Movie Monstrosity Blog: Exploitation Extober: The Spaghetti Western Special!

We are meeting again in this luxurious, refreshing place. Yes, i have changed a few things to make it a bit more enjoyable. It seems that Today is quite an awesome day! Blizzcon is starting today( check the link to follow it: http://blizzcon.rayv.com/) and it's CAPSLOCK DAY SO I WILL YELL TO YOU ALL THE TIME! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!!!!!

Nah, i won't. But what i will do is showing you the best Spaghetti Westerns ever made in this quite remarkable Special!
But lets end the week with one more Nazisploitation video! Yes, the Grindhouse trailer from Rob Zombie!

So, with that done, we can finally concentrate on the real deal! I hereby welcome you the Wild West, a lawless country full of scum, criminals and murderous bandits. But, there is always one good person running around...

Lets start with my personal favourite: Duck You Sucker!/ Giu La Testa/ A Fistful Of Dynamite

The setting is 1913 Mexico at the time of the Revolution. Juan Miranda (Rod Steiger), a Mexican outlaw (James Coburn), an early Irish Republican explosives expert on the run from the British. Noting his skill with explosives, Juan relentlessly tries to make him join a raid on the Mesa Verde national bank. John in the meantime has made contact with the revolutionaries and intends to use his dynamite in their service. The bank is hit as part of an orchestrated revolutionary attack on the army organized by Doctor Villega . Juan, interested only in the money, is shocked to find that the bank has no funds and instead is used by the army as a political prison. John, Juan and his family end up freeing hundreds of prisoners, causing Juan to become a "great, grand, glorious hero of the revolution".

WHY IS THIS SO AWESOME?

+ Ennio Morricone's soundtrack is the most glorious and unforgettable score ever. The soundtrack is as epic and truly wondrous as anything Morricone ever did. It was never released in The US.

+ The chemistry between Rod Steiger and James Coburn is just delightful. These roles were normally for Eastwood and Wallach, and you do notice this but they really made the characters unique and diferent.

+ REAL EXPLOSIVES!!!! No special effects used like in these days but they worked with the real blast.

+ It's a political western, and does let you think, but dont worry, there's plenty of amusement!

- The film was originally released in the United States in 1972 as Duck, You Sucker!, and ran for 121 minutes. Many scenes were cut because they were deemed too violent, profane or politically sensitive, including a quote from Mao Zedong about the nature of revolutions and class struggle.Theatrical prints were generally of poor quality and it didn't succeed in gaining press notice. In part because of this, United Artists reissued the film under the new name of A Fistful of Dynamite.

So you guys probably don't know this movie because it had a political message and Americans back then didn't like the message, to say it simple. It's one of the most underrated westerns of all time!

Did the first trailer just blow you off your feet? Well, we wont stop! The next one is a really special one, because it features my favourite actor: Henry Fonda. Aah, Yes! I am confusing you with "the other one", also from Leone. Please, people, be patient!First it's My Name Is Nobody

My Name is Nobody is a 1973 Spaghetti Western comedy film. The film was directed by Tonino Valerii and, in some scenes, by Sergio Leone.It was written by Leone, Fulvio Morsella and Ernesto Gastaldi. Leone was also the uncredited executive producer. The cast includes Terence Hill, Henry Fonda, and Jean Martin.

Jack Beauregard (Henry Fonda) is a tired, aging legendary gunslinger who just wants to retire in peace in Europe to get away from young gunmen constantly trying to test themselves against the master. The film opens with three rascals ambushing Beauregard in a barbershop. After Beauregard has dispatched them, the barber's son asks his father if there is anyone in the world faster than Beauregard, to which the barber replies "Faster than him? Nobody!" 'Nobody' (Terence Hill) idolizes Beauregard and wants to see him die in a blaze of glory going against the infamous Wild Bunch singlehanded. The Wild Bunch are a gang of bandits who launder their loot of stolen gold via a fake goldmine. The owner sends them after Beauregard because the latter's now-dead brother was in on the deal.

WHY IS THIS SO AWESOME?

+ Leone directed several scenes of the film, including the opening scene and the final showdown with the Wild Bunch, but Tonino Valerii was the overall director.

+ Morricone

+ By the 1970s, the spaghetti Western had almost become a parody of itself. Slapstick parodies of the genre were becoming more popular. Sergio Leone and his team decided that if anyone was going to make the ultimate "joke" version of the genre, they should be the ones. Terence Hill was cast not only for box-office, but because he had in a short time become something of an icon of the genre. With the casting of the classic Westerner Henry Fonda, the contrast between the old and new (dying) West was clear.

- None

I have nothing to say about one of the best spaghetti westerns ever made.

And now we have come to the real HIGHLIGHT of this Special! Do i need to introduce the movie? It's

Once Upon A Time In The West

is a 1968 Italian epic spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone for Paramount Pictures. It stars Henry Fonda cast against type as the villain, Charles Bronson as his nemesis, Jason Robards as a bandit, and Claudia Cardinale as a newly widowed homesteader with a past as a prostitute. The screenplay was written by Leone and Sergio Donati, from a story devised by Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Dario Argento. The widescreen cinematography was by Tonino Delli Colli, and Ennio Morricone provided the film score.In 2009, it was named to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant and will be preserved for all time.

And i'm skipping WHY IS THIS SO AWESOME because you all know why. If you don't, go buy the dvd and enjoy!

Ah cmon, people, one more! This is truly another masterpiece. Not from Leone this time.

The Great Silence

The Great Silence, is an Italian spaghetti western. It is widely considered by critics as the masterpiece of director Sergio Corbucci and is one of his better known movies, along with Django. Unlike most conventional and spaghetti westerns, The Great Silence takes place in the snow-filled landscapes of Utah during the Great Blizzard of 1899.

The movie features a score by Ennio Morricone and stars Jean-Louis Trintignant as Silence, a mute gunfighter with a grudge against bounty hunters, assisting a group of outlawed Mormons and a woman trying to avenge her husband (one of the outlaws). They are set against a group of ruthless bounty hunters, led by Loco (Klaus Kinski).

WHY IS THIS SO AWESOME?

+ Tired of seeing deserts? Theres Snow in this one!

+ Morricone

+ Is considered a cult film that is convincing because of its complexity. In fact, while the political aspect has sometimes overlooked in subsequent decades, the film is still looked at by many as a high water mark for the Euro-western genre.

+Reportedly, Jean-Louis Trintignant only agreed to play in a spaghetti western under the condition that he did not have to learn any lines for the role. That's why the main character conveniently

became a mute in the story.

- Hard to find in stores :(