To me, this movie is perfection.

Instant Favorite.

Fantastic!

The acting in this movie is really good.

The third entry in the "Sabata" series brings back star Lee Van Cleef, after the movie "Adios, Sabata" (which was redubbed and re-christened with the "Sabata" brand name) with Yul Brynner. This time, Sabata is working in a sideshow in the small town of Hobsonville. Hobsonville is dominated by a greedy robber baron named Joe McIntock (Giampiero Albertini). McIntock taxes his citizens for just about everything, and supposedly it goes towards making town improvements. Sabata does battle with the villainous McIntock while cultivating a tenuous "partnership" with the shifty Lt. Clyde (Reiner Schone)."The Return of Sabata" has a plot so convoluted and twist-laden that it only starts to become more clear towards the end. The viewer really has to pay attention in order to avoid becoming confused; even then, this is the kind of story that probably does command more than one viewing for the sake of understanding it. Not that it matters all that much; oftentimes the story takes a backseat to comedy. The film is at its brightest when coming up with a variety of gags, surprises, and cool gadgets. Sabata is an absolutely unflappable hero in the face of danger, and frequently catches his opponents off guard.This film looks as good as anything else in this genre: it's well designed, well shot in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and it features a blatantly comical (and insidiously catchy) music score composed by Marcello Giombini. There are some lovely ladies to add some sex appeal, and there are occasional doses of gore as the body count rises. The acrobat characters return to dazzle us with their amazing feats.It sure is nice to see Van Cleef in a more lighthearted venture than usual, and he does appear to be having fun. The supporting cast - Schone, Albertini, Ignazio Spalla, Annabella Incontrera, Jacqueline Alexandre, Steffen Zacharias - is equally engaging. Schone is amusing as an *extremely* weaselly lowlife.Good entertainment for Spaghetti Western fans.Seven out of 10.

Sabata (Lee Van Cleef) is working as a trick-shooter in some sort of psychedelic sideshow, when he runs afoul of a local big-wig by refusing to pay the town's excessive sales taxes. Also, there's a lady-killer lurking about and Sabata's shifty war-buddy hanging around.The production values are good, as is Van Cleef and his assortment of wonderful toys. However, the whole movie is pretty silly and the script a rambling, sometimes confusing mess (Who killed the girl and why?), with a plot that takes too much time to develop.In all, Return Of Sabata is mostly forgettable, with a few good moments surrounded by way too much talk. As a fan of Lee Van Cleef, I wanted very much to like this more than I ultimately did.

I saw this movie on cable television. It played right after The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. Talk about day and then night.When I saw that it starred Lee Van Cleef, and heard the catchy theme song, I thought, hey, maybe this will be good.But alas, Lee Van Cleef went from the Bad to the Bad Movie. As far as I am concerned, there are only three Spaghetti Westerns, and Return of Sabata is a perfect example why. These imitations don't measure up.Van Cleef makes a valiant effort as the cool cat Sabata who always finds a way to win. But as he is not countered by any competent antagonist, his efforts are wasted. The movies' arch-villain McKintock is evil enough, but hapless (why doesn't he just have a bunch of guys with shotguns assassinate Sabata?) and surrounded by clownish lackeys with no sand.These themes are established early: Sabata always knows what's going on, and Sabata always wins. It seems half the film consists of McKintock's men challenging Sabata to one gambling contest after another, then trying to trick or cheat him, only to find that Sabata cheats better. Many of these scenes end with Sabata pulling a gun at some clever time, including a small-caliber barrel hidden up his sleeve. Somehow no one ever decides to draw before he does, and time and again, a roomful of armed hostiles is mysteriously cowed. Van Cleef wears a Cool Hand Luke air throughout, but the effect is to turn him into a kind of god-figure. He can get the drop on dozens of men at once? Who can challenge him, then, in this town full of cowards? Yawn. The non-gambling parts of this film seem to be inspired by the director belatedly realizing that it needs to involve more than just harping on Sabata's gambling prowess. Even the positive comments on this page admit that the plot is unfathomable in a single viewing. It's worse; it's as though they shot a bunch of random western-themed scenes, then tried to edit them into a movie. The characters are shallow Western clichés with no substance, and their motives are mostly "I'm-with-Sabata" or "I'm-with-McKintock." And what is going on, and why, is rarely explained. At one point, Clyde suddenly jump into a horse-drawn cart and make off with the loot. But he doesn't get far before his cart loses a wheel and Sabata is there to coolly chide him for his impish treachery. What, Clyde was planning to steal the loot? Why did the wheel fall off? How did Sabata know he was going to do it?The entire film is one take after another of Someone Tries to do Something Against Sabata, leading up to Sabata Wins, Hands Down. Even when the movie bothers to explain just HOW Sabata wins, it wears too thin to hold the attention. Kind of like Superman in the Wild West, with no super-villains or Kryptonite. If you've seen one scene, you've seen the whole film. See it if you like bad movies that critics whitewash as "rollicking." But see it for free, it's not worth paying for.

The plot of this film has to do with the town of Hobsonville where McIntock, a now prosperous miner and town over seer is taxing the people in order to get the money to build up their fair town into something special. Enter Sabata, who is following a trail that led him from a murder in a traveling circus to the town. Clearly there is a great deal of money at stake and Sabata smells something a miss as well as sensing that there is a buck to be made.This is a rambling, often seemingly plot less, (comedic) western. You're a good way into the film before you realize what exactly is going on. There a good number of characters who are two timing or three timing each other and we get dragged into their machinations, and it seems that there really isn't a central story (or real villain), or at least a reason why Sabata is in the town, until the movie is about half over. Its not bad as such but towards the end of the first half you really do begin to wonder why you're watching the film.The reason you're watching it is Lee Van Cleef. Van Cleef as Sabata is pure smart mouthed hero. He can't be beat and he knows it. He is a hero we'd all like to be, even if his motivations are questionable. Van Cleef goes along with the nonsense on screen and in the process makes it somehow okay to go along too.Worth a look for western fans, others may want to take a pass unless they are in an undemanding mood.