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| Director: Damiano Damiani
Actors: Gian Maria Volonte, Klaus Kinski, Martine Beswick, Lou Castel, Jaime Fernandez
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
This item is no longer available
Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 122243
Format: Color, Letterboxed, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Subtitled), English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 135 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
UPC: 013131155532
EAN: 0013131155532
ASIN: B000059PRA
Theatrical Release Date: September 1968
Release Date: December 18, 2001
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 12
 The best Mexico-Western ever made March 1, 2002
Mark Huebner-Weinhold (Schoenberg / Herzogtum Lauenburg)
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
It's simply marvellous. A brillant cast, first of all Gian Maria Volonte in his best performance ever, a well-elaborated and surprising story, magnificently composed pictures, a great deal of humor, realistic violence and political criticism. This movie has it all. To my opinion, "Quien sabe?", or "A bullet for the General" in the US market, is the best Mexico Western ever made. It easily surpasses Leone's "Duck you, sucker!" and Corbucci's "Companeros". Definitely a must-have for every fan of the genre.
Spaghetti epic August 14, 2004
Jeffrey Leach (Omaha, NE USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Spaghetti westerns are, in my opinion, generally the best fictional films about the American West. You can argue that John Wayne made a bunch of great movies about life in the Old West, and you would be right to say so, but for some reason the Italians captured perfectly the specific elements of the era that made their movies seem more realistic. The frontier was a dirty, violent place full of unsavory types trying to get rich quick. Italian westerns capture this mood expertly whereas American films portray characters whose outfits look like they just came back from the dry cleaners. Hollywood films also tend to apply a black and white dichotomy onto their characters, the old "good guys wear white, bad guys wear black" philosophy that obscures the reality of the time and place. Not so in Italian films, where even the good guys often have distinctly unsavory traits. It's too bad spaghetti westerns went the way of the dinosaurs a few decades back; I never tire of watching these films even though I am not an expert on the genre. "A Bullet for the General," part of the larger Anchor Bay "Once Upon a Time in Italy" spaghetti western box set, serves as an excellent example of how powerful the genre once was.
If you enjoy spag westerns, you're going to love "A Bullet for the General." Like many other spaghettis, the film takes place in Mexico during the raucous revolutions of the early twentieth century. Bandits roam the countryside robbing and killing under the guise of revolutionary armies seeking social change. One band, led by a scruffy looking Mexican named El Chuncho (Gian Maria Volonte), earns their living by stealing weapons and selling them to a powerful warlord named General Elias (Jaime Fernandez). El Chuncho's band preys on federal army patrols, trains, and any thing else that allows them to realize their goals. Along with his holier than thou former priest turned revolutionary brother El Santo (Klaus Kinski) and a beautiful woman named Adelita (Martine Beswick), El Chuncho and his thugs make a good living at what they do. When the group happens to rob a train loaded with armaments, they run smack dab into a dapper gringo named Bill Tate (Lou Castel), a mysterious man who initially poses as a prisoner so he can get into the good graces of El Chuncho's army. Amused by the American and thankful for his help in stopping the train, the group decides to take him on as a fellow bandit and revolutionary. Chuncho even nicknames him "El Nino" in the process because of his baby-faced good looks.
Tate's hidden agenda remains hidden for most of the movie, but in the meantime he earnestly joins the guerilla war in Mexico. El Chuncho's band takes the rifles off the train and holes up in a poor village until it's safe to transport the arms to Elias's headquarters in the mountains. Regrettably, the local villagers convince the desperados to dispatch the brutal local landowner, a truly revolutionary action leading to land redistribution amongst the poor. Since the federal government opposes such actions, the village is certain to encounter an invasion force of substantial size. Suddenly, and probably due more to the pretty local women than any altruistic reasons, El Chuncho and El Santo take an interest in protecting the village from annihilation. The rest of the gang decides money is more important than a heroic stand, and heads off to Elias's fortress with the weapons. The now former bandit leader cannot stand to miss out on any of the action (or the money), and before too long is off riding after Tate, Adelita, and the rest of his compatriots. The conclusion to the movie, with Tate's true mission in Mexico revealed and the subsequent bloodbath that follows, is classic spaghetti western grit. Until the very end, you're just not sure what's ultimately going to happen.
"A Bullet for the General" is most notable for its strident political themes. All spaghetti westerns engage in the old good versus evil debate, but by the late 1960s the directors and writers of the films in this genre began inserting left wing rhetoric and pro-socialist situations into the pictures, thus turning the Old West into a mirror image of the turbulent social movements of the 1960s. Whereas in earlier movies you might see good guys and bad guys battling over money, in films like "A Bullet for the General" you see the good guys protecting the poor from money-grubbing big business interests such as railroads, oil companies, and landowners. El Chuncho's conversion from a greedy bandit to a socially conscious revolutionary symbolizes the transformation the New Left hoped most members of society would eventually undergo in the real world. Even the Church takes a shot on the chin in the movie, as El Santo becomes more authentic when he rejects the passivity of the pulpit in lieu of a socially active gospel requiring violent action against the propertied classes.
Unfortunately, a few problems plague "A Bullet for the General." First, the filmmakers failed to utilize the full potential of the volcanic Klaus Kinski. There is an intriguing scene where we see El Santo roaring biblical quotations from a rampart while tossing grenades into a mass of troops, but for most of the movie his character simply disappears. Second, the dubbing is awful--truly, ear achingly awful. But the good outweighs the bad. Anchor Bay performed miracles with the pristine picture transfer, the story is intriguing, and there's plenty of good shoot 'em up action. The DVD unfortunately only contains two trailers as extras, but the movie's good enough that you won't miss the behind the scenes stuff and interviews usually included on most discs. "A Bullet for the General" is must see viewing for spaghetti western aficionados, and a good introduction to the genre for the beginner.
 fairly good euro-Western. November 10, 2001
M. Brennan (Cookstown,, Tyrone. Northern Ireland)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Quite good for it's genre.Though director Damiani is not renowned for Westerns.The movie's strong political undertones and theme of budding friendship leading to betrayal is an intersesting one.The fine performances by the two male leads add something special,especially Volonte who is always Good, as is Klaus Kinski in a supporting role.The late Volonte had often said he personally preferred his work on the more political Euro - Westerns of the Sixties than his Leone-Western villians.Movies dealing with the Mexican Revolution have often been used as a backdrop to the Euro Western genre,obviously because of the broad political canvass,aswell as the location of Almeria,Spain.I am happy to see that Anchor Bay DVD have now released the DVD version.They done a brilliant job with Companeros (Corbucci).No extras on disc worth mentioning,but for trailers. Picture and sound are great and film is presented in it's original 2:35:1 (Technoscope). A worthwhile purchase for Spaghetti Western fans.
 it's NOT Sergio Leone October 9, 2003
J. Colburn (Tulsa, OK)
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
I ordered this with the hope of re-living the atmospheric and operatic triumpsh of Leone (Eastwood Trilogy and Once Upon a Time in the West).Honestly, I'm not a true critic, but I was nevertheless let down with the movie. Knowing Klaus Kinsky and Gian Maria Volonte were starring in the movie made want to buy it. But alas, the Volonte' character of Indio we came to admire for his acting skills and on stage persona, was NOT the same here. Primarily due to the dubbing. In For a Few Dollars more and Fist Full of Dollars, we heard the dubbed voice reflected a resonance and depth that is not represented in this film - a different dubbing voice was given... it almost made me laugh.
Buy this if you want, but I was sadly let down. Bottom line, not in the best Leone spirit and poor dubbing. save your money and put it towards "The Great Silence"... it's not Leone but has Morricone for the soundtrack, which is wonderful.
Oh my God! Klaus Kinski + brutal and crazy western!!! April 6, 2006
Marcin (Poland)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This movie is just fun! Gian Maria Volonte made great performance here, he is almost as good as Kinski, maybe even better??? Yes, he is. Also Martin Beswick as "gun for hire" is gret. And the plot is so exciting! Just at the beginning we have scene of execution. And in the end... you will be suprised!!!:)
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