ma-cortes

(2012-04-26 20:23:50)

Passable S.W. with peculiar role for Lee Van Cleef as sheriff of Silver City

This especial Italian western blends violence, action western , plottwists, shoot'em up with high body-count , it's fast movement and forthat reason is entertaining . This is the story of the ex-bandit who'dworn it -till he'd faced one gun too many...the young , novice engineerhe had to teach to wear it- or watch to die and the young who livedonly to wear one of his own ! .. and for some dollars a month -that'swhat they gave you for protecting people who ran like rabbits when thegoing got roguish ! ¨ . The picture deals with a beginner youngengineer (Antonio Sabato , of course father of known TV actor AntonioSabato Jr) who persuades veteran rogue (Lee Van Cleef) and his hoodlums(the veteran Lionel Stander) to help him to rid a little town ofbandits who have robbed 12.000 dollars belonging to payroll of theminers . Then , the thief turns into sheriff of the little town calledSilver City where is guarded the silver treasure from the mine and thebaddies led by Burton ( particular performance by a Peplum-hero asGordon Mitchell dressed in black with cloak and hat ) want to rob .Meanhile the old gunslinger now upright sheriff falls in love with abeautiful girl (Graziella Granata) .It's an acceptable Spaghetti film with dazzling shootouts between theprotagonists and the contenders . This meaty Western containsinteresting plot , violence , shootouts and is quite entertaining ,though drags at times in ups and downs . This average Western balancesnoisy action , suspense and drama with tragic final in which happens asad , dramatic showdown . It's a classic recounting about teaching anunexperienced young finely played by Antonio Sabato who is in charge ofa silver mine and a veteran roguish become marshal . Agreeableperformance by Lee Van Cleef changing his usual characters , here as ahonorable sheriff who defends the villagers and even confronts hisfriends at an amazing ending . Secondary cast formed by habitualSpaghetti/Peplum players as Carlo Gaddi, Romano Puppo, Herbert Fux,Enzo Fiermonte and including Bud Spencer in a serious role as foreman .Enjoyable score by Riz Ortalani who composed lots of Spaghetti Westernscores , it contains a sensible musical leitmotif .There are many finetechnicians and nice assistants as the cameraman Enzo Serafin who makesa nice photography with barren outdoors, dirty landscapes under aglimmer sun shot of course on Almeria , Spain , though is mostly filmedat Italy . However , being necessary and urgent remastering because ofthe original is washed-out . The motion picture is professionallydirected by Giorgo Stegani , though with no originality . He's is anexpert writer of Giallo and Western as ¨Blood of a silver dollar¨ and ¨Beyond the law ¨ and occasionally Western director as ¨Gentlemankiller¨and ¨Adios Gringo¨ . Rating : 5,5 acceptable but mediocreSpaghetti that will appeal to Lee Van Cleef fans .

(2012-04-26 12:40:47)

Unbalanced

This is a somewhat curious movie, an odd mixture between Italo western,comedy and drama (even melodrama at times!).The main problem is that it isn't quite sure about what it is supposed tobeon the whole. The shooting and fighting scences are pretty trashy. Lee vanCleef and Lionel Stander save some of the scenes although it becomesobviousthat van Cleef is the wrong chap for the role of Cudlip: He's tootalkativeand witty in a conventional way. In the end he's torn apart between hisnewduty as a sheriff and his former life as a thief. You cannot even remotelycompare his role to that of Sentenza or Col. Mortimer in theDollar-trilogy.When nothing better is on, you can probably watch this movie and get alittle bit of entertainment out of it. Also see whether you can reckognizeBud Spencer. He's playing a quite untypical role which does not involvehisfists.

Mark-371

(2012-04-21 04:27:38)

This movie was allright!

This movie was ok.....i thought it would be good since lee van cleef was init and so was lionel stander......mainly i bought it because Bud Spencerwasin it......i thought he was a main character but he was only in the moviefor about 10 minutes.....the story wasn't bad....it was about a guy whocamefrom europe to the states to deliver money to some miners but itsstolen....he has to get it back and he asks lee van cleef for help...butleewas the person who robbed him! i would give this movie a5/10

disdressed12

(2012-04-20 21:38:12)

Lee Van Cleef,Lionel Stander,Antonio Sabato,BUd Spencer,Gordon Mitchell.

this spaghetti western is not too bad.i though the story wasinteresting,and there are some good performances.Lee Van Cleef is themain star,and is quite good here.but he is overshadowed by a fewothers.Antonio Sabato(father of pseudo-actor Atonio Sabato Jr.)for oneputs in a terrific performance,as does Lionel Stander(80'S TV show Hartto Hart.i also liked Bud Spencer(who acted in numerous spaghettiWesterns)though i wish his role had been bigger.but the realstandout,in my mind,is Gordon Mitchell,for his "ice water in his veins'portrayal of Burton.the big negative for me though is the length of thefilm.i feel it is at least 30 minutes too long,and it moves fairly slowat times.but the performances overcome that weakness.for me,Beyond TheLaw (1968)is a 6/10

Wizard-8

(2012-04-17 03:12:34)

Okay, but could have been better

The basic story was very interesting, and parts of it were well executed.Especially the GREAT ending, which gives Van Cleef a chance to do someexcellent acting without having to say a word.The problem with the movie is that (uncut) it's too long, and way toodrawnout. It could have been edited down by twenty minutes or so. Also, themoviedoes not explore Van Cleef's character's transformation enough, with is aserious mistake.The more you like spaghetti westerns, the more chance there is you'll likeit. You also get to see Bud Spencer without his beard!

John Seal

(2012-04-16 07:30:47)

Enjoyable spaghetti

No one seems to have reviewed Wild East's DVD of Beyond the Law (whichalso includes Lee Van Cleef's The Grand Duel) so I guess I'd bettertake up the challenge. Unlike all previous American video releases,Wild East's disc is correctly letterboxed and includes some scenespreviously only available on European prints, which immediately rendersall the bootlegs and pan and scan sell-throughs redundant. The filmitself is a modest affair involving Van Cleef, Lionel Stander, BudSpencer, and the still active Herbert Fux in a caper to abscond with asilver shipment. Though the film was rather blandly shot bycinematographer Enzo Serafin--whether intentionally or otherwise, it'sdrenched in browns and yellows, lending it a rather dustyappearance--the proceedings are immensely improved by Riz Ortolani'smajestic score. Though Beyond the Law is overlong and drags at times, aspectacular finale involving caped villain Gordon Mitchell enlivens thethird act and will leave spaghetti fans satisfied.

Sandy Petersen

(2012-04-11 01:52:40)

one of the worst Italian westerns

Not really a "spaghetti' western, though filmed in Italy. No one wearsa duster, and it's not really very violent till near the end. The moviehas a weird "European" feel to it, as if the makers had no idea whatthe Wild West was really like. The "villagers" of Silvertown have anOld World style festival, for instance, everyone polkaing and playinghappy music that would have been perfect for Oktoberfest. Other errors are rife. One of the heroes claims to come from"Czechoslovakia"!? (A nation that didn't exist at the time - anyone whocame from the area would have said they were from Bohemia, Moravia, orAustria-Hungary). Bullets are stopped by thin wooden slats. Pistolsoutshoot rifles. Guns can't hit a man less than 30 yards away becausehe's "too high up". A guy is hit by a bullet wound right in the middleof his left chest, and the wound is declared to be "not serious". Asaloon singer sings, and behaves, like a European cabaret star. Awestern stable names a horse Taras Bulba. It's unintentionallyhilarious.Sadly when the movie tries to be funny, it catastrophically fails. The"humorous" bible-quoting crook has a long unfunny scene with a group ofkids that makes no sense at all in my dubbed version. Maybe it wasfunnier in Italian. There are also errors of plot. Lee Van Cleef is first seen onhorseback. But a major theme for the next 45 minutes of the movie ishow he needs to get himself a horse. There is a big scene where VanCleef defends the dubious virtue of a dance hall girl, but then henever picks up on a potential romance with her. She just gets discardedalong with other plot points. Van Cleef is fun to watch as always. The other actors are varyingdegrees of suckitude, and the movie, in general, makes little sense.There are a couple of reasonably good scenes, which I guess is reasonenough to watch this if you got it in a pack of 20 Westerns, which Idid. But it sure as heck isn't worth looking up on its own, unless youare writing a book on Lee Van Cleef or something.

rmahaney4

(2012-04-10 14:29:40)

Good spaghetti but nothing special

3 rogues steal a mining company's payroll from Antonio Sabato'sCzechoslovakian mining engineer at the beginning of this rather routineSpaghetti Western. They then spar with the black-clad villain Burton.The story of the transformation of Lee Van Cleef's Cutlip from criminalto marshal is interesting and could have made a really good film, butit is poorly executed with unimaginative direction and music. However,a few of the scenes, particularly those with the hostages, areeffective. If you like SW, then you will find something in this film toenjoy. I did. But if you do not, then avoid. I saw a rather poorquality pan and scan VHS. The film would really benefit fromwidescreen.Lee Van Cleef's performance is good, but as usual with SW there aresome priceless dubbed lines like, "I never saw nor heard so manyb*****ds in all my life. All you men got families that came from allover the world, right? The kid just got here and gets and little badluck and you treat him like a dog. Who the hell do you think you are?You act like you all got hit in the head with a horse!"Top spaghetti western list http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=21849907Average SWs http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=21849889 For completists only (bottom of the barrel)http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=21849890