I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

The acting in this movie is really good.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

This early outing for Bud Spencer and Terence Hill sees the pair in fine form in a huge spaghetti western with loads of story, characters and tons of action to recommend it from the start. The meaty running time consists of dozens of plot twists, dupes, swindles and betrayals and the film never lets up from a spot-on pacing which holds the viewer's attention at all times. The three main ingredients for the film are drama, action and comedy and all are served up in spades. Obviously the Spencer/Hill relationship is played for laughs and both actors put in commendable performances; Hill as the Eastwood-style sharp-shooter, the intelligent member of the pairing, and Spencer as the clumsy but lovable oaf who's as strong as an ox and complements Hill's character perfectly.The dramatic angle of the storyline comes in the sweaty form of Eli Wallach, reprising his role from THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY as a bandit with a heart of gold who ends up being used and abused by those he considered to be his friends. Wallach's mission of justice makes up the bulk of the film and once again the actor puts in an excellent performance which hugely enhances the film. Writer/director Giuseppe Colizzi understands the old adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" in regard to Wallach's performances so gives the public more of what they have seen already in the Sergio Leone film and the result is no less successful. The script is unusually fine and lends plenty of comic banter and interplay to the scenes between the action sequences.Speaking of action, there is plenty ranging from bloody boxing matches to more traditional shoot-outs, prison breaks, brawls and even a massive gun battle with a machine gun involved. The suspense is gradually upped for the genius climax, set in a dodgy gambling house as our heroes attempt to make themselves some cash by hiding in the loft and cellar and using the fixed roulette wheel for themselves with disastrous results. The film then plays its own ace by introducing arch-villain Drake, acted by American import Kevin McCarthy (INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS) as one of those slimy villains you just love to hate, and the resulting climax is wonderfully exciting.Great use of widely differing music is made throughout the film from epic-sounding vocals to waltzes at the end! Technically the movie is proficient with a more than adequate budget put to good use in the sets and costumes; solid, slightly artistic photography; and well-staged action. One of the best I've seen from Spencer and Hill and a film guaranteed to please fans of the genre.

When he escapes the noose, criminal Cacopoulos flees the charges against him and, on his way, robs two banker robbers – Cat Stevens (no, a different one) and Hutch Bessy. Unwilling to kill the two men, Cacopoulos heads off with the money while Cat and Hutch begin the long walk out of the desert. Getting back to civilisation, they vow to track down Cacopoulos and get their money back. They start their search for him but meanwhile Cacopoulos is also bent on revenge on those that betrayed him – and plans to get Cat and Hutch to help, whether they know about it or not.Screened under the main English title of Ace High, I recorded this film on late night TV hoping for a typical spaghetti western. While that is pretty much what I got, I must confess to being a bit put off by how silly it was at times. I know it was meant to be a comedy of sorts but it didn't sit very well with the spaghetti western genre because it made aspects of that feel like they had been badly done, as opposed to done for laughs. The plot is solid enough but the running time is too long for the material to sustain, making many scenes feel dragged out beyond their intended time. The action (as in movement generally) also suffers because of this perceived slow pace.The cast are suitable for the genre, but this is not the same as being any good. Eli Wallach has fun in the central role and his performance is good value. I couldn't shake the feeling that Hill had borrowed his performance from many other actors but hadn't been sure how to make it work for him; he didn't really have the screen presence required to carry off the character. Spencer is better in terms of presence but his performance is a bit wanting. The support cast are all so-so, which works within the genre and as always much of the dialogue has that strange bad ADR/bad dubbing feel to it that I think is a prerequisite for the spaghetti genre.Overall this is an enjoyable enough spaghetti western but if you only know the Eastwood, "Fist Full" or Leone spaghetti films then you'll probably come away thinking this is a low-rent version of those (which I suppose it is). With all the trademarks and weaknesses of the genre, this one will most likely please fans but probably not the casual viewer.

"Ace High" (1968) qualifies as one of the better hybrid action/comedy spaghetti westerns that followed in the wake of Sergio Leone's trend-setting bounty hunter movie "A Fistful of Dollars." Variously titled overseas as either "Revenge In El Paso" or "Four Gunmen of Ave Maria," this handsomely-produced, elaborately-staged, sun-drenched, shoot'em up shares something in common with the Lee Van Cleef oater "Death Rides A Horse" (1968) in that our lice-ridden hero (EIi Wallach) got double-crossed by his outlaw buddies and left behind for the law to catch while they made good their escape. A two-bit bandit of Greek heritage, Cacopoulos winds up serving fifteen years in prison. Once he gets out of prison, he is framed by crooked banker Harold ("Trinity" alumnus Steffen Zacharias in a dramatic role) for a murder that he didn't commit, and then sentenced to hang by the neck. Although this Giuseppe Colizzi written & directed effort contains about as many twists and turns as a diamond-back rattlesnake, the scripting is often haphazard but nevertheless entertaining. Our heroes participate briefly in the Mexican revolution, a favorite theme of late 1960s and early 1970s spaghetti westerns, which hikes the body count substantially. Italian western buffs who aren't familiar with this well choreographed dustraiser need to saddle up and watch the bare bones Paramount DVD with enhanced widescreen to see what other less well-known helmers were doing with the genre while Leone rode herd over sagebrushers.For the record, blue-eyed Terence Hill plays Cat Stevens (like the folk singer but no relation to him) and Bud Spencer co-stars as Hutch, his beefy, barrel-chested sidekick who shuns a Stetson. They are an arresting pair to watch in their sweaty, greasy, western outfits, on horseback in the blinding sun prancing around mainly on the plains of Almeria, Andalucia, Spain, where veteran cinematographer Marcello ("Assignment Outer Space" & "The Stranger Returns") Masciocchi lensed this sprawling western in widescreen splendor. A clue to its filming location is the lopsided anvil-shaped mountain in the background that dominates the long scenes not only in "Ace High" but also "For A Few Dollars More" and "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly" the way that the Paramount logo mountain stood out against the studio sets in the old "Bonanza" TV series. Another dead giveaway that this is a foreign western is the perfectly synchronized but too cool dubbing of Hill and Spencer. Their perfectly modulated dialogue foreshadows the dubbing on anime adventures of the 1990s. Some of the dialogue sounds like it was translated into the English by foreigners, because nobody would talk that way, but that's what makes Italian movies of any genre so much fun.Actually, "Ace High" is the second entry in the only cinematic trilogy that Hill and Spencer starred in. Remember, they only did two "Trinity" movies together. "Ace High" picks up where Colizzi's "God Forgives, But I Don't" wrapped up with the explosive death of bandit Bill San Antonio (American expatriate Frank Wolff of "A Stranger In Town"). Our heroes trundle into town with a wagon load of gold, $300-thousand, and try to collect the bounty on Bill, though all they have of him is his boots and hat. When they cannot convince the law as to the authenticity of their claim, they traipse over to Harold's Bank and blackmail him into giving them an undisclosed fortune that Hutch at least plans to retire on and run a small ranch. Seems that the late Bill San Antonio and Harold were in co-hoots in stealing from the bank. Spaghetti westerns always had more plot than they needed. One of the neat touches that occur through "Ace High" is little bits and pieces like the dusty boot prints that Cat and Hutch leave when they saunter across Harold's blood red carpet in this upstairs office. Meanwhile, Harold springs Cacopoulos and hopes that he will kill Cat and Hutch. Caco does steal their newly acquired fortune, but not before he deals with the slippery as a rattlesnake Harold, one of the three men who set him afoot after a bank robbery. Anyway, Cat and Hutch chase Caco across the parched southwest and run across a traveling circus sideshow Thomas (Brock Peters) who performs high-wire (in this case—rope) acts. Eventually, all team up to rob a casino—think a lean, mean, "Ocean's Eleven" with only one casino. The music is pure spaghetti. "Ace High" is tops!

I have to say this is in the top 5 best movies with both Terence Hill and Bud Spencer! I don't want to tell you the plot. ( read other reviews for that ) But it's very interesting. It may be 2 hours long, but if you see it in a movie store or a video rental, get it! One bad thing about this movie is Eli Wallach. I wish he didn't act in this one!!!! Every time it shows him, this movie seems to get boring. ( Thank god they don't show much of him in this movie ! )Aces High get a 7/10.