BADMAN'S
RIVER (1972)Director: Eugenio Martin
MasterTone Multimedia Inc. (Silver Screen Collectors Edition)
BADMAN'S
RIVER (1972)From the director of the horror classic, HORROR EXPRESS, comes this Spaghetti Western starring genre legend Lee Van Cleef, along with James Mason and Gina Lollobrigida. Although the disc has some definite flaws, it is also a cheap bargain (especially for a widescreen edition). Sit back and enjoy a western that is full of quick paced action packed scenes, double crosses aplenty, and does not take itself too seriously.
The film takes place in Mexico as King (Van Cleef) and his band of outlaws rob a bank by digging under it. The gang then boards a train and divides up the loot. As the gang takes off, a beautiful woman named Alicia (Gina Lollobrigida) meets up with King and he falls for her charms. Alicia turns out to be traveling with a priest?! and so the two get married right aboard the train. Unfortunately for King, she has set him up to take his freshly stolen loot and leaves him tied up on the train.
King then reassembles his gang in the same town they previously robbed to do a job for Senor Montero. They all board the steamboat Ariel where they meet Senor Montero and his new wife, Alicia! The plan is to blow up a Mexican army arsenal.
The plan is successful (not without a few hitches and a gun battle) and King's gang is able to blow up the armory. With the Mexican army in hot pursuit, the gang escapes back to the steamboat where they find out the reason they have blown up the armory. With their weapons destroyed, the Mexican government will now send Montero a check for one million dollars to purchase new guns. Montero plans to steal the money for himself.
King's gang accompanies Montero as he goes to pick up the check and gets in an incredible gun battle with another group of bandits who are also after the money. Montero is killed during the battle but King cannot find the check on his body. After confronting Alicia with the news, King finds out that the Montero that died in the shoot out was an impostor and the real Montero (James Mason) was hiding on the steamboat all along. At that moment they are all captured by the Revolution that has also boarded the steamboat. Who will eventually get the one million dollars? You will enjoy watching the rest of the film to find out.
Martin's direction is excellent throughout the film. It is fast paced-similar in style to HORROR EXPRESS, and there are some well-staged fight scenes with King's gang. The cinematography is colorful and the locations in Madrid are scenic (especially the river of the film's title) and suit the film well. Martin even uses some comic moments to lighten up the film. Normally, I like grim and serious Spaghetti Westerns but this film is well put together and is acceptable.
Van Cleef looks great in his bowler hat and as usual delivers a strong performance. Mason seems like he is just collecting a paycheck but Lollobrigida is superb as the ever double-crossing Alicia.
One of the few disappointments with the film is the title song by group Jade Warrior-it is gratingly annoying, and so is the rest of the film's score by Waldo de los Rios (known for their easy-listening songs). There is even a 70's rock song in the middle of the film that seems vastly out of place with the action. I wish that legendary western film composer Ennio Morricone could have provided the film's score.
As for the DVD itself, the transfer is clean and bright with only a few speckles here and there. A major problem does exist with the disc, which you will find in the first ten minutes or so. During some scenes there are actual pauses which last about three seconds each. This is not from the film itself but from the DVD transfer from the company. It was extremely annoying but at least the pauses only appear on and off during the first ten minutes and the rest of the film is fine.
I have a definite problem with the DVD case, as it's hard to remove the disc. It comes in a hard plastic case in which the bottom slides out to remove the disc. Oddly enough, the bottom only comes out half way so you must slide out the cover first and then carefully slide the DVD out on an angle so as not to scratch it. I felt as though I was putting a puzzle together.
Also included on the DVD are a couple of extras. There is a critical comment page that features a few short reviews of the film from various sources. Then there are fact files on writer Philip Yordan (who produced and scripted DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS '62), Lee Van Cleef, James Mason, and Gina Lollogrigida. The fact files include brief biographies and list some of each person's better known films. Finally there is a section called bits and pieces which features a brief biography on Eugenio Martin. A problem with the DVD's extras-which many other DVDs also share-is that the words are way too small and the color backgrounds make it even harder to read.
All in all, this is a disc that is worth picking up, especially for fans of Van Cleef as it is a great showcase of his talents. For the fairly cheap price you are also getting the film widescreen, which strangely it does not mention anywhere on the disc's liner notes. Oh well, sometimes you just have to wonder who puts these DVDs together. (Chris Gullo)