Simply A Masterpiece

Good movie but grossly overrated

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

OK, let's get this clear first: seasoned veterans of the genre might be disappointed by the tribute aspect of 800 Balas. The only spag references are to Leone's films, Clint Eastwood and his poncho. Add to that a score that resembles Morricone, great opening credits in the colourful spag tradition, and excellent cinematography (wide shots and close-ups included) and that's as far as it goes.However it's tons of fun. Although not as outrageous as other De La Iglesias efforts like Accion Mutante, El Dia de La Bestia or Perdita Durango, it still has all the trademarks that made him famous. Black humour, quirky dialogues, energetic pace, fluid camera shots, excellent performances, it's creative and above all entertaining. Sancho Gracia steals scenes and was an original spaghetti western actor himself.Watch it for a great opening scene that (suprisingly enough) is a tribute to John Wayne's Stagecoach, a saloon orgy, a hooker seducing a minor, a spectacular shootout between a SWAT team and spaghetti western stuntmen, the Hanged Man (first screenshot), the Dragged Man (who is constantly being dragged by a rope behind a horse...it is his only trick) and a cameo by a faux-Clint Eastwood.

Clint Eastwood made history in La Tierra Española, when he made his three Films of Fistfull of Dollars and A Fistfull of Dollars More as well as The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly; with those Films being made in Provincia de Almeria, and at a place called "Texas/Hollywood" today. Clint used a Poncho that he wore every day and night when he made Fistfull of Dollars and lost a bit of weight in that moment, of which Clint also left so many memories in this immortal part of Andalucia as a Region and Land of La Tierra Española, or Tierra de Iberia as it is also called. The fame of these Films and "The Magnificent 7" as well as Patton, which were also made in Almeria, made ALex de La Iglesia want to make this classic Film, with the tale being about the Stuntmen and what they face when they are forgotten and have to just live on the Tourists who come. The tale is innocent for it is about a Child who dreams and wants to know about his Father and runs away to see his Grandfather, but his Father is really dead for he died in a horrible accident while making a Film. His Grandfather is a drunk and washed up person, but the comic feel of the tale and the crazy life that these Misfits live, gives you the idea of how surreal the world of Almeria is, especially when instead of hearing songs of Cowboys in a Bar one hears Hondo Sevillana, which is the traditional music of Andalucia; while others may hear Castillano but not the type of that is spoken in Texas or Mexico, for instead one hears the strong Lisp Andaluz as well as the Gypsy Dialect of Iberia that is Callo. The town of Almeria is similar to those of Peru and the Andian highlands of Argentina, with the comedy of the town being that when Los Muchachos of Texas/Hollywood drive into the town they always crash into the makeshift wooden steps of this one old woman, and smash it to pieces while still driving away. This Western even has a full out Battle and a Shootout in between two rivals, when it also has Brothel Girls and a trek with the heroes being on Horseback and riding down the highway from Malaga, where the Grandfather is incarcerated at one time for theft. In the end, the Grandfather dies tragically and a funeral occurs where he is buried next to the makeshift wooden Church of Texas /Hollywood, in which all who loved him are at his funeral, as well as those who tolerated him but hated him; and one tall man is there whose face one does not see, but in the end one sees that it is to be someone as Clint himself, but it is a Spaniard actor who looks like him. I adore this Film and it is an amazing tribute to how and where those grand Westerns were made at Almeria.

Alex de la Iglesia, not one of our favorite Spanish directors, seems to have great ideas for the movies he wants to do. The execution, though, is always problematic. Having said that, "800 balas" seems to be one of the most accessible pictures he has ever directed. Mr. de la Iglesia wanted to pay homage to that era of the sixties in which his country played host to the so called Spaghetti Western genre, which by the way, was an Italian phenomenon, not a Spanish one.The film concentrates in the figure of Julian Torralba, who brags about his friendship with the great stars that participated in the many movies shot around Almeria. Torralba tells, anyone who will listen, about the days in which Clint Eastwood came to the area to work. His friends who take part in the show they put for tourists, don't believe a word he is saying.The arrival of Torralba's grandson, a young boy from Madrid, is the event that turns around the action in that run down place where these Spanish pseudo-bandits stage their gun fights. In fact, the young boy, Carlos, brings Torralba to his senses and helps to reunite the old man with his estranged daughter Laura, who is Carlos' mother.Sancho Gracia as Torralba has some good moments. The young Luis Castro is seen as the sweet boy searching for a grandfather he never knew. Carmen Maura, who has worked with the director before, doesn't have much to do in the film.

The 12 year-old Carlos fools his rich corporate mom (who thinks he's on a skiing trip) and goes lookin' for his grandfather, an alcoholic stuntman who worked with Sergio Leone and Eastwood in the 60's. The grandfather and other boozehounds do daily Western shows for German and Japanese tourists, every nite they're out whoring and partying and they take Carlos with'em. Carlos's mom (Almodovar's regular Carmen Maura) hates her dad and wants to close down the shows in the Western town, but then the 'cowboys' band together and defend their lives and town, this time with REAL bullets instead of blanks. "800 Bullets" is a wildly entertaining 'light' comedy loaded with Iglesia's brand of anarchic humor. Since this film isn't that violent (compared to his other films) and if the sex and nudity was removed, "800 Bullets" could pass a feel-good-comedy-for-the-family! Joe Dante meets Fellini? It's not his best and its way too long at 121 mins, the silly and serious antics are an uneven mix, but "800 Bullets" is a must for fans of Iglesia. Most outrageous scene: 12 year-old Carlos' cheerful sexual debut with a hooker and her bouncing boobies!?! Only in Spain! I miss Iglesia-regular Santiago "Torrente" Segura though, he'd have been perfect as a scummy drunken cowboy.