Black Jack review (Silence)
Black Jack
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| BLACK JACK (1968) |
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In 1968 the Spaghetti Western genre was at it's top. There where about 100 Spaghetti and Euro Westerns made. Black Jack is just one of these, but it is one of the better ones. Baldanello's other flicks are not very popular (I hate This Man Can't Die!) and this movie alone helps him from being condemned one of the worst Euro directors like Fidani and Crea. The poor man wasn't given a high budget to this movie, in fact, he wheren't to any of his films. So with his small budget he asked low budget actors about the roles.
To the movie. Bank robber Jack Murphy plans a robs a bank with his companions. The robbery wents out great but the problem starts after the robbery. Jack wants the largest slice of the cake while his companions disagree.It all ends up in that Jack rides away with all the gold. But his companions has a surprise for him! They beat him, hang him and rapes and kills his sister. Fortunately for Jack and unfortunately for his companions his girlfriend is there to help him and, surprisingly, Jack sets out for revenge...
This is simply a great film with great characters. Jack, played by Robert Woods, is a mad man (and possibly the worst boss a bank robber could have). The unshaven baddie Sanchez, played by Rik Battaglia, is an interesting character. He's very cruel but he does love his daughter. And, at last, Indian Joe, played silently by Mimmo Palmara, is, maybe not an interesting character, but a very cool character (although he's one of the baddies). You almost get the idea Mimmo Palmara is a mute because he really doesn't make a noise in the whole film.
Black Jack is often called an excellent Spaghetti Western, and have almost never been called average. True, the movie has lots of great gundowns and a very dark atmosphere. It could be called the darkest Spaghetti Western of all time except for The Great Silence. It is also very violent. The scene where Jack is tortured even has squibs. And it has great fight scenes, the man-to-man-without-mercy kind. Lallo Gori's scores is one of my personal favorites, especially the main theme is great.
I think the version I watched is uncut, the whole final showdown is included (it isn't in the German version). The Cine City DVDr is overall okay, it has English subtitles but the colors are gray and the sound is terrible.
By Silence
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