Return of Sabata (1971)

Apparently THE RETURN OF SABATA made the 50 Worst Films Of All Time book by Michael Medved but does it really belong there ? From a analytical film student point of view you can claim it's no different from the films of Sergio Leone in that it contains a Marxist slant as to what is the root of all evil . From the outset the audience are told via one of those songs so terrible and yet so infectious it stays in your mind for days:" if you want to make money if you want to be rich you have to be a son of a Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb " Wow what a great idea it would be if we abolished currency , wealth and conditioned people in to not being greedy . What's that you're saying ? It's been tried and it didn't work . Ah yes I remember . One other thing that doesn't work is the plot mechanics of this movie which left me totally confused as to where it might be going . Something to do with an Irish gang wanting to get their hands on some gold and Lee Van Cleef as Sabata trying to stop them because he wants the gold . Why should Sabata get the gold instead of the Irishmen ? I have no idea The difference between this and Sergio Leone is in the use of humour . At least Leone could make use of black comedy . Here there's no similar feel and it has an overbearingly silly light hearted air to it including a couple of circus acrobats . In many ways it resembles one of those Westerns featuring Terence Hill and Bud Spencer rather than gritty spaghetti Western fodder . It is watchable which stops it from being one of the worst films ever made

After Yul Brunner became Sabata for Indio Black, Lee Van Cleef reprises his original role in this final entry in the Sabata saga. Unfortunately it's also the lesser one, although probably the most expensive.I've seen many a nonsensical spaghetti western in my life, but Return of Sabata takes the cake. There's probably some semblance of plot underneath all the twists and turns but one hour in and I was completely lost. No matter, it's still entertaining enough to pass the time. The action scenes are all that matters here, there are plenty of gunfights, goofy acrobatics and explosions. Good production values make it easy on the eyes, the sets, costumes and cinematography are all on pretty high standards to the point where this is probably one of the most expensive spaghetti westerns made, this side of Leone. The humour is mostly silly and flat, the acting is average and I've heard better (and worse) dubbings. Lee Van Cleef's usual charming and charismatic persona is another big plus. Watchable but by no means essential.

Lee Van Cleef is Sabata, a cool character who is brilliant, an amazing shot as well as incredibly dexterous with his hands. In this film, he and his group of freaks enter a town where the townspeople have been paying taxes through their noses in the promise of an all-new and beautiful town. However, the town's boss is actually planning on substituting the money with counterfeit and absconding with all of it. So it's up to Sabata and his odd team to expose the lie and return the money.I was prepared to like this movie far more than I did. The first SABATA movie was pretty good and I particularly liked watching the ultra-slick Lee Van Cleef in Westerns, as he was super-cool and menacing. Here, however, in the final appearance by Van Cleef in the Sabata series, he is pretty dull and the film seems to be more a parody of Italian Westerns instead of a serious or well thought-out film. Ultimately, the film is sunk by a horrible script--with strange and anachronistic characters, an incomprehensible plot and a lot of magical hocus-pocus that gets in the way of the characters.So what, specifically, did I dislike? Well, the two circus performers made no sense. They could tumble and jump and spin and jump on and off roofs at will as well as shoot more accurately at great distances with a giant slingshot than anyone could with a gun and all this had absolutely no place in a Western. It was just silly and confusing. Unfortunately, too much of the film focused on them and other secondary characters and Sabata was relegated to a more secondary role. Also, the plot really, really went all over the place and it was exceptionally hard to follow. And, to top it off, the film had one of the worst soundtracks I've heard in years. Usually, with a so-called "Spaghetti Western", you have haunting tunes by the great Ennio Morricone, but here some knucklehead Italian composer came up with songs with horrid 1970s backup singers (something NOT needed in these films) and in the title song, half the words are "boom, boom, boom, boom, boom" and this is heard again and again throughout the film! Yecch! This film was listed among the chosen few in the great book "The Fifty Worst Films" (1979) and I could see why, though I don't think it was quite bad enough to make the list. It was, however, the worst Spaghetti Western ever made and perhaps helped to kill the genre. It's a shame, as some of the best Westerns ever made were made by the Italians--and many even starred Van Cleef before he agreed to appear in this sort of bone-headed film.By the way, was it just me or did you, too, think it was pretty funny that Sabata had such a tiny, stubby little gun? I just kept thinking how Freud might have enjoyed laughing at or analyzing this movie character!

THE RETURN OF SABATA (sequel to SABATA)Excellent score by Marcello Giombini, I'd own the CD of it if I could find it. Don't know who sings in the opening title theme, though. The credits in the film didn't list the singer.There are lot's of little tricks in this one, more so than even in the first Sabata film. Different kinds of derringers, small pistols, blowpipes and magnets are up his sleeve in practically every scene. Sabata also refuses to pay the outrageous taxes the McClintocks have imposed on the townspeople for everything from getting a haircut to the gambling & hotel tax, and almost having a showdown with the weak-willed sheriff over it.Lt. Clyde (Reiner Schone) manages to not be too obnoxious, grinning all the time, except when he's continuously caught by Sabata from stealing or ripping somebody off. He's such a slimeball that he hides in the rafters while his lover Jackie McCIntock (Jacqueline Alexandre) is gunned down by husband Joe (Giampiero Albertini) over his catching her stealing his gold.The acrobats are back too, jumping off buildings, over fences and trampolines as they help Sabata out in his quest to return the gold stolen by McClintock from the townspeople, in return for the counterfeit money McClintock was using to deceive them.There's a good shootout towards the end at the McClintock compound, using Bronco's bass drum as a hiding place for storing a lot of pistols. Plus we get a spectacular mine explosion when the McClintock's try to kill Sabata during the money exchange.The vast majority of the film takes place in the town with little being filmed out in the Spanish countryside, yet it isn't claustrophobic like some other westerns come across when the sets are that static.All in all, I enjoyed it and consider it a good example of the spaghetti western genre.7 out of 10