Beyond the Law (1975)

The Worst Film Ever

As Good As It Gets

Absolutely the worst movie.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

"Beyond the Law" (as it is also known as) is a poorly made Spaghetti Western starring Antonio Sabato who portrays an immigrant from Europe named "Ben Novack" who has journeyed out west to lend his knowledge to a silver mining company. Lee Van Cleef plays a thief named "Billy Joe Cudlip" who, along with his partners, "Preacher" (Lionel Stander) and "Al" (Al Hoosman), conspire to rob the payroll from the stagecoach and the silver from the mine. Bud Spencer (who later gained fame in the "Trinity" movies) plays the mine owner named "James Cooper". Additionally, bandits led by "Burton" (Gordon Mitchell) come along and rob, kill and create chaos in general. Anyway, having given the basic details of the plot I would just like to say that this is one of the worst westerns I have ever seen. The acting (for the most part) was abysmal, the script was weak, the character interactions were disjointed and the scenes had no rhythm or flow. Now, it could very well be that one reason for the incoherence between scenes was due to extreme editing after the film was shot. But even so, this was a dreadful movie completely lacking direction and expertise. For example, in one scene the townsmen have set up an ambush for the bandits. Yet the ambush is conceived so sloppily that they leave a hill open with plenty of cover and concealment for the bandits to take up a defensive position and return fire. If that wasn't bad enough, both sides prefer using pistols at long range rather than rifles. Even more incredible is the astounding accuracy all the main characters seem to have shooting these pistols at moving targets who are running and scampering all over the place. It defies common sense. Anyhow, in spite of the major flaws in this film there were a couple of elements which were slightly positive. I thought Lee Van Cleef and Bud Spencer gave decent performances in their respective roles. Likewise, Graziella Granata ("Sally Davis") was very good-looking. But other than that I see nothing worthwhile in this film.

No one seems to have reviewed Wild East's DVD of Beyond the Law (which also includes Lee Van Cleef's The Grand Duel) so I guess I'd better take up the challenge. Unlike all previous American video releases, Wild East's disc is correctly letterboxed and includes some scenes previously only available on European prints, which immediately renders all the bootlegs and pan and scan sell-throughs redundant. The film itself is a modest affair involving Van Cleef, Lionel Stander, Bud Spencer, and the still active Herbert Fux in a caper to abscond with a silver shipment. Though the film was rather blandly shot by cinematographer Enzo Serafin--whether intentionally or otherwise, it's drenched in browns and yellows, lending it a rather dusty appearance--the proceedings are immensely improved by Riz Ortolani's majestic score. Though Beyond the Law is overlong and drags at times, a spectacular finale involving caped villain Gordon Mitchell enlivens the third act and will leave spaghetti fans satisfied.

3 rogues steal a mining company's payroll from Antonio Sabato's Czechoslovakian mining engineer at the beginning of this rather routine Spaghetti Western. They then spar with the black-clad villain Burton. The story of the transformation of Lee Van Cleef's Cutlip from criminal to marshal is interesting and could have made a really good film, but it is poorly executed with unimaginative direction and music. However, a few of the scenes, particularly those with the hostages, are effective. If you like SW, then you will find something in this film to enjoy. I did. But if you do not, then avoid. I saw a rather poor quality pan and scan VHS. The film would really benefit from widescreen.Lee Van Cleef's performance is good, but as usual with SW there are some priceless dubbed lines like, "I never saw nor heard so many b*****ds in all my life. All you men got families that came from all over the world, right? The kid just got here and gets and little bad luck and you treat him like a dog. Who the hell do you think you are? You act like you all got hit in the head with a horse!"Top spaghetti western list http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=21849907Average SWs http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=21849889 For completists only (bottom of the barrel) http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=21849890

This movie was ok.....i thought it would be good since lee van cleef was in it and so was lionel stander......mainly i bought it because Bud Spencer was in it......i thought he was a main character but he was only in the movie for about 10 minutes.....the story wasn't bad....it was about a guy who came from europe to the states to deliver money to some miners but its stolen....he has to get it back and he asks lee van cleef for help...but lee was the person who robbed him! i would give this movie a 5/10