Viva! Django (1971)

Good concept, poorly executed.

Excellent adaptation.

Blistering performances.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This spaghetti western is yet another in the seemingly endless cycle of 'Django' movies. Like the vast majority, it only has a passing relevance to the original Sergio Corbucci classic and really the lead character is no more than a standard spaghetti western anti-hero who could essentially go under any moniker. But, I have seen quite a few of the Django movies now and I have also seen quite a lot of the more run-of-the-mill Italian westerns too and this effort is quite clearly better than most. In this one we have the title character hunting down a group of bandits who raped and killed his wife. He takes them out one by one with the help of one of their ex-gang members, whom he saves from execution in order to gain his trust and assistance.This one has Anthony Steffen as Django and I reckon he is one of the better actors at playing this kind of role. He does elicit a certain hard-nosed cool throughout and its easy getting behind him on his bloody revenge mission. Steffen also has good chemistry with Stelio Candelli who plays the Mexican bandit who partners him. The nature of the plot with its emphasis on a series of villains taken down one at a time, means that the story is made up of individual segments and I think this helps pace the film quite well, which is a good thing given that many spaghetti westerns can get a bit tedious as they go on. The ending also was good here too, although I saw the twist ending coming a mile off I have to say – the clues are there and you have just got to spot them. All-in-all though, I was pleasantly surprised with this one and certainly found it to be one of the better movies from this sub-genre.

One of a number of cheaply made Italian Westerns designed to cash in on the Django brand name, "W Django!" a.k.a. "A Man Called Django", doesn't compare of course to the original Franco Nero film but is still very acceptable non-think entertainment that keeps you watching for an hour and a half. In this story the cunning bounty hunter is actually married, but the poor woman lasts barely a minute and a half; she's assaulted and gunned down by bandits. A year later Django (Anthony Steffen) comes to a small town and learns that a thief about to be hanged, Carranza (Stelio Candelli) can identify the members of that gang, so he saves his life. The two men are then united as Carranza points out one lowlife at a time while bodies regularly get pumped full of bullets and a shipment of guns plays into the plot. Don't look for too much story here, but you can expect a fair amount of style, courtesy of director Edoardo Mulargia, and the violence is pretty constant; the body count in this thing is impressive. You can also expect a LOT of comedy in this thing, thanks to writer Nino Stresa. Candelli in particular is an absolute hoot. The acting is competent all the way down the line; horror fans may recognize Chris Avram from Mario Bavas' "A Bay of Blood", cast here as the outlaw Jeff. Esmeralda Barros adds appreciable eye candy as Lola, and Donato Castellaneta is quite appealing as saloon owner Paco. Some fans of Italian Westerns may find that ultimately it gets too silly, but it's undeniably very lively from start to finish and hard not to like. Steffen may not be Franco Nero, but he's pretty cool in his own right and the viewer simply has to love how ingenious he is. He establishes himself as a cool customer soon after his entrance, and he comes up with nifty ways to trick various bad guys. (The bit with the fake arm is a show-stopper.) All in all, this is quite agreeable and well worth a viewing. Seven out of 10.

W Django! (1971) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Django (Anthony Steffen) comes home to find that his wife has been raped and murdered by four bandits so he sets off to capture the killers. Along the way he saves a man (Stelio Candelli) who is about to be hanged because he use to be a member of the gang of killers. The two set out to kill the bandits but there are plenty of twists and turns to follow. You can tell watching this thing that the budget was probably very small but I think this adds to the enjoyment of the film because the director has to cover up some of the cheapness with clever action and stylish twists. The film looks the low budget very well and I think this really adds to the atmosphere as well. The film is ugly, mean and at times funny and this is what makes this a better than average Spaghetti Western. This was my first time seeing Steffen and he really shocked me at how good he was. He perfectly looks the part of the man wanting revenge but he also has a good comic timing in a few scenes. The greatest moment is when he's riding into a small town and runs into a prankster who likes throwing dynamite at people. Django, calmly picks up the burning stick, lights his cigar and throws it back at the man. Candelli is also very good in his role and the two men act very well together. There's plenty of gun battles in the film but none of them get too graphic so you could probably even show this to kids. The soundtrack by Piero Umiliani is also very good. This certainly doesn't rank up with the greatest films in the genre but it's a nice addition.

A group of bandits raped and murdered a woman that, for their bad luck, was Django's wife.After that,the famous gunman goes in a vengeance against the bad guys, killing everyone in his trail. This one is a typical Italian western although is really strange to find Django as a married man. Some good moments - some violent shots, some comic scenes -but it's just routine material but good for spaghetti westerns buffs. I give this a 6 (six).