Big Gundown, The (1966)

The Big Gundown (1966), directed by Sergio Sollima.

A sometime-lawman tracks down a wily child-rapist and murderer. But do we know who the real villains are? You're not supposed to bring a knife to a gunfight, but sometimes it works.

Once we get away from Sergio Leone all spaghetti westerns tend to look alike to me. Thin on plot, trying to make it up with style.

Though well-liked, I had never heard of this one before it appeared on Blu-ray. I review it only because:

Grindhouse Releasing Blu-ray, with commentary track but no subtitles on the 95 minute extended US version. The retail package includes the 110 minute director's cut in Italian, but my disc from "3D Bluray Rental" was the shorter edition.

The two enthusiastic film scholars on the commentary know a lot more about Italian cinema than I do. They present this film as more important and ambitious than I would have imagined.

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