Django, Prepare a Coffin (1968)

An absolute waste of money

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.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

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

Django, you are a gullible one. Haven't you seen all them Spaghetti Westerns starring Horst Frank? He's not a good employer! Django finds this out the hard way when, following a successful election for Frank, Django gets ambushed transporting gold, his wife gets killed, and he gets turned into a vigilante killer! Worse still, he ends up taking a job as the hangman, but with motives! His motives involve not actually hanging folks as they are being framed by Horst Frank and sidekick giant George Eastman. So Django is forming his own little army of not-dead guys to get revenge on Frank and Eastman. Can he trust them? There's a gigantic amount of double crossing in this film which almost threatens to derail the entire film. Some of Django's guy double cross him, and then each other, until you stop caring about what's happening on screen and hope that at some point people will stop double crossing each other and you can just get to the big fight at the end.George Eastman is good in this one and has a memorable death. Terence Hill in non-comedy mode is pretty good (He's basically Franco Nero with a pointier nose) and I'm watching too many of these films now as Horst Frank seems to be in most of them and it's hard to separate what he does in one film from the other.This one plays out like an average Spag Western but there are enough quirks in there to make worth watching once. I love the way Arrow DVD have very slyly packaged the film so that unsuspecting folks would be it thinking they've bought Django Unchained!

Whilst Viva Django is one of many Spaghetti Westerns to steal the "Django" moniker following the success of Corbucci's classic, this particular outing is a rarity in that it both captures the mood and effect of the original and actually contains the same character.The story presumably acts as a prequel to the Corbucci movie, with Django (on this occasion played by Terence Hill) hellbent on revenge following the murder of his wife at the hands of Lucas (George Eastman) and his gang. Django was sold-out by his former friend and politician David Barry (Horst Frank).Years have passed and Django is acting as the local hangman, whose job is to execute 'innocent' locals who have been framed by Barry for the thefts carried out on his behalf by the Lucas gang. Both are unaware that Django is faking the executions, and recruiting the condemned for his act of revenge.Few of these men can be trusted however, and whilst Django's back is turned (during the rescue of the innocent wife of one of the group members from the hangman's noose) a number sabotage Django's plot and beat Lucas' gang to a proposed ambush of a cash shipment. I shall ruin the plot no more.......This is perhaps Terence Hill's greatest role (albeit in effect playing Franco Nero playing Django) as I personally often find his slapstick styling of later movies difficult to grasp. Here however he oozes class, clad all in black and convincingly playing the character second only to the Man With No Name for pure charisma. The rest of the cast is also a real treat - with both Eastman and Frank as brilliant as ever. Eastman's characters alway manage to be quite likable regardless of their bad morals and actions, whilst Frank just oozes with evil. Two of the great great supporting actors of the genre.Ferdinando Baldi's direction also merits much credit, managing to both keep the feel of Corbucci's original whilst also firmly stamping the movie with his own "comic book action" trademark. The final scene in the graveyard deserves particular mention - a real "fist in the air" moment of excitement, with some great dialogue also.Gianfranco Reverbi provides a really recognisable score, and the title theme track "You'd Better Smile" will stick in the head for days. And quite rightly so! Whilst not all the Django films are worthy of much mention at all, this particular Django is one that should most definitely be viewed. Great entertainment.

Really, really good old fashioned Spaghetti Western starring a young Terence Hill as the titular gunslinger.Gianfranco Reverberi's music is one of those old Western songs that just gets stuck in your head. I haven't seen the film in about four years and still remember the theme song beat-for-beat. Great cast too: with George Eastman, Horst Frank, Guido Lollobrigida, and Luciano Rossi (who dies like he does in every other movie). The dramatics is all melodramatic enough to the point of almost being funny, like with the action sequences where whoever is supposed to win just kicking ass and never getting hit once.It's also interesting to note that this film has almost the exact same structure as Kurosawa's Yojimbo / Leone's Fistful of Dollars, yet it throws in enough variation (and "Django-ism") to retain its own unique and colorful feel. The best scene is definitely the ending showdown in the cemetery. Much better filmed and more comic book-style than anything in the original DJANGO - plus a lot more fun. I never really was a big 60's Spaghetti Western fan, but I still liked this movie quite a bit, which definitely says something.

One of my favorite Spaghetti westerns is "VIVA DJANGO". Terence Hill plays Django, a man who's wife was murdered by his best friend. Django becomes a hangman, who doesnt kill his victims, he gives them a harness, with a big hook, to wear so they wont be strangled. Django does this so they will help him get revenge on David Berry for murdering his wife. Excellent Spaghetti Western that never gets boring, full of guns and action! Terence Hill does a good job imitating Franco Nero. I think this movie is slightly better than the origanal DJANGO made in 1966. Get a bootleg of this movie off of Ebay, you wont be dissapointed!