Here's QT's favorite Spaghetti Westerns Quentin Tarantino can easily run down his personal top twenty The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Sergio Leone, 1966) For a Few Dollars More (Sergio Leone, 1965) Django (Sergio Corbucci, 1966) The Mercenary (Sergio Corbucci, 1966) Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1968) A Fistful of Dollars (Sergio Leone, 1964) Day of Anger (Tonino Valerii, 1967) Death Rides a Horse (Giulio Petroni, 1967) Navajo Joe (Sergio Corbucci,1966) The Return of Ringo (Duccio Tessar, 1965) The Big Gundown (Sergio Sollima, 1966) A Pistol for Ringo (Duccio Tessari, 1965) The Dirty Outlaws (Franco Rossetti, 1967) The Great Silence (Sergio Corbucci, 1968) The Grand Duel (Giancarlo Santi, 1972) Shoot the Living, Pray for the Dead (Giuseppe Vari, 1971) Tepepa (Giulio Petroni, 1968) The Ugly Ones (Eugenio Martin, 1966) Viva Django! (Ferdinando Baldi, 1967) Machine Gun Killers (Paolo Bianchini, 1968) also these,... The runners up in not so strict order: Hellbenders If you meet Sartana, Pray for your Death God forgives, I don't Companeros Four of the Apocalypse Ace High Boot Hill Duck, You Sucker Minnesota Clay Arizona Colt Ringo and his Golden Pistol Adios Gringo ...and to quote Quentin "all the Calvin Jackson Padget films with Giuliano Gemma" One Silver Dollar Fort Yuma Gold Wanted The Trinity movies They Call Me Trinity Trinity Is Still My Name This man can't die The Deserter Five Man Army Chino Requiescant Red Sun. That's it.
When Once Upon A Time In Hollywood came out it reminded me of how I did not like Western movies. My Father was a big Gene Autry fan and he would watch all those B movie westerns on TV and I just didn't get it. In March when baseball was cancelled I needed another pastime so I subscribed to Turner Classic Movies because they had a lot of these types of movies so now's the time to check them out again. After a while it was clear that they were just bad TV shows with a bigger budget and longer. Boring. I never watched a Spaghetti Western (not even any of the Dollar Trilogies) so now I finally decided it was time. I found QT's favorites see post above. I started with #8 Death Rides A Horse, QT got a heck of a lot for Kill Bill from this movie, I was hooked!! Remember in the cartoon in Kill Bill how the guy leaving the room where the kid was hiding and before he walked out out turned and shot (was it a lantern?) and started a fire, yep whole scene in Death Rides A Horse. Then I watched God Forgives, I Don't. QT has got an eye alright, here's the plot; Psychotic bandit Bill San Antonio (Frank Wolff) kills all the passengers on a train and steals a fortune in gold. Hutch Bessy (Bud Spencer), an insurance investigator, and his gunslinger partner, Cat Stevens (Terence Hill), go on the hunt for Bill, hoping to retrieve the loot. Unfortunately, outlaws take Hutch and Cat prisoner. Cat manages to get away and saves Hutch's life. When Cat is kidnapped later by other crooks, Hutch has to reciprocate. But they still have Bill to worry about. Bill (yes Bill, most bad guys in these movies are named Bill) is a "psychotic bandit", actually a gay bandit but that was written for the US viewers I suppose. Played by Frank Wolf who got his start by one of my favorite directors Roger Corman. As a kid in the 60s his bad horror films were the best and always running on the afternoon movie matinees. Cat Stevens (I wonder if a 19 year old Steven Demetre Georgiou also saw the movie) is played by Terence Hill and Italian actor who still stars in his own TV show in Italy, I think it is a cop show. Bud Spencer is the stage name used by Carlo Pedersoli. He got into acting after his Olympic career in swimming and waterpolo. I don't know when the first "buddy" movie was made but this one I liked a lot because they did not start out as buddies and didn't bond until the end. Good movie. The Mercenary was real good to and I am amazed how much Franco Nero looks like Terence Hill. I looked it up they are 2 different people. Then Django, wow! QT used the exact recording of the open song for his Django Unchained. excuse me, I need another cup of coffee
I think it’s so well made cinematically, and the cast is so high profile, it would have found an audience regardless. Unlike some of his other films I don’t feel compelled to rewatch it over and over and over, but I have seen it 4 or 5 times and think it’s totally solid. It’s very well crafted.
126 pages(and counting) and I don't think so. But of course, his name brings a lot of attraction. Rightfully so. He made the film and it's his style. That's why we love it. To each his own of course
Has anyone reviewed the DVD extra features? I've always found Tarantino DVDs to be loaded with extra cool stuff! There could be an entire disc of bonus material just expanding on all the period elements, like a mini doc on The Raiders and one on Sharon Tate's career, another on L.A. films of the time like Model Shop, the Sunset Strip club scene... I think if you don't love all that stuff and get most or all of these elements woven in in various ways, then it's just some movie. This was Tarantino following his enthusiasms and that is how it should be even if some demographic might not 'get it'. I wasn't a huge buff for giant robots and Japanese monsters but Pacific Rim, especially the 2 DVD with all the great extras, was done from such love and attention to detail I was bowled over! Big Fun! Roman Coppola's CQ was another!
The extras in the deluxe set were fantastic. Worth every penny. I’m surprised they didn’t press a few more thousand. Never selling mine!
I go back and forth between Jackie Brown and Hollywood, but Pulp Fiction is darn close. What a director and writer!
Interesting list. QT's lists are always intriguing and idiosyncratic. Love seeing For a Few Dollars More so high on the list - for me, it is just a leaner, meaner version of GBU. I'm surprised The Great Silence wasn't given a more prominent spot but it makes me want to check out the ones that ranked higher. Glad to see quirky stuff like Navajo Joe and The Hellbenders too. About the only one I really disagree with is Duck You Sucker, which felt kind of choppy to me, not to mention all the pee and poop and scrotums. At least Django Kill didn't make the list. That's usually way up there and it's really not that good. QT's movies are a mixed bag but his authority on exploitation cinema is always impressive.
Just to be clear, the discs are the same as the regular versions I think. Nothing in the way of extra video in the collector's edition.
I just saw The Dollar Trilogy this summer in chronological order and I was very impressed with the 1st one. I think I'd call it my favorite. I haven't gotten to that one yet. From what I read about it I'm sure QT did some nicking from it. Remember in Kill Bill when the Crazy 88s were filing in to fight the Bride and the music sounded like some sort of Native American tribal war chant? That was in Death Rides A Horse too. The difference for me between American Westerns and Spaghetti Westerns is like country music. Dwight Yoakam said it best, Nashville country music came out of the church, Bakersfield/L.A. country music came out of the bars.
I've read QT bash Al Adamson a few times but I just watched one of Al's trashterpieces, Angel's Wild Women, which takes place largely at Spahn Ranch and it does seem like one of those movies that QT poached a lot of stuff from. Always interesting to come across those - Hey I've seen this before - Oh! it was in XXX Tarantino movie! He is a master thief.
I didn't realize this. Sharon Tate had a recurring role on the Beverly Hillbillies as "Janet Trego." OMG. Young (21?) Sharon as a short haired brunette. I'm dyyyyyinng.
I read somewhere that the real Sharon Tate was fond of going around barefoot everywhere when she could. So this is just a representation of that, that she spent a lot of time barefoot, and so her feet were dirty as a result.
I've now seen this movie 8 times at a theater (it was put back into theaters last week) and I do own the Blu-ray. Officially one of my favorite movies of all time.
It really is a gift. I am so thankful it was released before this whole COVID mess and I could enjoy it in a theater properly (twice).
According to IMDB she played two other roles on the show The Beverly Hillbillies (TV Series) Janet Trego / Young Woman - Party Guest / Mary - The Possum Parade (1965) ... Janet Trego - Possum Day (1965) ... Janet Trego - The Clampetts vs. Automation (1965) ... Janet Trego - Double Naught Jethro (1965) ... Janet Trego - Dash Riprock, You Cad (1965) ... Janet Trego - Back to Marineland (1964) ... Janet Trego - The Giant Jackrabbit (1964) ... Janet Trego - The Clampetts Get Culture (1963) ... Janet Trego - Elly Needs a Maw (1963) ... Janet Trego - The Garden Party (1963) ... Young Woman - Party Guest - The Clampetts Go Hollywood (1963) ... Janet Trego (credit only) - The Clampetts Are Overdrawn (1963) ... Janet Trego - Chickadee Returns (1963) ... Janet Trego - Jethro's First Love (1963) ... Janet Trego - Elly Starts to School (1963) ... Mary This pic is probably from the Garden Party episode. It seems to me that I have seen a pic of Sharon with long blonde hair in a one piece bathing suit from the show but I can't find it.
