After the watching "New Jack City" I wasn't exactly longing for another portion of Mario Van Peebles' movies, but hey, how many times does this one pop up on TV? Almost never in my country, so I had to check it up. Plus it is not only a western but a blaxplotation western. Until Tinto Brass does a nudie western, nothing can beat this.
And well, now I understand why I hadn't heard much of this one, as it is quite forgetable fare. Certainly not as painful as "New Jack City", but still amateurish and not too involving. As I see it, the main problem is again Mario's limited skills as a director. Despite having what looks like a decent budget, which neatly improves the visuals of the film, Mario uses the scope (the version I saw is about 2,00:1, weird) as if he was filming TV, framing always too close to the people. As a consequence, fights are messy, and the rest of the shots claustrophobic when they shouldn't. Add to this modern dialogue and some dumb directorial choices, such as B&W flashbacks (!) in a period film and you'll understand my lack of interest in the movie.
About the plot and stuff, well, you can imagine. Good black cowboys, which I can't tell if they existed or not (although the prologue insists 1 out of 3 was black) versus white villains. You can easily picture the film without me, can't you?