A Long Ride from Hell (1968)

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Good gracious!!! Steve Reeves in a western movie??? It's really hard to find this movie on DVD, i need to wait for a long long time to get a chance to watch this movie. Luckily i found it on You Tube and download this as well. Honestly, I'm not disappointed after watching it! Steve Reeves came up with his final movie and quit acting after this movie, i wonder why??? The way he acted in a cowboy movie was surprisingly good and he could turn out to be a lot better if he further his career. It's too bad he quit earlier..I wish he acted more in spaghetti western movies..he could be as popular as Franco Nero or Lee Van Cleef! A Long Ride From Hell is just one of the best western movies i have seen so far. In my opinion, this one surpasses Django and The Great Silence. I just thought that A Long Ride From Hell is better.10/10 stars (excellent)

PLOT: Rancher Mike Sturges (Steve Reeves, the late body builder best remembered for starting the sword & sandal craze by starring in "Hercules" and "Hercules Unchained") and his younger brother Roy are framed for a train robbery they didn't commit and sent the brutal Yuma prison without a trial. There, Roy is tortured and eventually beaten to death by a sadistic guard (are there any other kind in movies like this?). Enraged, Mike escapes during a prison break out, kills the guard who killed his brother and sets out to exact a similar revenge on the criminals who tore his life apart. An accomplished horse rider, Steve Reeves had always liked westerns - as most people of his generation no doubt did - and when he got into the movie business he naturally wanted to make one (legend has it he was offered the role of The Man With No Name in "A Fistful of Dollars", which helped make a cinematic icon out of then TV star Clint Eastwood - but turned it down because he found the script too violent and was skeptical of Italian knowledge of America's "Old West"), and finally did with this, his last film, which he also co-wrote. Though only in his early 40s, meaning he could have hung around and made more spaghetti westerns as his pal and fellow athlete the late Gordon Scott did, Reeves had injured his shoulder during a chariot accident on a previous film and stunt work in between that accident and "A Long Ride From Hell" only aggravated it and would cause him problems later in life regarding his work out regime (Reeves did his own stunts since there were no Italian stunt men big enough to double for him). Since the injury made being an action star, even a B-movie action star, impractical, Reeves opted to bow out from the game and spent the remainder of his life living quietly in California, where he managed a horse ranch. As for the film itself, it's a fairly grim, gritty and dark story, in contrast to the mythological fantasy adventure films Reeves was best known for. You wouldn't think Reeves was suffering from a bad shoulder watching him in the film though, as he batters his way through villains and proved himself to be surprisingly nimble for a guy who stood 6'1" and weighed over 200 lbs of solid muscle. Though dubbed again, Reeves dominates every scene he's in by sheer virtue of his physical presence and steely blue eyes.All in all, a must for fans of Reeves and spaghetti westerns in general.

I saw this recently for the first time. Reeves is great in his final film, what a shame he was unable to continue making films because of an injury. He looks good and acts well in this revenge story which is head and (very broad) shoulders above of most of the post 66 Italian western output. Reeves could have been one of the great western stars but it wasn't to be. A glimpse of what he could have achieved can been found in such films as 'Sandokan' and 'Morgan the Pirate', non-sandal films that were great fun. I was glad to discover that his post-movie life was a success and that he was a happy and wealthy man. He is much missed by his fans.

While this is one of the better "spaghetti westerns" from the 1960s, it is little known in this country despite the presence of Steve Reeves in the starring role. Reeves' looks and presence here indicate that he could have had a post-Hercules career in the movies and it's both sad and puzzling that this career never evolved.The movie itself lacks the flamboyant, even operatic style one often associates with these westerns, but unlike some of its competitors, this has a solid, well-constructed script which effectively uses the "revenge" theme without any digressions or detours. By some standards, this movie might even be labeled "minimalist!"There is one missed opportunity, however. Reeves spends an entire reel laboring on a rock pile in one of those primitive, scorching-hot desert prisons manned by sadistic guards who are quick to dish out brutal punishments. (One is reminded of "Hellgate" or "There Was a Crooked Man.") He sometimes works with his shirt off -- giving us a look at that glorious, suntanned, sweat-streaked torso -- and he's sometimes given a punch or a kick or a shove. However, there's no scene of Reeves being tied to a post and given a savage flogging across his bare back. Since Reeves had one of those born-to-be-whipped bodies, it's unfortunate the makers of this movie didn't take advantage of this resource.