Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Shrewd and lethal ace gunslinger Sartana (a fine and commanding performance by Gianni Garko) goes after the dangerous band of thieves who held up a stagecoach for a fortune in gold. Sartana engages in a deadly battle of its with the equally crafty and ruthless Lasky (splendidly played to the wicked hilt by William Berger), a total bastard who's willing to do anything necessary (including killing his own men!) to have exclusive dibs on the booty. Director Gianfranco Paulini, who also co-wrote the convoluted script with Werner Hauff and Renato Izzo, relates the complex and compelling story of greed, deceit, and treachery at a constant snappy pace, stages the plentiful thrilling shoot-outs with considerable skill and brio, maintains an appropriately tough and gritty tone throughout, and tops everything off with a nice sense of amusingly sardonic humor. Moreover, there's a marvelously grotesque rogues' gallery of no-count villains: the always terrific Fernando Sancho as wicked bandit Jose Manuel Mendoza, Sydney Chaplin as shifty banker Jeff Stewal, Gianni Rizzo as gross fat creep Alman, Heidi Fischer as the fetching, but duplicitous Evelyn, and, in a regrettably brief role, the immortal Klaus Kinski as Lasky's icy henchman Morgan. Frank Pesce delivers a delightfully spry turn as rascally old coot undertaker Dusty. The tricky narrative keeps you on your toes with all its surprising twists and turns and culminates in a tense and exciting final confrontation between Sartana and Lasky. Both Sandro Mancori's expansive widescreen cinematography and Piero Piccioni's jaunty'n'groovy score are up to speed. An enjoyable film.

A coach is stolen and its passengers are killed. Later occur a murders series starred by a bandit named Lasky(William Berger, unforgettable co-starring in ¨Sabata¨ as the banjo man). The stagecoach's strongbox has disappeared turning into several hands. The dark,elegant hero, a freelance gunman, named Sartana(Gianni Garco or John Garco) appears to chase the nasty gunfighter and discover the robberies and killings.The confrontation will be inevitable among the town's despots(Sydney Chaplin, Gianni Rizzo), a cruel murderous( top-notch Klaus Kinski, as always), a Mexican general named Tampico( the great Fernando Sancho in his regular character), Lansky and of course Sartana.The first movie on Sartana starred by Gianni Garco is plenty of action, shootouts, double-crosses, twists and loads of violence and blood. It was followed by director Alfonso Balcazar with ¨Sartana non Perdona or Sonora¨. Miles Deem directed two Sartanas deemed lousy and cheesy. Giuliano Carmineo , alias Anthony Ascott, directed various with George Hilton who replaces to Garco. Hilton played more natural and roguish than Garco who was cold and peculiar. The movie gets the usual Western issues, such as greedy antiheroes, violent facing off, quick zooms, exaggerated baddies, among them. Appear very secondaries the habitual at Italian Western and Peplum genre, such as Sal Borgese, Carlo Tamberlani Andrea Scotti, and cameo by the director Parolini as a gambler. Special mention to Franco Pesce, Spaghetti's customary, as an old gravedigger. Atmospheric musical score by Piero Piccioni and appropriate cinematography by Sandro Macori. The picture is professionally directed by Frank Kramer or Gianfranco Parolini, subsequently he directed another Spaghetti-hero named Sabata with Lee Van Cleef in two entries.

Nice Spaghetti Western. The story concerns four rival groups out to get a chest full of gold. While the plot is actually almost incomprehensible, it's fun to watch Sartana and others switch allegiances about every five minutes. But the story here is secondary to the action. The body count is very high with entire gangs being wiped out by the burst of a Gatling gun. Gianni Garko as Sartana and William Berger as Lasky are just fun to watch. It's not the best Spaghetti Western I've seen, but I'm glad to finally have a copy.While the movie prominently lists Klaus Kinski in the credits, his screen time totals about 10 minutes.

Sartana (played superbly by John Garko) has one of the greatest entrances on screen of all the Spaghetti protagonists. When accused of looking like a scarecrow, he utters the classic line "I am your pallbearer" before gunning down all the bandits facing him. A classic moment, with the black clad Sartana setting the scene perfectly for this Gothic tinged western.The story itself is a very complicated affair, and one which I'm not completely sure I followed from beginning to end (I blame the wine consumption). In simple terms, the story evolves around a stagecoach robbery and murder (with the culprits themselves hijacked and massacred by Lasky - played by the ever brilliant William Berger - and his gang). Enter Sartana, in the midst of further double crossing and more double crossing. And cue bloodshed aplenty! Sartana combines the gadgetry of Parolini's later Sabata movies, with the darkness and brutality of Django. There are classic performances from Garko and Berger together with the familiar faces of Fernando Sancho and Klaus Kinski.The success of Sartana is clearly demonstrated by the string of sequels (and name-checks) that followed. And rightly so, the character is in equal parts cool, mysterious and deadly. Much like the film. I just wish I understood it better (time to put away the bottle, and rewind the video perhaps).