Customer Reviews

Django 2: Strikes Again [VHS]

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Yes,this is a flawed film.Yes,it has moments which stretch the believability quotient quite a bit.And yes,even as the ONLY official sequel to Corbucci's groundbreaking original,it seems to have little to do with it's forefather.But this film has its good points.First off,it looks good...the colombian location (inexplicable perhaps)has a beautiful feel.Django has become (again,inexplicably out of character perhaps)a man with more of a conscience and more of a heart...hes a monk now!Yet it's not unbelievable that 20 years and a daughter could soften a guy.Django(not out of character) is still killing racists and protecting innocent women (as well as children this time around) The death symbolism is still pretty potent (this time he carries his machine gun around in a hearse) It has great action sequences and effectively ominous music.It's got great costumes..(those guys in the graveyard in the black sombreros and black ponchos sure knew how to dress!)It has "Genre Icons" Franco Nero and William Berger(Berger's part is WAY too short,but it was great to see him).Suspend your disbelief (of course I don't believe you can dig up a machine gun after it's been buried for 20 years and seconds after digging it up kill 5 gauchos with it. No rust either!)and enjoy it! ...

IL GRANDE RITORNO DJANGO was a lot of fun. I enjoyed it thoroughly. This is the only "official" Django sequel, and is set twenty years down the line from the 1966 original. It was filmed in Colombia, as both Franco Nero and the director, Nello Rossati, were working in the area at the time (now, THAT is a great way to save money and get a unique location!). Even though the story supposedly still takes place in the mythological Old West, the Colombian river location shooting makes for wonderful and beautiful vistas. And I loved the black, monstrous iron ship! Christopher Connelly gave one of his last performances as the very, VERY bad guy, but I can't tell if he did his own ADR looping. Franco Nero most definitely did his own ADR--that voice is unmistakable. Good script, with decent character development. Django made the transition from repentant gunfighter to devout monk to avenging angel quite believable. DJANGO 2 was sold very poorly, with a poster that tried to make Franco Nero look like Sylvester Stallone. Wot? In any case, check out the film. Well done, and with a look that belies its relatively small budget. Django lives on!

This is one of the rare cases where a sequel proves far superior to the original. Where the original film 'Django' fell short in characterization and plot, the follow-up proves to be not only a powerful action film, but also a solid, entertaining action feature as well. Franco Nero gives a worn but passionate performance of an ex-gunfighter who has seen too much death, but must bring his trusty weapons out of storage to stop murderous slave-traders. This whole movie, from beginning to end, had a surreal, other-wordly quality that makes it all seem like a waking nightmare. Scenes are filled with eerie fog, silent, slowly starving slaves and sudden, explosive brutality. Portions of this film remind you of Coppola's 'Apocalypse Now' without actually stealing from it. And the opening title sequence is one of the BEST I've seen in any movie for the last several years. The Anchor Bay tape is beautiful -- great, clean picture and sound, although the actual content of the film dosen't lend itself to a lot of color. And the interview with Nero at the end is revealing and insightful, and makes you want to hear more from star Nero, who seems like quite a decent guy. Overall ,a powerful, creepy film -- a rarity for a western. A super film at a great price! Anchor Bay does it again!

This brain dead remake of the same crap from Django (1966) pits a long haired older (Nero) who doesn't even seem interested in the role. From the absurd opening shot of two old geezers shooting each other, to the more insane mad pirate Captain who lives on some slave ship steam hauler, this film has nowhere to go. Sadly wasted are Pleasance, in a film he made only for liquor money and Nero, who could have picked a better writer and director than his old friend. Everything about the picture looks cheap, the effects, the boats, the costumes and we don't really get a sense that a story is being told, just pointless bad vs good archetypes. Avoid this nonsense at all costs.