Customer Reviews

Long Ride from Hell

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

 

 

This very average spaghetti western is only for the die-hard fans. It's most notable for being the final film for actor Steve Reeves who gained fame by his Italian sword and sandal films like Hercules.

Steve Reeves' character and his brother head out to capture some bandits that stole their cattle. They however get set up in the process by some guys who want to steal some gold. Reeves and his bro get sent to a sadistic work camp where his bro dies and Reeves escapes to get revenge.

The film is entertaining enough and Wild East's DVD is very good as usual. Sadly the film's original aspect ratio is 1.66:1. I hate this ratio as it is almost full screen. It's not Wild East's fault as that is the films original aspect ratio. The bad news is that since it's such a bizarre widescreen that Wild East was unable to make it anamorphic. I also wasn't too keen on the $19.99 price tag as an average spaghetti western like this should have been released in a double feature or at least with a $14.99 price.

hercules goes western(spaghetti style)!!!
steve reeves bought the writes to make this movie from the novel(TWO GUNS FOR A
JUDAS). and with his conections from the industry in italy,got the best people
he could find,like enzo barboni(trinity films)doing the camera work and so on.
this is really a good action packed spaghetti western that keeps you entertained
all the way through the movie.The funniest thing for me,when watching this movie,was when it showed steve reeves wrestling down a 1000lb bull,it took him awhile,but he got'er done.Steve reeves and his brother were framed for a train
robbery,by the sherriff,his deputies and an old freind portraying him self as a
railrode detective,who also shot his cowhands except for one who made it back to the ranch and told steve.then he and his brother were sent to prison where after
a few years went by,his brother was brutaly tortured and killed and created a jail break and get's even with the guard and his cronies who killed his brother and from then on it was all total revenge in the style of these westerns that we are to fimilar with but more intense!!!!A lot of fimiliar faces int this movie.Also a
great and excellent score as well.Wild east did a great job on this DVD as well
with a few extras with DICK PALMER a.k.a.MIMMIO PALMERA,very intresting too!!
and also with STEVE REEVES at home on his ranch. I highly recommend this film
for all it's worth!!!!!!

Reeves turned down the chance to be 'the man with no name' when approached by Sergio Leone. No one could have outdone Clint Eastwood,
however Reeves regretted missing his chance for a spaghetti western. This film fulfilled his wish, and being a real lifelong cowboy
stood him well for this outing. Also included is a bonus feature visiting Reeves on his California ranch. This alone is worth the price
of the DVD. Any baby boomer Reeves fan should consider this a treasure found. Highly recommended for all Reeves fans.

A Long Ride From Hell boasts a great title and a cover art poster that Sigmund Freud could have a field day with. That guy looks like he is holding his arm doesn't he? Ahem. The fellow on the ground also seems to have a bit of a problem with the placement of his gun. Just who were they trying to sell this movie too anyway? By the way, there are no scenes of Steve Reeves in this film that resemble the muscle man on the poster - thank Zeus.

Now to the movie. A Long Ride From Hell is really not a bad Spaghetti Western on its own merit. Today it may seem tame but at the time it was considered extremely violent and was panned for its violent excesses. Especially some torture scenes at the prison and Mr. Reeves punching a sadistic prison guard until his chest caves in. Nifty!

There are allot of familiar faces in this film that you will recognize if you are any kind of Spaghetti western fan. The dubbed in voices? - you won't recognize. Steve uses his real voice and most of the dubbing is not bad but some is atrocious.

Steve looks the part but his acting is a bit wooden as the hero. Steve plays it very straight. He is not the almost mute cowboy telegraphing his feelings using the facial ticks as we are used to from actors in the genre. But the big problem is that Steve's character is realy pretty much of a nicey-nice home boy with deep roots. He is not playing the romantic, ultra cool, anti-hero, nomad alah The Man With No Name, Sabata, Django Etc. Also Steve and the film have not an ounce of a sense of humor or irony usually found in the best SWs. But of course humour is almost never found in revenge flicks and this is a revenge flick.

The soundtrack is a bit clichéd but better then many that do not have Ennio at the musical helm. There is also one of those nice colorful opening montages in the opening credits - think Fist Full Of Dollars, or Day of Anger.

The biggest problem is the screenplay (or a bad edit?) causes the film to be rather choppy, probably to keep the running time short. The film jumps from situation to situation or should I say from cliché to cliché far to rapidly with no real build up, explanation and sometimes not much continuity. This gives the film an unfinished and hurried quality. I believe most Spaghetti Western fans wont care for this as the calculated tempo and slow build up to violence is one of the best features of the genre. The other problem is that the plot is very obvious - its a very simple revenge story and you'll know where this one is going right from the start - a little mystery would have helped allot.

I don't think fans of Steve Reeves of "Hercules fame" will like this picture much as Steve does not play a muscle man nor is he here to show off his physic. I would also not recommend this the film to American western fans as ALRFH is sometimes laughably over the top clichéd and has a somewhat unpolished production.

But most Fans of Spaghetti westerns will likely want this film in their collection. A Long Ride To Hell is still a much better film compared to the largest percentage of Spaghetti Westerns out there. To give you an idea ALRFH fits in the genre as far better then Navajo Joe but not as good as Day of Anger and of course miles from anything by Leone. ALRFH boosts good SW style atmosphere, an OK soundtrack, some great scenery, noisy gun fights, very lively fist fights and of course lots of horseback riding.

Wild East has produced a very good, clean, colorful, wide screen film print and a very clear mono soundtrack.

This is a movie I had been after for ages.It has been EXTREMELY rare for as long as I can remember.Recently I managed to get a copy that was not particularly very good quality,it even had forced Dutch subtitles,so when Wild East released this movie,I just had to obtain it.
The picture quality is extremely good and is presented here in it's original 1.66:1 ratio with a strong mono soundtrack.
The movie may not be to everybody's taste,but it is well shot,has plenty of action and makes a nice addition to either your Steve Reeves collection or your Spaghetti western collection.
The extras are a good bonus,in particular an interview with Mimmo Palmara (Dick Palmer)which is informative and unusual.There is also a look at Steve Reeves at his ranch made by the Italian fan club,the original trailer and a photo gallery.The packaging also includes shots of original posters for the movie.
Overall a great presentation.Recommended.

I really wish I could say something good about this movie. I'm a huge fan of Steve Reeves and love most of his other movies - some of my favorites being Hercules, Hercules Unchained, The Thief of Baghdad, The Giant of Marathon and Goliath and the Barbarians.

Having wanted this movies for a long time, I bought it as soon as it became available on Amazon. I was really disappointed although I'm still glad I got to see the movie. I've read Steve really wanted to make a western, I hope he enjoyed making it! The only real enjoyment I got from this movie was just the presence of Steve.

Please see the review by A. Snyder - his review for this has summed up all aspects of this movie very well.

"A Long Ride From Hell" is an entertaining Eurowestern that is most notable for starring Steve Reeves, star of the great Hercules peplum films. This is Mr. Reeves' only Spaghetti Western, and he also co-wrote the screenplay. This film is presented by Wild East in it's original 1.66:1 aspect ratio, and looks and sounds pretty good. ALRFH features some of the genre's familiar faces, such as Mimmo Palmara (aka Dick Palmer), Nello Pazzafini, Aldo Sambrell and Wayde Preston, and the always welcome addition of Spaghetti beauties Rosalba Neri and Silvana Bacci, both in alluring minor roles. Also, great special features including an extensive Mimmo Palmara interview about his experiences making Eurowesterns, and a video of an Italian Steve Reeves fan club's visit to Steve's ranch. An in all a great DVD for fans of the genre!

What I like most of this western classic is its quality, a deluxe edition and Hi-Def master!. It's a real pity that the 50 Movies Warriors have such a bad quality, normally a VHS bad copy. Another thing is that having such an excellent on line world-wide store as Amazon, it's a real pity too that they are not at least closed-captioned for all those that english is a second language.