Didn't quite know what to expect when I picked this one up at the store for $5. Bruce Willis and Christopher Walken in a Western set in 1930's prohibition? (you may think that is a gangster film, but trust me, watching this, it's not.) Anyways, I was forced to ask myself the question "if this film's so good why's it being sold so cheap?" Well I'm not one to shun a film just cus it's got a low low price, hell I picked up Street Fighter (the original Chiba one) for just a dollar. So I figured I might as well check it out see if it's really worth it.
Well it was. I'm not too familiar with Walter Hill, but he does a fine job in this film showing Bruce Willis blasting away at the bad guys. Watching it I'm reminded of a watered down Desperado. This whole film seems like a Robert Rodriguez film without the Robert Rodriguez attitude. And while that is missed, especially in the screenplay, it's still got some wonderful shootouts in it.
Based off the same story Sergio Leone's Fistfull of Dollars takes it's plot from, you'll notice many similarities between the two. In fact, you could even see this as a re-make of Fistfull of Dollars if you wanted to, but not in a bad way. To give a fair analogy, this movie is to Fistfull of Dollars as the Tom Savini 1990 re-make of Night of the Living Dead is to the original 68 George Romero film. Same basic plot, slightly different action, which one's better? Well you decide.
You want to see something fun, shot well, something that successfully mixes the two sub-genres of western and gangster films, something that's got Bruce Willis going Desperado on Christopher Walken? Pick this one up and have a good time.
Well it was. I'm not too familiar with Walter Hill, but he does a fine job in this film showing Bruce Willis blasting away at the bad guys. Watching it I'm reminded of a watered down Desperado. This whole film seems like a Robert Rodriguez film without the Robert Rodriguez attitude. And while that is missed, especially in the screenplay, it's still got some wonderful shootouts in it.
Based off the same story Sergio Leone's Fistfull of Dollars takes it's plot from, you'll notice many similarities between the two. In fact, you could even see this as a re-make of Fistfull of Dollars if you wanted to, but not in a bad way. To give a fair analogy, this movie is to Fistfull of Dollars as the Tom Savini 1990 re-make of Night of the Living Dead is to the original 68 George Romero film. Same basic plot, slightly different action, which one's better? Well you decide.
You want to see something fun, shot well, something that successfully mixes the two sub-genres of western and gangster films, something that's got Bruce Willis going Desperado on Christopher Walken? Pick this one up and have a good time.