One wonders if this film was actually directed by a single human being with a creative thought process. The spectacular Tuscan mountain region doubles nicely for the big sky country of America, providing the only genuine energy in this moribund production. It feels as if the screenplay was generated by some sort of computer after being fed with the essential plot points of the Hollywood western. The film lurches along awkwardly, trying not to miss any of the preprogrammed beats. It's rather a grubby combination of far far better films such as "Shane", "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", "The Shootist", "High Noon" or even that evergreen, "The Angel and the Badman". "The Gunslinger's Revenge" even throws in some "Dances With Wolves" moments among the local population of amazingly genial and chipper Native Americans. Presumably the computer weighed the variables and inserted a solid percentage of egalitarianism.
The performances -- if one could call them that -- of the actors are at the very best uniformly bland. One would hope this can be attributed to the script which relies on every Western gunfighter cliché ever produced and handcuffs the actors to characters without any range or depth.
And speaking of Lee Marvin's brilliant performance as the vile, mentally unhinged Liberty Valance...
What cinematic genius suggested that David Bowie try the ghastly pseudo-Southern dialect as the mentally unbalanced gunfighter who tracks Keitel to his hometown? One could blame the computer again. It sorted through the data and decided in lieu of being able to dress Bowie as former Nazi officer (always a quick way to establish a character as a freelance sadist), they would opt for a Confederate officer instead. Of course, it all makes perfect sense -- just like the rest of this appalling film.
The performances -- if one could call them that -- of the actors are at the very best uniformly bland. One would hope this can be attributed to the script which relies on every Western gunfighter cliché ever produced and handcuffs the actors to characters without any range or depth.
And speaking of Lee Marvin's brilliant performance as the vile, mentally unhinged Liberty Valance...
What cinematic genius suggested that David Bowie try the ghastly pseudo-Southern dialect as the mentally unbalanced gunfighter who tracks Keitel to his hometown? One could blame the computer again. It sorted through the data and decided in lieu of being able to dress Bowie as former Nazi officer (always a quick way to establish a character as a freelance sadist), they would opt for a Confederate officer instead. Of course, it all makes perfect sense -- just like the rest of this appalling film.