Contains four movies :

Beyond the Law (Italy/Germany, 1968)
Death Rides a Horse (Italy, 1968)
God’s Gun (Italy/Israel, 1976)
Cry Blood Apache (USA, 1970)

The first three films star Lee Van Cleef and are spaghetti westerns. As for the fourth one, well, it doesn’t star Lee Van Cleef and certainly is not a spaghetti western. Why it is in the boxed set is a mystery.

Beyond the Law is about a bandit (Van Cleef), and his two partners, who becomes the town’s sheriff after hepling getting rid of another gang of bandits. The plan is to accept the job in order to steal a stockpile of silver from the town.

A fine exemple of the genre. Very entertaining to watch for western film fans, but might leave others unsatisfied. Well made and Van Cleef makes for a good performance.

Death Rides a Horse is a tale of revenge. A boy, named Bill (John Phillip Law), saw his family slaughtered by an outlaw band at a young age and vows to avenge them, wich he goes on doing several years later. That is when he meets Ryan (Van Cleef) who is trying to get even with that same gang for an entirely different reason. Eventually, they team up to go against the outlaws.

Excellent theme song ! A very good spaghetti western, even if the look of Bill’s character is a clear rip-off of Clint Eastwood‘s man with no name, down to the jacket and the pose. Anyway, it makes for a very good time and is most enjoyable.

God’s Gun tells the story of a priest (Van Cleef) who is murdered after helping his town to get rid of an outlaw gang. The gang is in for a surprise as the priest’s aid goes and gets help from a man named Lewis who used to live in that town.

That one is a treat. Though today some of it might seem farfetched and clichéd, it must have been very original at the time. Van Cleef’s charisma seems very strong in this film, his presence fills the screen. A must see for genre lovers.

Cry Blood Apache is a flashback. The whole movie is a flashback. It is about a gang looking for gold and how unscrupulous they are in achieving their goal.

Mostly irrelevant, really. Bad acting, directing, fighting and characterization. Forgettable.

V for Vendetta (USA/Germany, 2005)

Based on the comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd, V for Vendetta is a nicely done adaptation for the big screen. Visually very striking, and well updated from its early 80s political statements and style, it shows that comics can become good movies. Not to say to original story is not good, on the contrary, it is excellent ! But in today’s context, it would not be as much interest without a few minor adaptations.

That said, it makes for a very good film. Entertaining, with just enough of a message to make you think and without being overly righteous. No need to be familiar with the comic book to enjoy it, sufficient information is given in the film to understand it.

Surprising, really… The Wachowski brothers attached to an actually good movie. Weird.

The Iron Mask (USA, 1929)

Eight years after The Three Musketeers, Douglas Fairbanks returns in the sequel based on Alexandre Dumas‘ novel.

It seems during that eight-year period, filmmaking techniques had improved a lot. The editing is far more fluid, making the story a lot easier to follow and the music soundtrack actually matches the picture in style.

On the down side, there is less action than in the previous Musketeers movie. It also takes a long time before we can see any swashbuckling. A better movie, yes, but not as action oriented. Nevertheless, when the action comes, it is great ! And Fairbanks is as graceful as ever !

Fun to watch and entertaining !

On a last note, the Internet Movie Database says the movie has sound effects and some talking sequences. There must be different versions, because the movie reviewed does not have any sound but the music score.

OSS 117, Le Caire Nid d’Espions (France, 2006)

Basé sur les romans de Jean Bruce, le personage d’OSS 117 est souvent décris comme une copie de James Bond, lui aussi tiré de romans. La vérité est que la première histoire OSS 117 a été publié en 1949 (Tu Parles d’une Ingénue ou Ici OSS 117) et que le premier Bond fut publié en 1953 (Casion Royale).

Le film, lui, se veut une parodie. Mais ici, on ne se gêne pas pour emprunter aux films de 007, en particulier ceux de Sean Connery. Jean Dujardin a du passé des heures a étudier le Bond de Connery pour en arriver au résultat final au cinéma. C’est presqu’à s’y méprendre.

Ceci dit, le film est amusant, mais moins drôle qu’espéré. Le talent comique de Dujardin est ce qui tient l’attention à l’écran, le reste n’est pas aussi intéressant. Il manque une certaine consistance pour que le film soit une réussite. Par conte, la trame sonore est impeccable et la réalisation représente remarquablement bien le style parodié.

Divertissant, mais sans plus.