband Ben was executed by the Rogers brothers. Ben was Manuel's old friend but Manuel has loved Maria.
    There's barely any dialogue at all, and the feel of the movie is depressing from the start to the end. I can remember only one scene with some humor in it.

    Dead Men Ride (Anda Muchacho Spara!) is another excellent movie... in top 5 as well. :woot: Vengeance plot, like most of the spaghetti westerns have... Roy Greenford escapes from prison and goes after a local businessman who is using the peasants for gold digging. He also brings himself a secret that seems to get everyone hearing it killed...
    I don't know what to say really... I LOVE THIS MOVIE... ;) Excellent music and stylish scenes. ;)
    http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/6...uchachoxy9.jpg

    The Price of Power is a political western which sort of places the assassination of JFK into year 1881. Giuliano Gemma (as Montgomery Wood) plays the main character who gets (along with his friend) involved in the assassination conspiracy. Has some racism themes as well since the 'Lee Harvey Oswald' of the story is a black man. I guess this is the main work of the director Tonino Valerii who during his career had also worked as Second Unit Director with Leone's first two westerns.

    Personally I think Valerii's best is My Name Is Nobody which was produced by Sergio Leone. It stars Henry Fonda as aging gunslinger Jack Beauregard who is trying to get a boat to Europe before it's too late. But things get complicated by a young man played by Terence Hill called Nobody (which allows for a lot of jokes... 'Who's faster than him?' 'Nobody!' ) who has admired Beauregard and wants him to become a legend... by trying to force a fight between Beauregard and the Wild Bunch which consists of 150 men. This is a weird combination of serious western and a (slapstick) comedy (And some scenes filmed by Leone himself!) which might not work for everybody... plus knowledge of other western films might help...
    But probably in my top ten movies ever... might be partly because of childhood nostalgia but oh well... ;)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqq60RLU55o There's one excellent scene from the movie, with great music as well!
    And the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOanX_TSE5U

    Some of films by the other Sergio (Corbucci) should probably also be mentioned... He made 13 in total and I would say he is rated second, just below Leone, among the fans of the genre. Django wasn't his first but it's the most well known and should I maybe say even a classic nowadays... Everyone should have seen it. ;) It's sort of like Fistful of Dollars, Django returning from the war and getting involved between the fights of two gangs, Major Jackson's (racist) men and a mexican gang. Django is also dragging a coffin filled with secrets behind him. English language dub is horrible, it must be seen with Italian!
    Opening of Django with the theme song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmK_fEzNsig

    I think Corbucci's best is Companeros. It takes place in the mexican revolution. Franco Nero plays a swedish arms dealer Yodlaf Peterson who with a mexican El Vasco (Tomas Milian) cross the border to save professor Xantos from the americans. All of this is done for the money of course and not to help the mexicans themselves...
    Trailer for Companeros: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMhckv5vVjU

    The Mercenary by Corbucci is also very highly rated although not so much by me. It was made just before Companeros and resembles it a lot in the ways how the story is structured and the characters and settings and stuff... this time France Nero is a polish Mercenary helping the mexicans (for money of course) in their revolution fights. Has one of the coolest scenes ever, a showdown in a bullring which has superb music by Morricone which was later used by Tarantino in Kill Bills...
    "If you're not ready to buy, be ready to die."
    Trailer:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LmbxVt8LSs

    The Great Silence from Corbucci is also recommend but that one Korova already mentioned. Trailer for it is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1kcw...related&search=

    Then there's the third Sergio, Sergio Sollima (there's a lot more Sergios but we won't be talking about them!). He made only 3 westerns which are all excellent to good. I would recommend the first two of them though, The Big Gundown and Face to Face which do have some sort of political aspects in them.
    The Big Gundown stars Lee Van Cleef as Jonathan Corbett, a bounty hunter trying to turn politician, who as his last mission goes on a hunt for a mexican peasant Cuchillo who is blamed for raping and killing a 12 year old girl and wanted dead. Cuchillo heads for the border with Corbett on pursuit and under the watchful eyes of his political supporters. Some excellent music in this one plus several nice showdowns... knife vs gun, Corbett vs european Baron. ;)
    Opening credit sequence with the excellent theme song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I91GEjoIHS0 (credits are missing though... hehe)

    Face to Face stars Gian Maria Volontè (who is in first two Leone westerns) as history professor Brett Fletcher who quits his work and heads west because of his failing health. There he gets involved with Solomon Bennet's (Tomas Milian) bandit gang and joins them because of his fascination with their way of life and wanting to make his mark on the world.
    Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAfDlLipqGk

    The Forgotten Pistolero has been described to have the most well known song that nobody knows. I think it might be true, I have heard it in at least a couple of commercial and I remember hearing it being played in various occasions (but can't remember any). This has also been desribed as a soap opera, I guess because theres quite a lot of dialogue and plot twists that could be from the Bold & the Beautiful... But maybe that is why this is excellent :woot: Family drama and vengeance. ;)
    Here's the nice opening credit sequence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR0GWQKT4IQ


    Bullet for Sandoval tells a story of confederate army soldier John Warner(George Hilton) who tries defecting in order to see his sick and pregnant soon to be wife. Failing that, he is ordered to be executed but escapes with couple of army friends and heads south... only to find his wife dead and her father (Ernest Borgnine as Sandoval) blaming Warner for everything. Sandoval drives Warner away with the baby child who soon dies because nobody helps (as the child is from a cholera town). Warner is filled with vengeance and gathers a gang (his army buddies and some outlaws) and aims to bring Sandoval down with military from two countries after them.
    http://eu.movieposter.com/posters/ar...n/22/A70-11423
    Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va3UNB09OAI


    Umm... I guess thats all for now...

  20. #20
    I knew this would work! you just can't resist! I'll respond to this more in full later..

  21. #21
    Princess Sugarsprinkles Quistis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Location
    Happily Every After
    Posts
    7,253
    Mission accomplished. Glad to see ya Sundance!







  22. #22
    So... Korova and Gooky, how many spaghetti westerns have you seen in the last 5 months?

  23. #23
    don't put your foot in there guy SOLDIER #819's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    California
    Posts
    4,271
    I can't even remember the titles you recommended to me...I've asked you before, but you don't want to tell me.
    Last edited by SOLDIER #819; 09-02-2007 at 10:56 AM.
    Quote Originally Posted by Andromeda
    just turn off your PS3 or 360 go to your dust tomb and say you'll give birth to 1500 people a day for the 1000 that'll be killed until the doors to hades open and you can pull out ar tonelico and turn on that glorous PS2 and be bathed in its radiant warm glow

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •