Inadvands Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

TeenzTen An action-packed slog

Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Leofwine_draca All in all, this is a pretty good example of the spaghetti western genre. Aside from a few brief instances in my youth, I haven't really seen that many spaghetti westerns yet (apart from the more popular Clint Eastwood ones), so this was a good introductory experience for me. DJANGO THE BASTARD has the right look and feel about it, with crisp photography capturing the barren desert land and the isolated town just right. The director Sergio Garrone was an old hand at these type of films and his solid direction proves this, providing plenty of interesting camera angles (most notably in the excellent opening scene, showing a stranger walking into town via P.O.V. shots) and good editing. An excellent music score also helps, utilising the classic guitar string music associated with the genre and changing mood when needed to make things more exciting, whenever the situation calls for it.For me, the cast is totally full of unknowns, yet all cast are fine in their respective roles. The baddies are typically repulsive, although Paolo Gozlino lends just the right touch of class as the boss. Lu Kanante, on the other hand, is a snivelling psychopath who shoots up a street full of men and women while laughing manically. His sudden death is well deserved and a welcome end for this repulsive weirdo. The woman playing his wife (didn't get her name) is also very good, and thankfully her character is a well-rounded one, a woman out for her own benefits. Anthony Steffen takes the role of Django, and while he doesn't have the same screen presence as Clint Eastwood - or, indeed, Franco Nero - he's more than adequate at carrying the film when needed and invests his role with a likability towards the end which really gets us rooting for him.There are plenty of shootouts to enjoy, although a few are poorly edited and therefore lack the necessary thrills. One gun battle between gangs of men is particularly well choreographed. The final twenty minutes are basically a protracted cat and mouse game between Django and the hired hands out to kill him, and is pretty tense. While the film isn't very violent (there's hardly a drop of blood on show), there's a neat trick involving an unfortunate victim getting impaled on a cleaver sticking through a door - you'd have to see it to understand. I also welcomed the addition of a few macabre horror elements into the brew, such as Django placing crosses in front of his victims before killing them, or a few scenes set in cemeteries. There's also an ambiguity surrounding the character of Django, who may or may not be a ghost. This makes things even better in my opinion. DJANGO THE BASTARD may not be a particularly original film, taking too much from what has come before it and relying on a strict revenge theme rather than branching out in new directions, but the execution is fine, making this an easy and enjoyable film to watch.

ironhorse_iv Antony Steffen plays yet another unofficial Django type character. A man in black; face hidden by wide brimmed hat; whom has the burden to place a cross bearing the name of the people that wrong him in the past into the ground. He haunts his victims like the Grim Reaper arrive to collect their soul. I like to think of it, as WWE Undertaker, the movie with his Gothic themes. Anthony Steffen might not have the same dark premise as Franco Nero, but I have to give mad props to the man for trying. As you see, at the time, a lot of Spaghetti Westerns try to hook audience in, by trying to connect their movies with other Spaghetti Westerns movie that has popular characters. You can see a lot of them, sporting that their character is the same as the Man with No Name, Sartana, and in this case, Django. According to the IMDb, there were well over fifty of these "Django" imitations made. Unlike other movies, that do this, and have no similar themes. The film tries hard on the concept, and really look like it could belong to a Django film. Still, in the long run, the film has really no connection to 1966's Sergio Corbucci's film, Django, but seem more influence by the Man of No Name character from the Sergio Leone 'Dollar' trilogy. Anthony Steffen is very stoic and subdued. People would say wooden, but he under acts appropriately and does what he has to do. He knows how to be cool. The only problem is Anthony Steffen isn't that menacing. The more, you got to see him, the less, he become cool as the movie went on. Honestly, they shouldn't reveal way too much of his personality in the flashbacks. That was the fault of 1966's Django: A Bullet for You. That character had nothing to do with Django. It made the cool ghost, into an average man by the end. Django the Bastard also known as The Stranger's Gundown is a very interesting Spaghetti Western movie directed by Sergio Garrone. This movie was a key inspiration behind Clint Eastwood's 1973's High Plains Drifter and deserves credit for that reason alone. The execution however doesn't match the idea nor does it mine its full potential. The movie concept was better used in 1968's 'Once Upon a Time in the West'. The plot is a traditional revenge film with a man who everybody think is dead seeking revenge on his killers. At less, the movie made it believe that he was a ghost and that only epileptics and gypsies could speak with him. Obtaining an "X" rating on its initial Italian release due to its violence. It's now look upon as silly one-shot kills. Still, it had a pretty memorable intense action like the two men playing hot potato with a live dynamite. I love how the whole town people were exile, just for the villains to find this mysterious man hiding among them with his many men. It gave a near impossible fighting against the odd feel to the hero. The acting is alright for the most part, but the actual villains, the Murdock Gang are not that memorable. If anything, they killed off, Luke Murdock (Luciano Rossi) way too earlier. He is totally over the top insane, and brutal. Rada Rassimov's character Alethea is a bit annoying with her money hungry greedy ego. Every scene with her and Django made me want to see her met her end. Sadly, it never came. The English dubbing is a bit off with the mouthing. I really can't say, that it's better with other languages. It was very flat dialogue. I did like the devil out of hell talk scene. The music score is very creepy and atmospheric. It set up the Gothic horror feel, but in a fast paced. The real pacing in the movie is pretty slow. It get really boring at times, at less, in the beginning. The original version of this film has a pre-credits explanatory scene. The version released in the UK & the US places this scene, the entire reasoning behind Django's motives in the film in a flashback later in the film, roughly half way through the film, rather than before the credits, which is how it is presented in the Italian version. It kinda work and kinda didn't. It made the movie, really confusing at first as he don't know if Django is supposed to be the villain or the hero. The camera work is great for the most part. Garrone uses innovative camera work to good effect. He cracked the camera glass when filming, so he can give the three villains together with distort images. He uses a kaleidoscope affect in one scene. Also, he filmed night scenes for almost half the movie. It was great, not seeing day for night, or the night scenes being way too dark. These are filmed in a skillful style that never obscures the view and keeps the film interesting. Very good direction for the most part. Some really awful shots, had to be, the odd church roping scene, a scene where somebody walking by, hit the camera on accident, and the awful Civil War flashbacks in slow motion. Much of the daylight cinematography is poorly lit. There's some bad editing that makes me think that the original Italian version may have been longer, but in my surprise, the film wasn't cut up much, as the normal running time is supposed to 107 minutes. Surprising for a Spaghetti Western. The picture quality is great. It kinda depends on where you get the DVD. There are some lines and scratches, and some color distortion in some DVDs. In my opinion, M & Studio Canal often get restored copies. Overall: to combine the Horror genre with the Western, with a somewhat mixed, if interesting, result. It's a unique and interesting film in spite of whatever minor flaws it may have.

JohnWelles "Django the Bastard" (1969), which also sometimes goes under the name of "The Stranger's Gundown", is a Spaghetti Western, directed by Sergio Garrone, that tries to combine the Horror genre with the Western, with a somewhat mixed, if interesting, result.The script is by its star Anthony Steffen along with the director, and tells a tale that at first seems derivative, but then intriguing: Django (Steffen) brings his deadly vengeance against rancher Rod Murdoch (Paulo Gozlino) for betraying him 13 years previously in the American Civil War.When Django's motivation is revealed, the only explanation left is that he is in fact a ghost. There are hints throughout and up to that point when all is revealed that he may not be one of "us", sliding into the frame and appearing in places where it would have been impossible for him to go without Murdoch's henchmen seeing him. Yet this is a ghost, that when shot, bleeds. However, his is shot by the man Luke (Lu Kamante), son of Murdoch, and the only person, alongside the money crazed Alida (Rada Rassimov), who doesn't believe that his is a spook. This raises the interesting question as to whether Django is only a ghost to those who believe he is one. Perhaps though, I'm over thinking this. Garrone wasn't the most accomplished director and a number of scenes, like the wretched dynamite throwing scene at Murdoch's ranch, are simply badly made. However, the good does outweigh the bad: most of the gunfights are excellently staged, and when Luke tries to hang Django in a church, one of the most memorable scenes in Spaghetti Westerns take place. There is some very good photography from Gino Santini and while Steffen is his usual imive self, which actually works quite well here, both Lu Kamante and Rada Rassimov are first-class. The music score, on the other hand, by Vasco Mancuso is pretty poor.Finally, there are too many directorial inadequacies and missed chances here to make this a great film. The same year's "And God Said to Cain…" with Klaus Kinski shares many of its same features, but manages to sur "Django the Bastard" with ease. Still, there a number of things here make it a must-see for genre aficionados, and if I ever see a decent print of the film, I might like it a lot more.

unbrokenmetal Django (Anthony Steffen) scares his enemies by presenting them with crosses bearing their name - and the day of their death. Western movie with horror effects, similar to `E Dio Disse A Caino' by Antonio Margheriti. Christopher Frayling suggested in his book `Spaghetti Westerns' that this `is a revenge film, with the central character avenging HIS OWN death', and that hits it pretty much. Django appears and disappears like a ghost, an idea Clint Eastwood picked up for `High Plains Drifter' two years later. It is interesting to compare Steffen's expressionless interpretation of the Django character to the one he did in `Pochi dollari per Django', an earlier movie where he portraits Django as a sheriff without all the supernatural attitude, more human and ionate.