Keoma (Ws)

The DVD is absolutely loaded as it comes with a dazzling commentary by Enzo G. Castellari. Unlike Umberto Lenzi or Dario Argento, Castellari does not have a thick Italian accent so it's relatively easy to understand everything he says. He does trail off at a few points when he really should be giving background on the actors and techniques, but the commentary does not fail in being one of the most INTERESTING I have heard in a long time. It's too bad the journalist who mediated the commentary didn't seem to have a very wide knowledge of the genre, though he was able to recognize Donal O'Brien from ZOMBI HOLOCAUST.

The picture quality is beyond crisp, this is the best the movie has ever looked (yeah I know it's a cliche to say this about Anchor Bay DVDs, but this one deserves it). The film is also the UNCUT version which has never been available in the states, and also is presented in its proper widescreen aspect ratio for the first time anywhere ever. Those like me who bought the old import tape from Holland will be blown away because the look of the film is so different than before.

The only flaw is the sound, which sounds a tad hissy when the actors are talking. This is partially due to the fact I have a quiet DVD player and have to turn the sound up to full blast just to hear it regularly, so it amplifies the flaws. On a regular player the sound should be just fine.

All in all, there is no excuse to miss this movie. It's not so much a Spaghetti Western as it is an action movie with lyrical and poetic subtexts with an almost hyper-real stylized Western setting. Vastly superior to Italy's many Django films though not quite in Sergio Leone territory. This film is so different from Leone's work that it can't really be compared.


Right up there with Leone   August 5, 2001
anomj7t7 (Quinton, Va United States)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

It's no exaggeration to say this film ranks right up there (awfully close anyway) with Leone...There was alot care taken with atmosphere and symbolism...This movie isn't a mindless excuse for loads of violence (A la "Navajo Joe") that some spaghetti westerns (love 'em as much as I do) end up being sometimes.Franco Nero is great as a half Indian Christ-like figure named Keoma and Woody Strode gives a wonderfully sympathetic performance as an ex-slave who is his friend and role model since childhood and has now fallen on hard times.Nero is right up there with Eastwood and Van Cleef...a premier Spaghetti western actor who is the epitome of cool.Dont miss this one!


Definitely not over-rated.   December 30, 2002
4 out of 5 found this review helpful

This is a haunting, mesmerizing film. It's a totally unique film. The plot is typical, yes, but it does things with style, imagery, insight and atmosphere that made me look at this age-old story in new ways. It's true what they say about the music, or at least the vocals/lyrics to the music: they're annoying as hell. But the music itself is wonderful, especially certain pieces without vocals utilizing banjo and wierd, snaky guitar and overall it only adds to the wonderful atmosphere of this Spartan, Nietschzean, Apocolyptic Christian from Hell philosophical masterpiece.

There are some slow parts, some villains doing conveniently stupid things to accomodate the poetry of certain scenes and like I said the annoying as hell vocals. That's why I said 3 stars (maybe more like 3 and a half) but I would not tell anyone NOT to see this film, and I'd be surprised if anyone watching it once won't want to do so again.

The back of the box says something about a man in a wasteland massacring his way to redemption; that's pretty accurate. The atmoshere is so powerful at some points that I forget it's a western and not some Robert E. Howard, post-nuclear or medieval fairy tale-type fantasy. Neat, neat, neat.