Product Details

• Actors: Gian Maria Volonte, Klaus Kinski, Martine Beswick, Lou Castel
• Directors: Damiano Damiani
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Blue Underground
• DVD Release Date: March 27, 2007
• Run Time: 118 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000LPQ6DO
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #82,222 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

At the height of the Mexican revolution, a mysterious young American (Lou Castel of FIST IN HIS POCKET) joins a gang of marauders led by El Chucho (Gian Maria Volonte of A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS) on a series of savage raids to steal guns for a powerful rebel general. But when the Gringo brings his own cold-blooded ideals to the bandits, El Chucho discovers that the real weapons of war belong to no army. In a land ravaged by poverty and violence, can true freedom be bought with a single bullet?

Klaus Kinski (FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE) and Martine Beswick (DR. JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE, THUNDERBALL) co-star in this legendary western directed by Damiano Damiani from a powerful screenplay co-written by Oscar®-nominee Franco Solinas (THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS, THE BIG GUNDOWN). Also known as QUIÉN SABE?, this thrilling epic features some of the most surprising performances, radical politics and shocking violence of any `Spaghetti Western' ever made.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Don't buy bread - buy dynamite!", January 4, 2008

By 

Trevor Willsmer (London, England) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: A Bullet for the General (DVD)

Following with the unlikely alliance of an opportunistic American (Lou Castel) and a Mexican bandit (Gian Maria Volonte) who sells arms to the rebels, the first half hour or so of Damiano Damiani's cult classic is more than a bit ropey. The director has difficulty establishing the relationship between the two leads and resorts to a succession of shoot-em-ups. Thankfully, these are better handled than the drawn out opening attack on the train carrying Castel's enigmatic gringo, in which too many of the ideas are in the script and too few in the execution.

If the first half is the usual running with the rebels territory, the film becomes more complex as it progresses. It is clear from the beginning that the gringo is working to his own agenda, and throughout the course of the film he steers the group towards it. Not interested in women, he professes to be interested only in money, yet at one point kills a rebel paymaster and throws away his cash. Yet even after his objective and the bandito's part in it become clear, the film manages to take the characters even further in an intriguing epilogue.

Both may be mercenary, but finally choose their own executioners, although in very different ways. Castel inadvertently because, despite ruthlessly killing those on both sides to achieve his end, he is ultimately not ruthless enough, Volonte voluntarily, passing judgement on himself when he realises the consequences of his actions.

Castel is a fairly anonymous lead as the 'ugly American', a potential flaw which the director manages to turn to the film's advantage. A moral void, he has no ideals and no scruples but is instead a remorseless pragmatist. The real undercurrents in their relationship are brought out by Volonte; his bandito, first seen literally banging his own drum, manages to avoid caricature. His growing politicisation is convincing, as is his spellbound look of (largely sexual) confusion at the gringo during a confrontation with a landowner. The audience's sympathies are never directly engaged, our involvement with the character more covert and accidental en route.

Hailed as the best of the political spaghetti westerns, A Bullet For the General doesn't quite live up to the epithet but is still a remarkable example of the genre. Co-writer Franco Solinas also wrote Battle of Algiers and Quiemada, and his revolutionary fervour is very visible in the film's parallels with America's covert overseas operations and the presence of a militant priest throwing hand grenades in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost (a less wired than usual Klaus Kinski as Volante's half-mad half-brother). The film even ends with a call to arms -"Don't buy bread, buy dynamite!"

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one of the best spaghetti westerns... not to be missed!, November 5, 2009

By 

ilyas malgit (Adana, Yuregir Turkey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Bullet for the General (DVD)

This title ranks among the best spaghetti westerns, and it is in my personal top 10 spaghettis. Gian-Maria Volonte is great as usual and the movie fits to his political views. Too bad he abandoned the western genre after 'Face To Face' in 1967. I wish he'd made for westerns as it is a great pleasure to watch him either he plays the hero or the villain. He played in 4 westerns all of which are considered to be in top 10 or at least top 20. Also check for 'Sacco&Vanzetti' (not a western though)to see how talented he is.

4.0 out of 5 stars Spaghetti with a sprinkle of allegory cheese, August 13, 2011

By 

Bryan Byrd (Earth) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Bullet for the General (DVD)

Although I'm confident it's a minority opinion, I always felt that Gian Maria Volonte was the best part of A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More, though not in the same league as Eli Wallach would be in the classic finale of the trilogy. (Who is?) In 'A Bullet for the General', Volonte takes the lead in a better than average ensemble cast as El Chuncho, a bandit leader whose childish infatuation with the sainted General Elias makes him the perfect patsy when American Bill Tate (Lou Castel) is hired to send a bullet to the general.

First of all, if you are not already a fan of Italian westerns - or at least look favorably on them - then 'Bullet' is probably not going to change your mind. Hallmarks of the genre - poor dubbing, convoluted storylines, gratuitous violence and over-emotive acting styles - are all present and accounted for here, though to my mind, this film keeps the more grating elements in check. What we end up with, underneath it all, is a neat little psychological study that adds just enough flavoring to the excitement to push this film past average and make it a minor classic of the genre.

The dandy American, Tate, worms his way into El Chuncho's bandit gang, and it will be immediately apparent to all but the most obtuse that he has designs on something much larger than banditry and running guns for the Mexican Revolution. Once he is invited into the gang, he meets El Chuncho's half-mad half-brother El Santo (Klaus Kinski), Adelita (Martine Beswick), and the others, and is accepted more or less at face value after telling them that the train they have just raided was taking him to prison. From then on, Tate keeps pushing to see Gen. Elias - a revolutionary leader hidden up in the mountains for whom El Chuncho is stealing guns.

Throughout the film, El Chuncho's fondness for Tate, whom he calls 'El Nino', causes him to sacrifice members of his original group until only these two are left to deliver the load of guns to Elias. Without giving away too many spoilers, in the end Tate both saves El Chuncho and at the same time betrays everything in which the bandit leader believes.

Subtlety is not a word that springs to mind when thinking about the action styles of Volonte or Kinski, and even though their actions remain over the top, both these two and Martine Beswick manage to imbue their roles with the hint of something more than two-dimensions. I'm trying not to over-praise here - in the context of a basic action/western, they manage to convey more complexity than usual for this type of film, which I think really puts the entire effort on a higher plane. Lou Castel, as the american Tate, is, unfortunately, the odd-man out here. By design of the director or no, his acting style never resonated with me, or else it stood out at odds so distinctly from the others that it appeared out of place. His presence is the single most distracting element of the picture.

There is a very anti-American allegorical layer to this film - those who expect to be offended by that may want to pass it by. El Chuncho, for all his violent, criminal savvy, is politically naive, and easily manipulated by Tate. Tate, on the other hand, represents the idea that any action is blessed as long there is a tall enough dollar sign behind it. When El Chuncho is placed between nationless greed and belonging to his people, though, he makes a choice that speaks for the entire film. I won't say that director Damiano Damiani completely avoids ham-fisted sentimentality - this is an Italian western after all - but within the context of the genre, I think it's excellently done, whether I agree with the subtext or not. Easily within the top ten of Italian Westerns that I've seen.

This Blue Underground release was nicely done - not pristine, but nice. Both sound and picture were entirely serviceable, though the only extras included were trailers and a filmography of Damiano Damiani.