Customer Reviews

Death Rides A Horse

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Spaghetti westerns are, in my opinion, generally the best fictional films about the American West. You can argue that John Wayne made a bunch of great movies about life in the Old West, and you would be right to say so, but for some reason the Italians perfectly captured specific elements of the era that made their movies seem more realistic. The frontier was a dirty, violent place full of unsavory types trying to get rich quick. Italian westerns capture this mood expertly whereas American films portray characters whose outfits look like they just came back from the dry cleaners. Hollywood films also tend to apply a black and white dichotomy on the characters, the old "good guys wear white, bad guys wear black" philosophy that obscures the reality of the time and place. Not so in Italian films, where even the good guys often have decidedly unsavory traits. It's too bad spaghetti westerns went the way of the dinosaurs a few decades back; I never tire of watching these films even though I am not an expert on the genre. "Death Rides a Horse" was one of my first excursions outside the standard Sergio Leone canon. After watching the film, I can unequivocally state that this film deserves an elevated place in the genre. It's that good.

"Da uomo a uomo," the film's Italian title, introduces the viewer to two powerful characters. Bill (John Phillip Law) is a young man with a phenomenal command of firearms seeking vengeance. When he was a child, he watched as a gang of ruffians slaughtered his entire family. Even though he couldn't see the men's faces due to masks, he burned into his memory specific identifying features of each of these killers. Later, as a grown man, he rides the countryside looking for a tattoo or a scar that will tell him he has found his man. And woe to the outlaws responsible for the murder of Bill's family if this gunslinger ever finds them. Playing opposite Bill is Ryan (Lee Van Cleef), a recently released convict who just finished a fifteen-year stretch for robbery. Ryan's overriding goal in life is to find his former partners, a gang of miscreants who cheated him out of his take in the robbery and left him behind to take the fall. The former outlaw isn't seeking violent retaliation for what his compatriots did to him; he just wants his money and plans on moving along.

Predictably, Bill and Ryan soon meet up. They don't like each other at the start although they soon build up a grudging respect for each other's determination and talents. Clandestine admiration doesn't stop Ryan from trying to leave Bill behind so he can resume his search for his former partners, but it also doesn't stop the two from continually meeting up. Ryan heads to a town where it is rumored one of his former partners runs several lucrative businesses. Not surprisingly, this guy isn't happy to see Ryan up close and personal. He gives Van Cleef's character a song and dance about not having the money and then tries to double cross him. Oops, one bad guy down for the count. The next stop on the pay-off highway sees pretty much the same result. A few of these one-time outlaws are going legit and the last thing they want is a reminder of their shady past. That doesn't mean they have changed their violent ways, though. When Ryan's surviving partners decide to put a stop to this loose cannon for the last time, the action moves down into Mexico where Bill and Ryan duke it out with the bad guys. A twist ending, one that shouldn't be that great of a surprise, pits the two uneasy partners against one another.

"Death Rides a Horse" is an atmospheric, character driven spaghetti western sure to entertain fans of the genre. Lee Van Cleef is excellent, of course, as the wronged Ryan. With a short glance, a movement of the body, and a brief word, Van Cleef can and does convey a whole range of emotions. The same cannot be said for John Phillip Law, who as a central character in the unfolding drama emotes with all the range of a rock. The bad guys are great, seedy looking villains without an ounce of sympathy for anyone who gets in their way. Check out those ultra scary looking banditos they hire to gun for Ryan and Bill. It looks like I'm slipping into that dichotomy I blasted Hollywood for, namely the good guy/bad guy separation. Van Cleef's character, however, is only good in the sense that he's trying to get what he is due. He could care less about righting wrongs or bringing these guys to justice. He just wants his cash so he can take off. If that means stomping on toes that just happen to be bad, so be it. Ryan would just as likely step on good people.

This DVD, from a company called Direct Source, is a huge disappointment. Sure, you get a few crummy extras (a trivia quiz and a few lean cast bios), but the picture quality is so bad, so atrocious, that it looks like the cousin thrice removed of a seventh generation VHS duplicate. Moreover, the picture is a badly cropped fullscreen transfer. "Death Rides a Horse" desperately needs a decent disc release because this film is one powerful spaghetti western effort. Watching Lee Van Cleef duke it out with the baddies is an event always worth celebrating. Here's to hoping we'll see a better DVD version in the future.

Sergio Leone defines the genre, but there are other Italian directors who know their way around the spaghetti western. If they have Lee Van Cleef to work with, well, the audience is in for a really good time.

Death Rides a Horse is the relatively unknown masterpiece in an era that produced westerns of varying quality. It has all the plot prerequisites: blood and mayhem galore, a wrong the needs righting, and an interesting relationship between the avenging good guy and the man who crosses his path with an agenda of his own that needs taking care of.

The music is quirky as only Ennio Morricone knows how make it; and the photography, if you are lucky enough to watch a good copy, has that hot, stark quality favored by the directors of these films. The acting is another matter. At one end of the spectrum is John Phillip Law who has the personality and delivery of a piece of cardboard, on the other, Lee Van Cleef who is grand mastered of the sinister glance and soft-spoken line. It's Van Cleef's movie all the way, right down to his last gesture of self-sacrifice in the end.

It's a shame that this movie has been allowed to deteriorate, but Turner Broadcasting has a good copy. Maybe if we leave enough requests on the TCM web site, they will run it for us sometime.

Of course, I love the movie, the plot, and everything to do with it. Lee Van Cleef is outstanding! However, the DVD sound quality is miserable! It sounds like those cheap Chinese imports about Kung Fu. The quality of the video is also poor. I know it's not my DVD player, because (1) my player is brand new-high quality, and (2) right after I saw this one I put in the "Hang Em High" DVD, and the sound and video quality was quite good. So, in summary, I love the movie and Van Cleef, but I hate the video and audio quality on the DVD. Can't they clean it up with all the high-tech equipment that they have? If they do, I will buy the cleaned-up version.

i have always liked this movie and i think lee van cleef was a very underated actor so i couldn't wait to watch this one again.
i know for this cheep a price that i shouldn't think i'm going to get a great copy but come on,no widescreen,washed out color audio that pops and sometimes drops out completely,and so dark in some scenes that you can't see anything at all!
don't waste your money on this badly transfered disc,find a better copy

For fans of the spaghetti western genre, Death Rides a Horse will remind them of For A Few Dollars More, one of Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy starring Clint Eastwood. While very similar the film is still worth watching. Lee Van Cleef is awesome, as usual, with John Phillip Law giving a decent performance albeit without much emotion. Usual cast of supporters in the genre with Luigi Pistilli and Mario Brega and even a small part with Anthony Dawson. Excellent storyline with one of the best endings in the spaghetti genre. However the DVD is of very poor quality with no extras offered whatsoever. Do what I did and wait for Turner Classic Movies to air it in widescreen and tape it. Only reason I give this DVD 3 stars is because of the quality. The movie on its own would probably be closer to five.

I'm not the world's biggest connoisseur of spaghetti westerns, but I'm really surprised that I'd never heard of this film before I found it in the local bargain bin. The title, DEATH RIDES A HORSE, automatically catapults it somewhere near the top of best-named westerns (the original Italian title is DA UOMO A UOMO, which Altavista's Babelfish translates as the singularly uninteresting "From Man To Man").

The film stars Lee Van Cleef ("the bad" in THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY) and John Phillip Law (known to Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans for his roles of Kalgan in SPACE MUTINY and of Diabolik in the film of the same name). As a child, Law's character witnesses a gang shooting his father, and raping and killing his mother and sister. During the attack, the child notices a distinct feature on each member of the gang.

Flash forward fifteen years, and Law is an angry young man who has trained himself to be the finest marksman in the West. But his inexperience is his weakness as he begins a journey of revenge against the evil men who took his family from him. (Luckily for him, his targets haven't thought to remove the distinguishing pieces of jewelry and clothing in the intervening decade and a half.)

Cleef has just finished serving a fifteen year term of hard labor and he has his own score to settle with the same gang who killed Law's family. The two protagonists -- while potential allies -- find themselves at odds when their methods of revenge don't exactly turn out to be compatible. Their conflict is what drives the film, as well as providing some of the (very) few laughs.

The acting is what one can usually expect from Spaghetti Westerns - everything from professional actors right on down to people one assumes were random folks who showed up at the film location with their own rags. Lee Van Cleef, I had only before seen in the two "Man With No Name" movies, but he's as collected, smooth, tough and just plain cool here as he was in those. John Phillip Law is fairly wooden (no surprise there), but his style fits the character he's playing.

Behind the scenes, there are a fistful of connections to the well-known Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone trilogy. Writer Luciano Vincenzoni had co-written FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE and THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY. Composer Ennio Morricone, who composed for THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY, contributes the score. For my money it's just as good as what he wrote for that better known film. (As an aside, I've read on the Internet Movie Database that Quentin Tarantino used part of this music in his KILL BILL.)

In the past I've poked fun at the hilarious typographical errors present on the Digiview Productions DVD boxes. I've tried to refrain of late, partially because my own typing skills are nothing to write home about, but mostly because it's like shooting fish in a barrel. But I must make note of the phrase written across the bottom of the front cover. The tag line states, "The Lenghts (sic) One Man Will Go to Take His Rewenge (sic)". Rewenge? Who's their copy-editor - Peter Cook's character in THE PRINCESS BRIDE? ("Rewenge! Rewenge is what bwings us togewah today!")

The sound quality is abysmal. Since the movie was dubbed into English, I'm assuming that the original soundtrack wasn't very clear either, but the version on this DVD seems particularly poor. It's extremely muffled, making the dialog difficult to discern. At times you'll wonder whether the sound is coming out of the TV in front of you, or your next-door neighbor's speakers.

The picture quality is acceptable, although not what anyone could realistically describe as good. The worst problem is that the film is presented in full-screen and it was obviously shot with wide-screen in mind. There are a number of scenes where it's obvious that the audience is missing something because of the inferior aspect ratio.

DEATH has everything that a good western needs. It's got action, revenge, and treachery. The script is peppered with delightfully tough and macho one-liners. It's as stylish as any spaghetti western I've ever seen. The plot moves very quickly and in sometimes surprising directions (although if you don't spot the final twist before it happens, then you were clearly not paying attention). If you're a newbie who wants to try a spaghetti western, then this is a perfect one to start with. And, thanks to its budget DVD release, you can get it for about a buck or so. Though, I should point out that this is a detriment, really, since it means that no studio will bother putting out a cleaned-up (and wide-screen!) version. Which is what this film richly deserves.

Death Rides a Horse is one that Spaghetti Western fans (and fans of Lee Van Cleef) would thoroughly enjoy. The FILM is most watchable (read below about the DVD), and Van Cleef is at his best in this one, playing a thug who is betrayed by his compadres. We usually see him playing the ultimate bad guy in most of his films, with his knife-deep stare filling the screen. At times, though, Van Cleef exposes his compassionate side for just a tease, and then just as quickly masks his inner humanity behind The Stare, as he plays Ryan, who arm-wrestles throughout the movie with stubborn youngster Bill, played by John Phillip Law, who has foresaken his lady and his life by embracing only revenge - and a single spur - after watching his father murdered, and then bearing witness to his mother and older sister brutalized at the hands of an out-of-control gang, greedy for gold.

The matchup between Ryan and Bill is one that plays itself out quite well, as Ryan acts as surrogate father, dishing out advice through some memorable quotes, teaching young Bill with his words and actions. Bill's anger is worn heavily on his sleeve, while Ryan steadily and calmly works out his own dishes of revenge, suppressing his anger even better than his empathy for Bill, which he touches on even as the pair first meet. Phillip Law was okay, but not thoroughly convincing as a bitter young man who witnessed his family's killing. Every once in a while, he might could have done just another take or two.

I wouldn't want to go deeper into reviewing the movie, except that there's a nice plot twist somewhere inside the film. Many of the actors seen in this 1968 film have been in films by the great Sergio Leone. It seems that there was a core of actors who performed in a number of Italian Westerns, and for good reason: the chemistry was there. Add a good dose of Ennio Morricone film scores, and you have the potential for a quite watchable film. Most spaghettis would crumble if not for Morricone music, which acts as an unseen, yet incredibly talented main character.

Once in a while, the dialog (like Bill's hokie delivery: "I'll find out who he is. If he is who I think he is...get ready to get mad") detracts from the pace of Death Rides a Horse (that line makes me want to Kill Bill, myself), but the overall storyline works well enough to entertain Spaghetti Western fans. There are very few plot holes to discover in the film, which has an air of dread or darkness throughout much of its length. A lighter moment always seems to pop in just when the viewer might like to come up for air (like the old man who offers Bill a kiss).

For those concerned about bad or unbelievable endings, Death Rides delivers without disappointment.

Now, for the DVD: Sadly, there seems to be no region 1 release that does this nice yet overlooked film, justice. Mine, which is a 2-4-1 DVD with "God's Gun" on the same side, and "Quality" as the title logo, is horribly lacking in anything but bad quality, perhaps one of the worst DVD productions I have EVER seen. The letterboxed picture is cropped to pan/scan, and there is not one frame that has any kind of decent image quality with respect to color, tone, or saturation. Its terribly washed out and either too contrasty and bright, or muddy and dark, without any texture. And in some scenes, the image degrades to a pixelated mess, which you'll see in the opening scene, and it returns of and on throughout the presentation. The only reason I watch it again and again is to enjoy the Morricone tracks and view an entertaining film. MGM has released a PAL-Region 2 DVD, which was well-received. It has the original letterbox (2.35:1) and infinitely better video quality. Check amazon.uk as I will, and once I get it, I'll burn my copy.

O.k, if you love spaggethi westerns your gonna love this movie. Sure it's a little formulaic, but hell it's a spag western what do you expect. It has the recuring in-jokes (Sergio Leone style), the Ennio Morricone sound track (which by now you problably know Tarrantino lifted for Kill Bill 1), a heap of crazy camera angles, Lee Van Cleef (who is cool as hell) and the film moves along at a good pace.

Now the bad part. The transfer is beyond terrible. This film was originally shot on a very wide scope (like most spag westerns) and has a stack of tight focus shots. All of the above works against this full screen pan and scan version. Basically it's like trying to watch the movie through a pin hole.

I'm glad I hired it first. I'm going to wait for a better version to come out before i buy it, but if you can't wait don't say i didn't warn you.

This Text Refers to the Uav Corp. Release.
This is possibly the best Region 1 DVD version available as of January 2005. Film Format: 4:3 Pan & Scan . Picture Quality:Average
Probably one of the Top 10 great Italian Westerns and certainly the best film from Giulio Petroni.
Lee Van Cleef gives another good performance and in my opinion he was the greatest star of Italian Westerns next to Giuliano Gemma, argue if you like.
I Have seen the film a number of times and don't want to spoil the story for other viewers, see other reviews below.
This Uav release is a worthwhile buy at a budget price.
Though a print in it's original 2:35:1 Technoscope ratio is long overdue. You gotta buy in Japan or Britain if you want that one.

For fans of the spaghetti western genre, Death Rides a Horse will remind them of For A Few Dollars More, one of Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy starring Clint Eastwood. While very similar the film is still worth watching. Lee Van Cleef is awesome, as usual, with John Phillip Law giving a decent performance albeit without much emotion. Usual cast of supporters in the genre with Luigi Pistilli and Mario Brega and even a small part with Anthony Dawson. Excellent storyline with one of the best endings in the spaghetti genre. However the DVD is of very poor quality with no extras offered whatsoever. Do what I did and wait for Turner Classic Movies to air it in widescreen and tape it