Django (1966) (Ws Clam)

But make no mistake. This is Italian exploitation--love it or hate it. An ear is cut off, prostitutes fight in the mud, and our hero's hands are crushed in gory detail that would make One-Eyed Jacks mumble in disgust. Don't expect John Ford here. But if you're looking for something different, are curious about spaghetti Westerns but afraid to buy any because so many are horrible--then this is the movie for you!


One of the better Leone rip-offs..but still not great   January 28, 2006
Lunar Strain (United States)
16 out of 20 found this review helpful

I grew up with and loved Sergio Leone's "Man with No Name" trilogy with Clint Eastwood. I tend to love Italian pictures (horror and otherwise) and recently having watched Leone's trilogy again, I decided to quench my Spaghetti Western thirst by purchasing a number of now rather unseen "classics" that Leone's films inspired.

Of all the Spaghetti Westerns I purchased the film Django was one of the best. Does that make it a great film? Oh hell no. Django, released in 1966 was one of the first films to be "inspired" (ah-hem...Rip-off) Leone's Fistful of Dollars. The film molds itself along the same lines as that film. A loner anti-heroic cowboy (played by Italian B-great Franco Nero) travels to a remote, dying western town and ends up fighting two rival bands, a Mexican rag-tag army and an American rag-tag army. As you can tell from the story...it was majorly influenced by the much much better Leone picture. Not only the story, but the appearance of Franco Nero himself is a direct take-off of Clint Eastwood's character. The actor that dubs the voice for the English release even does his best to do a Clint Eastwood impression...an impression that only really induces laughter.

The film tries to be another Fistful of Dollars but it doesn't come close to Leone's grand low-budget feature. The reason why is that this film suffers from some poor acting and some majorly poor dialogue. The bad dialogue could just be the fact of bad translating but some of the lines Nero spouts off are just hilarious! The plot also has some weird aspects such as how Django drags a coffin around. I won't tell what he keeps in the coffin (as it is a nice plot device) but I just found it thigh-slapping funny how this guy drags a coffin around wherever he goes! That would get really old after walking hundreds of miles! What's so great as they take this ridiculous plot device seriously! The directing on the other hand is typical Italian greatness. Sergio Corbucci has a real eye for making the camera shots interesting. He would prove to be the master of the genre (right after Leone) with his great films The Great Silence and Companeros...both of which are FAR better than Django when it comes to quality.

Though Django has many problems it doesn't mean it isn't entertaining. I had a great time with this cheesy spaghetti western that took itself a little too seriously. If you go into this expecting another "Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" then your going to be sourly disappointed. But if you go into this expecting a nice little cheeseball spaghetti western that delivers on the entertainment value, then you will find it much to your liking.

As for the DVD Blue-Underground does another fantastic job at reasserting a long forgotten film. However, it should be warned, that Blue-Underground used the original uncut negative of the film and some of the scenes were damaged because of age. This could put off some people of but for viewers like me, we are just glad to the UNCUT version available in all its bloody glory. This includes an awesomely gruesome "ear cutting" scene. Being a huge fan of Italian horror cinema with the likes of Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci, I get a kick out of these controversial violent gore scenes. Thanks blue-Underground!

The limited edition that I got comes with a bonus disc that features a Franco Nero western film short on one of those little mini-DVDs. The bonus film is under 10 minutes, features no talking making it basically a way for the director to show off style. It's good for a one-time watcher as most probably won't stick it into their DVD player after viewing it the first time.

On a side note I love how Django was so popular that it inspired 50 unofficial sequels? Over 50?! That's unheard of. I know Italy is known for making lots of unrelated "unofficial" sequels (as in the case of Dawn of the Dead) but over 50 is just incredible! Of all the "sequels" there is only one official one made in 1987 called Django Strikes Again starring Franco Nero (haven't seen it yet but soon will). Blue-Underground released one of the "unofficial" sequels strangely titled Django Kill...if you live, Shoot! which I just ordered. One of my new goals in life to view every single one of the 50+ unofficial sequels to Django. Hell, I might even name my kid Django. Oh my God Django...what have you done to me?! Now you've got me talking kids.....YIKES!!!



It's Not Delivery...........It's Django   November 28, 2004
Stanley Runk (Camp North Pines)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

I think most people who don't care much for this movie had been spoiled by Leone before watching it. I mean, Leone really set the bar high for westerns and I don't think anyone has done it as good since. He pretty much reinvented the western and set the rules. Italian directors who followed in his wake were directors who usually did other kinds of films, but started doing westerns coz they were big bucks at the box office. Django was the first of the non-Leone spaghetti westerns, and it's a great movie. Sure, the budget shows and the acting isn't always the best, but I'm able to look past that. The look of the film is unique-Instead of the blazing hot deserts, most of this film is cloudy and muddy(I know it was shot in winter and I think it takes place in winter as well), giving it it's own look. Franco Nero is no Eastwood or Bronson, but he has the right stuff for the part and pulls it off nicely. Very violent for 1966, but we've become so desensitized over the years that it won't have you gasping in shock. It's still brutal enough though. Lots of complaints about the soundtrack again. Well, once again this isn't Leone, therefore the epic music isn't here either. But I don't see how you can hear the theme song and not laugh. You can just see Tom Jones singing this to a crowd of screaming women in Vegas. Once again Blue Underground has given another forgotten film the best possible treatment it can have. They give us an interview with Franco Nero and a very interesting short film with Nero as well. And as always, Blue Underground gives us the original poster as the cover(I love how they do that with these old flicks!). If you have any interest at all in westerns and have seen the Dollars trilogy too many times, you can't go wrong with Django-that is if you lower your expectations a tad.


Italian Film Making at its Worst- BORING   December 12, 2004
Oslo Jargo (FINLAND)
8 out of 22 found this review helpful

This is an overated film and I have heard that it was always great. Once I got around to renting it, I was sorely mislead, not only by all the hype this piece of junk got, but by the reviews, who wrote them anyways? If you watch the DVD extra on the making of the film, the actor talks about how they didn't have a script or money for most of the film, and I said to myself, "that is why its so bad." And truly, this is one bad piece of film making, played by bad actors, on bad, dirty sets on some abandoned Spanish/Italian back lot. The absurd plot puts Django, some half drunk injun carrying a loaded coffin with a 800 lb Maxim machine gun, which was used out of context in the film, because it never was cooled or ran out of bullets. He visits a sect of "red hooded" hooligans who look stupid with the red hoods as they shoot mexicans for fun. Okay, who wrote the script, a 12 year old? The Mexican bandits are even worse, they shoot anyone. There's a terrible scene where Djano shoots 120 of the red hooded bad guys without burning the barrel of the gun or running out of ammo, nice touch. In effect, this is a film without a basis, and the only thing remotely resembling interest is the young, blue eyed, non-English speaking early role of (Nero). Grade D.




Dark Yarn With Dragging Coffins EASTER EGG and tech specs   September 6, 2003
FrontPage (Baltimore, MD United States)
7 out of 12 found this review helpful

This DVD came with The Spaghetti Western Collection. I simply didn't relate to the characters as most others seem to have. My enjoyment of the movie was limited by the lack of what I felt was a thoughtful score. Maybe I'm so used to Ennio Morricone's moving scores, as they seem to fit movies like another character. I wasn't impressed with the composition by Luis Enriquez Bacalov, whose music starts the title off. I don't know, maybe I don't care for lyrics. I guess lyrics shouldn't be used if the story is well- told in the movie.

This movie is quite dark and opens to some intense beating of a woman. Django is also dragging a coffin through mud towards a bleak- looking town where havoc eventually fills the streets which were emptied by the numerous killings.

I would lie to give it 4 stars because the music to me detracts from the movie. And the English dubbing just adds to not help me identify with the characters like I'd enjoy. Other macaroni flicks have gotten me to feel something for the characters, but something was missing here. I couldn't even feel for the woman being tortured (Loredana Nusciak). Yet for a movie like The Good The Bad and The Ugly, I could even identify with Al Mulock's character at the very beginning (the bounty killer whose head fills the screen from a once- empty desert scene). I would give it a very average score and tack on just a smidgen more for the DVD quality presented by Blue Underground, which is consistent with the other nice presentations they have distributed.

Tech Specs and Easter Eggs: Region- free NTSC DVD from a 90- minute master print, in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.66:1 (only) and enhanced for 16X9; English mono and Italian mono with optional English subtitles; Django: The One and Only interviews; trailer; movie poster/production stills photos; linear notes; a two- page double- sided pamphlet with more detailed notes. I also found only one Easter Egg (I have found up to 3 in two other DVDs by Blue) which can be accessed by going to the Extras page, higlighting Django - The One and Only and then pressing LEFT on your remote to access a hidden feature.