Customer Reviews

Beyond the Law

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

An entertaining admixture of American idealism and Italian commedia dell'arte, "Al di la della legge" (or "Beyond the Law") is a (sometimes) ambitious attempt to fuse two storylines into one: the conventional (American) tale of the reluctant hero and the conventional (spaghetti) tale of the band of ruthless killers up against a nearly unstoppable (anti-) hero. Lee Van Cleef seems to be particularly amused by the role: as Billy Joe Cudlip, an aging rapscallion and saddle-tramp suddenly become local hero, Cleef relaxes into a role that actually avoids violence whenever possible, who makes comments like, "And no gun play!" Lionel Stander nearly steals the film with his portrayal of "Preacher," an old friend and partner-in-crime of Cleef's: his tongue in cheek performance simultaneously masquerades the "preacher" roles of the classic Westerns and illustrates the tightrope that these minor villains constantly walk--the line between loyalty to each other (and the general desire to do good to most others) and self-interest. Gordon Mitchell is also quite good as the third member of the gang (a sort of low-key "good, bad, and ugly")--an African American whose race is clearly a non-issue to his friends (he avoids playing into the stereotypical roles that Jim Brown in fact is forced to indulge in his own westerns).

The central theme of the film is one of community vs. outcast and the pain (as well as freedom) that goes with the latter category. Van Cleef is constantly reminded of his marginal status; what separates him from his two companions is the fact that they don't want to become part of community, that the idea of group values are anathema to their sense of a passing time of freedom. But Van Cleef slowly invests in community through the film (most notably through his growing friendship with Antonio Sabato, who plays a rather naïve émigré from Czechoslovakia). Thus, the film's external violence (represented by a "Wild Bunch" of ruthless bandits, led by Gunther Stoll, who want to steal all of the silver in Silver Town-Van Cleef and his friends were content with only a few thousand dollars' worth, which, to their chagrin, they never even get to enjoy) is a reflection of Van Cleef's internal struggle: stick with your old friends (and the values they represent) or join a "lawful" community?

Giorgio Stegani's direction is sometimes erratic (the movie is awkwardly paced; but Stegani's "A" budget cast and crew makes this his best spaghetti), but Enzo Serafin's photography is excellent and Riz Ortoliani's score achieves a perfect balance between heroism and melodrama. In the end, however, the real reason to watch "Beyond the Law" is Lee Van Cleef. The film is not as good as "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly" or "Day of Anger" or, most importantly, "The Big Gundown" (all of which came out just before this one), but Van Cleef's acting is never better, never more nuanced, and his characterization never more multi-dimensional. It's a tribute to Van Cleef that we too feel the pain of his impossible choice at film's end--even if the overall experience is nowhere near as good as it might have been.

This Movie has a good storyline to it and could be better
But the picture of this movie is terrible, it looks like
the old time film side handle rotaters. Only worth buying
if your a Lee Van Cleef fan.

I bought this movie becuase I thought Bud Spencer was a main character! He is only in it for 10 minutes! Besides that I was entertained! It was a good story about a Checkezlovakian (did i spell it right?) who is payed to come to the united states to deliver some money to James Cooper (Bud Spencer) but a clever thief (Lee Van Cleef) and his buddy (Lionel Stander) steal the money and they are happy but Bud isnt. Strangley the Checkezlovakian becomes good friends with the men who stole his money and he asks thier help to find it! Its and ok movie Not worth paying more than 5 dollars.

I suggest other westerns like "TODAY ITS ME TOMORROW ITS YOU", "ACE HIGH", MY NAME IS NOBODY" which is one of the best movies ever!, and the "TRINITY" films.

Don't run out and pay top dollar for this movie, but if you can get it on sale somewhere it might entertain you. Van Cleef does a good acting job as the reluctant lawman. There are some decent comic touches. The movie drags a bit in the middle and some of the acting is lousy and the production values (even by 1968 standards) are low. Not too terrible a way to spend a couple of hours on a dull weekend. One big howler of a mistake was a major character, Novak, describes himself as a Czechoslovakian. Czechoslovakia was not founded as a state until 1919, long after the Wild West era ended. He should have described himself as a Bohemian or Moravian. Gee, its usually the Americans that don't know anything about European history, but here the Italians mess up!

Disclaimer: The version of the film that I saw is included in the Spaghetti Westerns 20 Movie Pack, and as such, I cannot comment on the quality of the item listed on this product page. My review is concerned with the entertainment value of the film only.

In this above average Van Cleef oater, director Giorgio Stegani whipsaws the audience back and forth between a lighthearted feeling of comraderie between Van Cleef's small gang of saddle bums and con artists, and a much grittier, grimier tone of murder and gunfights - and of impossible moral dilemmas. Veteran character actor and blacklist member Lionel Stander, and humanitarian and former boxer Al Hoosman, team up with Van Cleef to burgle the payroll meant for miners from greenhorn Czechoslovakian mining expert Antonio Sabata. When the three thieves hear that the insured payroll will be replaced, and that the greenhorn is going to ride shotgun on the money wagon again, they stick around and try to strike gold a second time by stealing from a silver mine. But a funny thing happens during the bait and switch, and the three saddle tramps end up defending the second shipment of money from a real bandit gang - and they are so successful that the grateful town elects Van Cleef to take the place of their wounded sheriff. The real bandits don't give up so easily though, and led by Gordon Mitchell, they later extract an unconscionable price from the townspeople in order to get at the town's supply of silver ore. Eventually, Van Cleef and his old friends, along with the townsfolk and the greenhorn, must battle for the return of their livlihood - but when the smoke clears, Lional Stander (looking remarkable like a wild-haired troll doll) will give his old pal Van Cleef an impossible choice. And the new sheriff must decide whether or not to uphold the law he is entrusted with, or to cross the line that will truly put him beyond it.

There are a few reasons why this western doesn't rate higher - mostly because it didn't seem as if director Stegani could decide exactly which kind of film he was trying to make. For the first half of the film, the mood is relaxed and mildly humorous as Van Cleef and his pals act out their roles as thieves and rapscallions, and the plot revolves around conning the payroll out of the silver mine boss, played here by a respectable-looking and clean shaven Bud Spencer. But after an almost cheerful beginning, the second half seems especially jarring with its cruelty and violent action, looking as much like a Sergio Corbucci film as anything else. Still, I think the dichotomy in the film could work, but it would take a finer hand than Stegani brings to this effort. Van Cleef's character also appears out of place in the beginning; it isn't until he takes the sheriff's positiong that he finally seems comfortable - but that could just be typecasting on my part. Regardless, I think he does a good job here overall, even with a script that stretches credibility in a few places (in an Italian western? Surely not!). In fact, all the principal players are more than adequate for their roles in a storyline that never fully takes advantage of all the opportunities it offers.

Still, fans of the genre should still find more here to like than not, and Van Cleef fans may enjoy a performance that is slightly more nuanced than usual from the man who once said "Being born with a pair of beady eyes was the best thing that ever happened to me." Although not a top tier effort, the current average of 2 stars seems entirely too low to me for this flick. Trust me, I have seen two-star films before, and 'Beyond the Law' is no two-star film. Three and a half stars, but closer to three.

Trivial matters: Al Hoosman, an African-American actor who died only a short time after this was released, is the third member of Van Cleef's gang (not named), although it is not easy to tell from information in the film or on internet sources such as IMDb. Some reviewers list this character as Bud Spencer or Gordon Mitchell, but it is not, and IMDb lists him as uncredited, and that is also false.

The version of the film that I saw, which is part of Mill Creek's Spaghetti Westerns 20 Movie Pack, is presented in non-anamorphic widescreen (16x9 widescreen televisions will have black bars at top and bottom, along with both sides). Audio is listed as two channel digital dolby and run time on the DVD timer is 1:49:38 - substantially longer than both versions of the movie put out in individual packaging and currently available on Amazon. Two scenes which must have been cut for American release are in Italian with English subtitles (the rest is dubbed in English), and probably account for at least ten minutes of the missing time. Unfortunately, whoever designed this package from Mill Creek decided to cram four movies on each single-sided disc instead of two films on each side. The film itself has enough quality issues with out compounding them with compression problems (minor pixellation on larger screens). Although I haven't seen it directly to compare, there are positive reviews for Wild East Productions Spaghetti Western vol 10, containing both 'Beyond the Law' and 'The Grande Duel', though it is currently unavailable at Wild East's website or on Amazon. Wild East's reputation is generally positive, so in the end, that is probably the version worth tracking down if you are interested in obtaining (and paying for) the highest quality print available.

The DVD quality is a nightmare. The picture looks washed out. Most of the objects on screen are in orange color. Even the grass, the shrubs are in orange! The people look out of proportion. The plot is boring.