Undescribable Perfection

Highly Overrated But Still Good

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

This Spaghetti Western was missing a lot of things to make it any good. First off, the movie is missing a good title. "Damned Hot Day of Fire" doesn't cut it. What does that, even mean? Other English translating titles such as 'Gatling Gun', gets a bit confusing, because there is 1973's movie with that same name. Trust me, the 1973 movie isn't like this film. The only one that kinda sounds cool is 'Machine Gun Killers', but its sound a 1920's gangster movie, then a Spaghetti Western. Other titles, you might find this movie going under, would be 'Million Dollar Ransom' or 'Day of Fire'. Finding it, might be a bit of a challenge. It's kinda rare. Directed by Paolo Bianchini with the pseudonym as Paul Maxwell. This political movie hasn't aged well. The movie is based on actual person that existed, but most of the story is made up. Set during the American Civil War, Richard Gatling (Ennio Balbo) just finish inventing a weapon that would completely change the course of the war; the machine gun called Gatlin Gun. A North secret government commission interviews Gatlin to collect the gun, but before there was an exchange. An outlaw name Tarpas (John Ireland) kill the commissioner, and kidnap the inventor and the machine gun, hoping to ransom the North or sell the weapon to the South. The only people left alive that were aware of the gun are Union lieutenant Chris Tanner (Robert Woods) and Allan Pinkerton (Tom Felleghy). Both were changed of high treason. Allan Pinkerton had an alibi for that day, but Tanner is convicted of the crime and sentenced to hang. Pinkerton convinced that Tanner is innocent, so he orchestrates a scheme where another prisoner that is about to be pardoned switches identities with Tanner. Now that Tanner is on the outside, he only has a few days to prove his innocence and save the Union before the man that has assumed his identity will hang. I found the espionage plot, rather engaging, but it's not as good as 1969's Price of Power. The film seem like it was trying to be a James Bond western version. Like the early James Bond's movie, Tanner kinda 'hit' on women in order to get the information that he needs when not bedding them. It's kinda disturbing for the hero to do that. The acting overall is alright for a low budget Italian film. Robert Woods was OK in dialogue, but I like him better in the action scenes. Robert Woods does do some lengthy action scenes like brawling, tied to a tree and beaten-up, buried alive, wrestling a raging bull, and shooting tiny poison darts out of a blow gun so he can sneak in somewhere. I think, the action stunt from the film is him being dragged by a horse is the best. His character also get shot at a number of times. There was some minor touch of unsettling gore as Tanner has to dig a bullet out of his hand. John Ireland was excellent as a half-breed outlaw who can throw a deadly knife with his toes! Not kidding. He also lights a match against his bare feet and eats an onion raw. Even with those scenes, as most of the film is talky exposition. The dubbing does hinder the performance a bit. The film seems to be having a language problem. The reason for this, are some of the original Italian scenes were cut from the original American release. I guess, they thought the more comical moments were too silly for the film and not the over the top action. So they were never translated into English. So, when the DVD put the film back together, these scenes didn't had any English dubbing. These scenes are supposed to be presented in Italian with removable English subtitles. Sadly, my DVD copy, didn't had the sub-titles. So I was pretty lost during those scenes and confused. In the past, English language versions of Gatling Gun tended to run anywhere between 90 and 94 minutes. My Dorado DVD's restored version of the film is 100 minutes long. The pacing is a bit odd, as the film focus on a lot of minor characters. Its takes some concentration is needed in order to keep track of who is who, what they're doing and why they're doing it. It would had been cut down to 94 minutes. The music score was pretty poor. I hate it. Composed by Piero Piccioni, the music possesses a slightly jazzy and sub-psychedelic vibe. Sound like an Italian swinging sixties, Austin Power Giallo murder mystery as opposed to a gritty Spaghetti Western. The sound seem muffled with occasional pops and hiss. The camera work isn't that good. There was some camera mistakes, like a shoddy prop or a cameraman's shadow. Some of the darker scenes are sometimes far too dark to see. The whole day as night doesn't help as I can't see anything, either. I didn't like the shaking cam. Lot of lazy to nonexistent pan and scanning, and some washed out print. Depending on the DVD, the picture ratio might be alright, or badly screwed up that everything in film looks stretched vertically. The print doe contains some grain and a number of scratches as to be expected for an old film. I had Dorado Films so it was a lot cleaner restoration than other DVDS. I know this movie was one of cult director Quitin Tarantino's favorite films, but I couldn't get into it. It was mediocre, at best. Still, entertaining.

Quel Caldo Maledetto Giorno Di Fuoco" , Italy (original title)or "Damned Hot Day of Fire" USA title results to be an Italian/Spanish co-production directed by Paolo Bianchini with noisy action , intrigue and crossfire . Set during the American Civil War , there Richard Gatling (was an actual character who really existed) , ending his invention , which will completely change the course of the war, the machine gun called Gatlin . A North secret government commission interviews Gatlin to collect the gun in his house, in a small town in New Mexico . But there are two gunmen kill the commissioners, and kidnap the inventor and the machine gun . A few weeks later , Tanner (Robert Woods) an Union lieutenant unjustly accused of treason comes to town , by the issue of the gun , and by all means tries to know what happened in order to prove his innocence . He discovers that behind everything appears Tarpas (John Ireland) , a half-breed outlaw , who has the idea to sell the Gatlin machine gun to Northern government , and do the same with the Confederation , but selling it to the South."Gatling Gun" or "Machine Gun Killers" packs thrills , action , and lots of shots and gunplay . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing shootouts or stunts every few minutes . However , there are numerous night scenes and a lousy cinematography ; adding bad situations and some turn of script that no one understands . Acceptable screenplay by José Luis Merino , Western's expert writer and filmmaker , though this theme about a ¨Machine Gun¨ has been treated in several films such as ¨Thompson 1880¨ (1968) by Guido Zurli , ¨Something Big" (1971) by Andrew V MacLagen , ¨The Gatling Gun¨ (1973) by Robert Gordon . Starring Robert Woods is cool as an Union officer accused as a traitor , he is fine as the hero of the story . Robert Woods is very nice , he ravages the screen, he jumps, leaps and bounds , hits and runs , besides receives violent punches , kicks and wounds . However , John Ireland steals the spectacle as a crazed psychopath , a local mestizo magnificently interpreted by this veteran Hollywood actor . Worthwhile watching for a demonstration of the confrontation between Robert Woods and John Ireland with some looks that say it all , including a thrilling ending using the relentless machine gun . It's an exciting SW with breathtaking showdown between the protagonist Robert Woods and the hoodlums enemies as Gerard Herter -unforgettable nasty from ¨The hawk and the prey¨- , Ivan Scratuglia and George Rigaud . Furthermore, there appears usual secondaries of Italian/Spanish Western as Italian actors as the femmes fatal Evelyn Stewart or Ida Galli , Claudia Lange , Ivan Scratuglia ; as well as Spanish players : Roberto Camardiel , Fernando Bilbao , Alfonso De La Vega and Jorge Rigaud . Badly photographed by Francisco Marin , being necessary a right remastering . Filmed on location in Aranjuez , Madrid , Colmenar Viejo, Madrid, La Pedriza and Feria del Campo, Madrid , Spain . Original Music by Piero Piccioni who composes a mediocre soundtrack . The movie was produced in low budget by Atlantida Films/Jose Frade productions that financed several Western during the 60s and early 70s such as ¨Cuatreros¨ , ¨Mestizo¨ , ¨Challenge of McKenna¨ , ¨The mercenary¨ , ¨Los Compañeros¨, ¨twenty dollars for seven¨ and ¨Saddle tramps¨ , among others. The motion picture was middlingly directed by Paolo Bianchini and he often used the pseudonym as Paul Maxwell. At this film he inclined toward violence and too much action . He made various ¨Spaghetti¨ such as Ehi Amigo... Sei Morto! , 1968 Lo Quiero Muerto , 1968 God Made Them... I Kill Them and ¨Spy genre¨ such as 1969 Devilman Story , 1968 Superargo, 1967 Hypnos Follia Di Un massacre , 1966 Il Gioco Delle Spie . Rating : 5 , average Western , though passable for some scenes typical Spaghetti .

I'd never heard of this one before its recent late-night Italian TV screening; on a hunch, I looked the film up on the "Spaghetti Western Database", where it's given a favorable write-up – and I'm glad I did, because this is a solid entry within the genre. I also wasn't familiar with director Bianchini – but, then, the same also held true for Mario Lanfranchi of DEATH SENTENCE (1968), another unconventional Spaghetti Western I was impressed by of late.The film is enjoyable, reasonably stylish and displays plenty of invention throughout; at the same time, we have to contend with some resistible (albeit brief) humor. It's also quite a violent offering: the hero is dragged by a horse, tied to a tree and beaten-up en masse, buried alive and shot at a number of times (the film's single most startling moment – which I'm amazed wasn't cut for TV – involves the graphic extraction, in gloating close-up, of a bullet from his hand!). The action scenes are undeniably well-staged – with the hero always managing to outwit the villains and emerge victorious (despite being greatly outnumbered).Having mentioned all of this, it's interesting that I should be following the film with the newest James Bond adventure – I may be wrong here, but this Western seems to have been inspired to some extent by that highly popular franchise (then in its heyday): the complex plot (involving espionage at the time of the American Civil War, having a Gatling gun for the obligatory "McGuffin", and where one of the characters is revealed to be a 'defector'), dour womanizing hero (with the leading lady typically picked out from the opposite side and another who's dispatched by the villains for her involvement with him), etc. Casting, too, is more than adequate: Robert Woods (who would feature in a dire Spaghetti Western I'd watched not too long ago, SAVAGE GUNS [1971], but also six Jess Franco movies – including the haunting THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR [1973]), John Ireland (excellent as an uncouth half-breed bandit who can throw a deadly knife with his toes{!} and, to feign a tough exterior, lights a match against his bare feet and eats an onion raw – though there's also an anti-racist angle surprisingly attached to his character), Evelyn Stewart, Georges Rigaud and Gerard Herter.With respect to the soundtrack, apart from an effectively atypical jazzy score by Piero Piccioni, there's a nice atmospheric touch in the constant buzzing of flies (due to the oppressive heat). For the record, the framing on the edition I watched was slightly compromised by being opened up from the original Techniscope (2.35:1) to the 1.85:1 ratio. By the way, an alternate title for the film is GATLING GUN – another Western by that name was made in 1973 (and one which is readily available for DVD rental locally).

This euro-western has an engaging storyline that involves historical figures, the American Civil War, political intrigue, government agents, and some detective work. If you like "Il Prezzo di Potere" (The Price of Power), you will probably like this movie.The music score is not one of the great ones, but it is adequate and appropriate for a spaghetti western.John Ireland is great as the greedy villain who tries to extort money from the North as well as the South by holding the inventor of the machine gun and his prototype weapon for ransom. This is the best performance I've seen from him in a spaghetti western. Robert Woods also does a great job here. He is almost as good in this film as he was in "Black Jack." Euro-western fans should take notice. See this movie if you can find it!