Clevercell
Very disappointing...
SpuffyWeb
Sadly Over-hyped
Noutions
Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .
Invaderbank
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
ma-cortes
This thrilling film packs noisy action , shoot'em up , round-up , high body-count and it's fast moving , being quite entertaining and made in American style as well as Spaghetti , approaching increasingly Leone Italian manners , but keeping some details that make it special in this particular genre . It deals with a solitary drifter called Jeff Benson (Carl Möhner) helps some unfortunate people who have been gunned down by El Diablo's murderous bandit band . Then Jeff saves Jerry and joins to him . Both of them arrive in Canyon City , a dangerous city run by Black (Ivano Staccioli) , the sheriff'son and whose sister (gorgeous Alessandra Panaro) falls in love for Jeff . But Bandit leader El Diablo (Jose Torres) who controls the country with his gang plans to achieve gold destined for Mexico , though he is not the only one .This obscure Spaghetti results to be an exciting Maccaroni western that contains a story full of violence , so-so dramatic pace and slick direction . It follows the Sergio Leone wake , including close-ups , shootouts , choreographic duels and that's why being proceeded in Italian style . It's a thrilling western with spectacular scenes and breathtaking confrontation among protagonist Carl Mohner and heartless enemies as Jack Taylor and Ivano Staccioli . It's a middle-budget film with usual actors , technicians, production values and pleasing results . Charismatic interpretation from Paella/Spaghetti's customary actors . The Austrian actor Carl Mohner is average in his usual tough role , here as Jeff Benson , an undercover federal agent posing as a drifter and desperately wanting justice , but a ruthless Mexican and a traitor are on his trail . Carl Mohner was as Austrian character actor who appeared in British and continental productions from 1949 . He was also a noted abstract painter, whose works have been exhibited internationally . Mohner starred films in all kinds of genres , especially thriller , action and wartime such as : ¨A woman at her window¨, ¨Wanted babysitter¨ , ¨Cave of the living dead¨ , ¨It takes a thief¨, ¨Sink the Bismark¨, and ¨The last bridge¨ . His greatest hit was ¨Rififi¨ . There are also some familiar faces in the support cast , most of them under-covered by American pseudonyms , such as Ivano Staccioli , Antonio Garisa , Mila Stanic and José Torres who steals the show as nasty Mexican bandit called El Diablo . This role as a cruel Mexican outlaw to be continued a few years later , in the classic Spaghetti ¨The specialist¨ by Sergio Corbucci with Mario Adorf as Diablo . Colorful and evocative cinematography by Marcello Masciocchi , though being necessary a perfect remastering . And inappropriate and inadequate musical score . The motion picture was regularly directed by Gianfranco Baldanello . He was assistant director and subsequently directed some films . Gianfranco made several Spaghettis , such as ¨Uccidete Johnny Ringo¨ , ¨This man cant die¨ , ¨Son of Zorro¨ , ¨The Cry of the Wolf¨, ¨Black Jack¨ and ¨Blood River¨ . And ¨30 Winchesters for El Diablo" - International title- or "Gold Train" rating : 4.30/10
zardoz-13
"This Man Can't Die" director Gianfranco Baldanello's Spaghetti western "30 Winchesters for El Diablo" ranks as an entertaining frontier yarn about a mysterious straight-shooting stranger and the eponymous Mexican bandit who rides roughshod over the border town of Canyon City with his posse of trigger-happy pistoleros. Baldanello directs this oater—actually his first film at the helm—with a modicum of style. During the first five minutes, he frames a man pleading for his life with the camera set up so that the poor beggar is framed between the legs of the villain who is poised to kill him. A gunshot rings out. The beggar slumps over, but it is the villain who crumples from a bullet. Incredibly, the beggar discovers that he is alive. Along with his scenarists, including Alfredo Varelli, Adriano Micantoni of "The Colt is My Law," and Alfonso Brescia of "When the Devil Holds A Gun," Baldanello packs several surprises into the screenplay, the biggest of which occurs about three-fourths of the way into the action.A solitary horseman, Jeff Benson (Carl Möhner of "The Last Gun"), rides into a ranch where everybody but one man, Jerry (Antonio Garisa), has been gunned down by El Diablo's (José Torres of "Slave Queen of Babylon") murderous bandit gang. Two bandits are making the soul survivor dance to their gunshots. Jeff saves Jerry when the latter thinks that he is about to bite the dust. Once Benson has rescued him, Jerry follows him on foot to join him. "You can't leave me here," Jerry shouts. "You saved my life. You've got to take me with you." Benson keeps on riding, but Jerry surprises him a little later when he shows up on horseback to join him. They canter into Canyon City, or as some citizens refer to it "the worst damned town on the frontier," looking for work. No sooner do they reach town than Jeff intervenes in a gunfight. Our hero blasts the revolvers out of the hands of two combatants. "If you've got to quarrel, settle it legally. Both of you are grown men fighting like a couple of kids." Sheriff Webb (Attilio Dottesio of "Hercules against the Moon Men") approaches Jeff and asks him what his business is in Canyon City. "Two gentlemen were about to kill each other and I stopped them," Jeff replies. "This might seem strange to you, but we're looking for work." A troubled cattleman, Randall (Renato Chiantoni of "The Man from Nowhere"), has been talking to Sheriff Webb about helping him find cowhands willing to help him move his herd to better pasture land before the animals starve to death. Nobody wants to help Randall because they fear El Diablo." Eventually, Jeff and Jerry hire out to Randall and move his herd. During his discussion with Webb about the herd, Jeff notices Sheriff's Webb's daughter, Pamela Webb (Alessandra Panaro of "Hercules against Moloch"), and takes a shine to her. Meanwhile, at the local saloon, Sheriff Webb's no-good grown-up son Victor is consorting with a dance hall girl, Rosario (Mila Stanic of "And Give Us Our Daily Sex") who dreams of wealth and a new life elsewhere. What Victor doesn't know is that Rosario is also tied in with El Diablo. Sheriff Webb hates Diablo. "It is a dead end street," Webb rants. "El Diablo and his men are committing every crime they want to and laughing at the law." The lawman is dying to know how El Diablo receives his information. Not long afterward, Sheriff Webb learns the government is shipping a load of gold through the county. Basically, Jeff spends the remainder of the movie battling El Diablo while Victor plots behind his father's back and Rosario plots behind Victor's back. She urges El Diablo to rob the train, but he hesitates because robbing the train is too dangerous. Nevertheless, before it is all over with, El Diablo and his gang hit the train and get the surprise of their lives. We learn that Jeff is really a lawman in disguise. Pamela and Jeff ride off together."30 Winchesters for El Diablo" looks like a hybrid oater, part of which is obviously Italian in the vein of Sergio Leone's "Fistful of Dollars," and the other part that resembles an American western from the 1950s. The character of the town sheriff with a family recalls American westerns. The lawman is widowed with a grown-up daughter and son who live with him in an elegant home in town. Typically, Spaghetti western lawman are not married and reside in a cockroach infested jail. Meanwhile, the scope of "30 Winchesters" is a little bigger than most Spaghettis because the action includes a railroad train and there are two major shoot-outs with a high body count. Despite this high body count, very little blood is spilled. The villains wipe out a ranch to the last man and in the big finale the villains are virtually eradicated themselves in an ambush of sorts."30 Winchesters for El Diablo" qualifies as a good little Italian western.