| ||||||||||||||
From director J.J. Abrams comes the next installment in the Star Trek saga, Star Trek Into Darkness. See it at Cinemark theaters now and pre-order on Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray, DVD, and the Exclusive Starfleet Phaser Gift Set. Shop Star Trek Into Darkness and more in the Star Trek Store. Learn more |
Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
Special Features
- Restored uncensored Director's Cut
- Video Introduction and Liner Notes by Filmmaker Alex Cox (Repo Man, Sid & Nancy)
- Alternate "Happy Ending"
- Original Theatrical Trailer
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Cult director Alex Cox (Repo Man) calls The Great Silence "the greatest spaghetti Western ever made" in a six-minute video interview, in which he explains his love for the film in an insightful monologue. Cox also provides optional commentary on the alternate happy ending (which otherwise plays without sound), an unusual find that was likely shot for Asian territories. --Sean Axmaker
Product Description
Customer Reviews
Trintignant plays Silence, a brooding, mute gunslinger moving from place to place gunning down bad guys. He's not a bad guy himself, though, because he only kills goons who prey on innocent people. A burning need for personal revenge fuels these vendettas--several men slaughtered Silence's own family when he was a young child, cutting our hero's throat in the bargain. Silence survived the attack and, even as he avenges innocents egregiously wronged, seeks out the evil ones responsible for his own personal tragedy. And find them he will even if it means dying in the process. Things start to heat up when the mute avenger stumbles across a band of rogue Mormons hiding out in the snow covered mountains. A banker in a small town has put a price on these outcasts' heads, leading to a search and destroy mission conducted by every slimy bounty hunter in the land. Leading the charge to bring in these "baddies" is none other than the psychopathic Loco (Kinski), a smirking thug who shoots first and asks questions later. You just know Loco and Silence will have a showdown somewhere along the line.
In the meantime, several subplots help move the film along: a black woman widowed when Loco gunned down her husband hires Silence to avenge his memory, a new sheriff who refuses to go along blindly with Loco's violent ways arrives in town, and the banker funding most of the mayhem carries an intriguing secret of great interest to Silence. The tension slowly builds as Loco and Silence head towards their final, fatal showdown (not giving anything away here--all of these films have a final, fatal showdown). Will the new sheriff manage to remove Loco and his fellow thugs from the equation before the bullets start to fly? Will the banker manage to eradicate Silence and the sheriff by employing the wily Loco? Will Silence avenge the horrors visited upon his family years before? All of these questions, and many others, find some resolution by the end of the movie. By the way, the conclusion to "The Great Silence" is not at all what you would expect from a movie in this genre. I think the end alone qualifies this movie as a must see for the spag western fan. It's unique in its grimness.
"The Great Silence" is really a fairly standard revenge film of the type often seen in the spaghetti western canon. What sets Corbucci's picture apart is the distinctive atmosphere, the unusual backdrop against which the characters play out their fates. Most low budget Italian western films take place in blasted, desert like landscapes full of wind, dust, and tumbleweeds. The sun beats down on the characters in these films with an unrelenting intenseness, throwing off shadows that stretch for miles, turning faces into dry leather masks, and drenching every living being in a constant sheen of sweat. "The Great Silence" definitely doesn't take place in a desert. Instead, Corbucci opted for snow-covered mountains, ice covered lakes and rivers, and a town with streets mired in deep mud. The freezing cold of winter in the "The Great Silence" acts as a metaphor of sorts, an external symbol of the icy detachment of a speechless gunslinger as he methodically and ruthlessly tracks down his enemies. Throw in a pounding score from veteran Italian master Ennio Morricone and you have all the elements of a great western. I've seen films in the genre that are better than "The Great Silence," but not very many.
A few extras on the DVD version of the film are noteworthy. There's an alternate ending for the film, a "happier" ending without any audio that employs a standard "last minute save" technique seen in dozens of other films. Corbucci apparently shot this conclusion in case audiences rejected his downbeat original idea. I think the film works great with the original ending if for no other reason than it is more realistic. You'll want to pick up Corbucci's movie if you like westerns. The picture quality is quite good, there are extras, and it's just plain fun to watch. Pick up "Django" while you're at it and make it a double feature.
There is no doubt in my mind that this film is easily amongst the best spaghetti westerns ever made. I do feel this is better than Django. The Sergio Corbucci films I'd previously seen seemed very hit and miss. The photography sometimes looked rough, complete with shaky zooms. The photography in The Great Silence however is generally superb. Some wonderful wide shots and a number of other beautiful shots, the camera does pan about very well.
The film is set on a snow swept landscape and it looks terrific, it also contains a wonderful, haunting score from Ennio Morricone.
On an unforgiving, snow-swept frontier, a group of bloodthirsty bounty hunters, led by the vicious Loco (Klaus Kinski) prey on a band of persecuted outlaws who have taken to the hills. As the price on each head is collected - one - by - one, only a mute gunslinger named Silence (Jean-Louis-Trintignant) stands between the innocent refugees and the greed and corruption that the bounty hunters represent.
It's hard to believe this film was made in 1968, it is very impressive for many reasons. First it does not follow most genre conventions, it simply follows it's own set of rules, the ending is especially different. It's well cast, I thought both of the male leads were perfect. There is a very good moment where the mute gunslinger and a coloured woman make love. This scene is really unusual and quite daring for the time. This is a very bleak film, which may put some people off. I happen to think the ending is brilliant.
The Great Silence is such a wonderful film. The English dubbing is sometimes poor, but this is only a small flaw.
I'm very pleased with the DVD of this film. Not only have they found a very decent print of the film, it's a new digital widescreen 1.66:1 transfer. Print damage is minimal, there are a few shots which look to have aged but on the whole it's very good, grain is rarely evident. The sound wasn't so good, there is background noise and it can often be heard over the dialogue.
If you are a fan of spaghetti westerns, this film is essential viewing. It is better than Sergio Corbucci's own Django which is a very good spaghetti western in it's own right. A very unusual, powerful, bleak and largely overlooked gem.
I picked up the DVD due to the positive reviews I read here.
The Amazonians here did not let me down, most of the reviews are spot on.
Highly Recommended.
Jean Louis Trintignant (French) plays the title role, a mute (hence his name) in the role of the force for good who carries an unusual gun for the time. Klaus Kinski (German) is the heavy and while his dubbed-in voice can grate on one's nerves, his actions and facial expressions leave no doubt as to who and what he is. Vonetta McGhee (American) is the black widow who becomes, briefly, the Great Silence's love interest. So it was also good to see this unusual development--a black-white couple, rare for its time as well.
While I agree with others that Leone is the best in the genre, this film has to be very close to that quality. The extremely downbeat ending is another plus, a crushing blow to the expected typical Western fare. However, in retrospect, some of the actions of the main characters leading up to this finale seem either naive or stupid. Hence, the three stars. If you can buy into the "good guys" being too trusting for their own good, then I guess this would work.
So the minuses are Kinski's dubbed-in voice, and the possibly non-credible naivete of the "heroes". But if you weigh those against the pluses, which are many, you have overall a solid film, definitely worth seeing, if not owning.
THE GREAT SILENCE is without a doubt one of the best westerns ever made, mostly because of its brilliant and (at that time) very controversial... Read more
