Light the Fuse… Sartana Is Coming (1970)

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Astute gunslinger Sartana springs the thief Grandville from prison in the hope that he can access a fortune in gold stolen by the latter. Grandville was double crossed by his partner who has since been killed and now a crooked sheriff, a fierce bandit and his gang, a saloon keeper and a shady widow are after the loot. Sartana and Grandville are become marked men and bounties are put on their heads. Immediately Sartana begins playing everyone off against each other whilst trying to find clues to the whereabouts of the gold. As the bodycount increases, Sartana finds that Grandville is not all he seems...This fourth instalment in the awesome Sartana franchise is as whacky as you'd expect. There's a huge amount of fun to be had here as suave Gianni Garko fills the boots of our titular hero for the last time. What exists of a plot becomes increasingly convoluted as the film progresses, but hey it's a Spaghetti western. As with the first three movies this one has a very Bondian feel mainly because of the gadgetry Sartana relies on to get him out of tight situations, or in not so tight situations he uses curious clockwork toy fashioned like a mini totem pole to light his cigarettes. This is a refreshing addition to the plot which succeeds in making the film more engaging. We have a decent score from Bruno Nicoli and the movie gets off to a brilliant start with our protagonist making a cool entry. The action scenes are exciting but the finale is truly memorable. Daft as it may be, Sartana's climatic "organ solo" is one of the most amazing(and highly amusing)lessons in Spaghetti western ass kicking ever committed to celluloid. Bodies drop like flies thanks to a good old church organ which has been equipped with some complimentary armaments, namely cannon and a machine gun turret!.What else can I say, a great hour and a half of fun. 9/10

I didn't come in to this flick in the beginning. I came in somewhere's near the middle, the main character walking into a bar with a plinky plink piano playing...at various tempos...and a cut scene to him playing A PIPE ORGAN, in a horse barn. (yes, you read that right) A sub character, comes in from the back and eventually shows his little mech project (with a goofy name of course)- a badly stylized "tiki" head that rolls, stops, flips its lid and lights a lighter inside...My suspended disbelief was also suspended.Thanks, Sony for broadcasting barrel scrapers like this.I would call this more of a peyote western.

SARTANA is a fundamental archetype in Spaghetti/Paella genre as well as James Bond in spy-genre , here Gianni Garco-Sartana stars an entertaining SW with lots of action , gun-play and fun . As always , the mythic personage appears elegant and dressed in black and with a killer look . Gianni Garco's Sartana is the standard by which every spaghetti antihero is measured along with Lee Van Cleef's Sabata and Franco Nero's Django . The film deals with a cache of gold and counterfeit money that has disappeared turning into several hands . The dark , elegant hero , a freelance gunman named Sartana (Gianni Garco or John Garco) appears to chase the nasty thief , discovers the robberies and settles disputes by shooting . Bemusing Spaghetti Western with Sartana as a tough and stranger protagonist , he's an efficient gunslinger acting as judge , jury , and executioner . At the beginning Sartana arrives in a small town named Sandy Creek where occurs a slaughter by two nasty deputies (Luis Induni and Dan Van Husen) who kill a judge (Francisco Sanz) and he then seeks vengeance . Sartana is taken prisoner and locked along with Grand Full (Piero Lulli) . It follows the seemingly endless adventures of Sartana in search of a cache of stolen gold . The confrontation will be inevitable among the town's ambitious sheriff (Massimo Serato) , an astute widow named Belle (Nieves Navarro) , a cruel murderous Mexican general named Monk (Jose Jaspe) and of course Sartana . At the end takes place a spectacular showdown in the streets of a town in which Sartana contends against all . This co-production Italian/Spanish is an exciting Sartana movie starred by Gianni Garco , it is plenty of action , shootouts , double-crosses , twists and loads of violence and blood . Sartana himself is like a crossover between Clint Eastwood's The Man with no Name and ¨Django¨, a black-clad amoral anti-hero ; adding the special characteristics from James Bond , his quirky gadgets and elegance . Sartana character is in equal parts mysterious , cool and deadly ; he is not out there to chase the bandits like a simple bounty hunter , he is just out for money and blood . His quirky gadgets often bring to mind the other similar character , Sabata played by Lee Van Cleef and Yul Brynner . The first Sartana was ¨Gunfighters Die Harder" or "If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death" a trend-setting film by Gianfranco Parolini with Gianni Garco , Klaus Kinski and Fernando Sancho . The best Sartana are directed by Giuliano Carmineo , alias Anthony Ascott, he realized various with George Hilton who replaces to Garco . Hilton played more natural and roguish than Garco who was cold and peculiar . The later "Sartana" movies directed by Anthony Ascott became increasingly cartoonish and humorous . It was followed by director Alfonso Balcazar with ¨Sartana non Perdona or Sonora¨ with George Martin , Jack Elam and Gilbert Roland . Miles Deem directed two Sartanas deemed lousy and cheesy . Furthermore , a string of sequels and rip-offs with other Z-series directors.The movie gets the usual Western issues , such as greedy antiheroes, violent facing off , quick zooms , exaggerated baddies and musical score with Ennio Morricone influence , among them . There appears as secondaries the habitual at Italian Western and Peplum genre , a cast played by the customary plethora of Spanish actors : Jose Jaspe , Maria Vico , Francisco Sanz , Frank Braña , Fernando Bilbao , Luis Induni ; and Italian players : Piero Lulli , Bruno Corazzari , Sal Borghese , Renato Baldini . Furthermore , the Eurotrash goddess, the babe named Nieves Navarro or Susan Scott as a cunning and killer widow . Special mention to Franco Pesce, Spaghetti's customary, and occasional comic relief as an old inventor who provides strange gadgets to Sartana . Very good Spag musical score , it's composed and conducted by Bruno Nicolai, Morricone's usual collaborator . Appropriate cinematography by Julio Ortas , photographed on location in Hoyo de Manzanares, Madrid and Rome, Lazio . The film is well produced by Eduardo Manzanos Brochero with his company Copercines financed a lot of Westerns , he built a Western town in Hoyo De Manzanares (Madrid) , today disappeared , called ¨Golden City¨ where filmed several Chorizo Western and various ¨Zorro¨ films as well as Sartana movies . The picture is professionally directed by Anthony Scott or Giuliano Carmineo who made several Spaghetti as ¨The moment to kill¨, ¨Find a place to die¨ , ¨They call him Cemetery¨ , ¨They call me Hallaluya¨ , and the Sartana movies : "Have a Good Funeral, My Friend, Sartana Will Pay" , ¨Sartana the gravedigger'(69) ,"Sartana's Coming, Get Your Coffins Ready" , ¨Light the fuse Sartana is coming¨(71) . Overall, this is a must see for SW aficionados . A cult Spaghetti , essential for the genre lovers.

The fifth, and final if I'm not horribly mistaken, official entry in the Sartana series, sees director Giuliano Carnimeo (Anthony Ascott I'm looking at you) and regular Gianni Garko teaming for yet another spaghetti western mystery-cum-action extravaganza.The plot is crafted in typical Carnimeo fashion, occasionally makes no sense, but is fun to watch as it unfolds its twists and turns, with a myriad of people trying to get ahold of 500,000$ dollars and $2 million counterfeit money. The whole cast puts in a good performance, the gorgeous Nieves Navarro (aka Susan Scott, known from A Pistol for Ringo and giallo efforts) easily standing out, not necessarily for her acting abilities though.The final showdown in the empty streets of a town is as close to offering a monumental spaghetti western moment, the Sartana series will ever come. After Parolini's insurmountable original from 1968 that is. It's obviously, strongly influenced by Corbucci's Django (1966), but that doesn't detract from its psychotronic charm. Watch it and find out. Bruno Nicolai's score is like a second grade Morricone, but given Il Maestro's genius, even a second grade Morricone is a good thing. Combined with plenty of gunfights, greasy villains, conniving women and enough quirks and tricks to keep fans happy, this is a worthwhile second tier spaghetti western entry and Carnimeo's best in the Sartana series. Great for a Sunday afternoon...