Return of Sabata (1971)

[Scott]

Encore Western Channel just showed RETURN OF SABATA (1971). Its a Speghetti Western starring Lee Van Cleef. The films starts out with a staged gun fight inside a building. It seemed to be some sort of circus as spectators watched and applauded as Van Cleef shoots six opponents, but it is all staged. The film has the feel of the TV show WILD WILD WEST. Good production with a large cast and expensive looking western town. Van Cleef has an assortment of tricks and guns at his disposal and a bunch of acrobats that also help him out. It dosn't have any real serious moments and leans towards comedy. Its better than BAD MANS RIVER and GOD'S GUN which Van Cleef also starred in. Don't make any special plans to see it, but if you are a fan of Speghetti Westerns and Lee Van Cleef and it happens to be on TV then you will want to check it out.

[Deej]

Good Call, Scott. I think the Wsterns Channel is doing a VanCleef tribute this month. They're playing a bunch of his movies.

I missed Return of Sabata tonight, my neighbors were over and wanted to watch Harry Potter. I said my neighbors wanted to watch it!!! Really, it was them!!

If they run it again before I leave, I definitely wanna catch it.

[Flangepart]

Ooh, Yeah. This is a gooden'. The kind of Speghetti western that calls for repeat viewing. Love the unashamidly out there attitude of the thing. Even put the theme song on one of my cruisin' tapes!

[Deej]

The Westerns Channel re-ran Return Of Sabata early this morning, so I was able to catch it. I wasn't disappointed, it did have a comic fee to it and quitea bit of slapstick. I think you must be right about the budget Scott, not only the sets but also the costumes looked far better than the average '70s western.

[Musukogoji]

If you people liked "Return of Sabata", you MUST check out the original "Sabata" from 1969 (Italian title, "Hey Friend, Sabata's Here! Close Everything"). It blows "Return of Sabata" away in almost every catagory and Van Cleef gives a far better performance as the gunslinger (it's said he was drunk during the making of "Return of Sabata").