Gatling Gun (1968)

Captivating movie !

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

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 review is based on the American video release of this spaghetti western, inappropriately retitled Machine Gun Killers for the Stateside market. That makes it sound like a Roaring Twenties' gangster flick, but it's actually a fairly cerebral and artfully plotted oater about a loner (Robert Woods) on the trail of a villain (John Ireland) and the inventor he's kidnapped. Quel Caldo Maledotto Giorno di Fuoco has a good reputation amongst spaghetti fans, but the Meteor video release is absolutely abominable, featuring badly squeezed credits, lazy to nonexistent pan and scanning, and a washed out print. It also seems to be missing some scenes. Happily, Piero Piccioni's jazzy score blends Jimmy Smith-style Hammond organ riffs with a hint of country-western tang and is one of the few elements to successfully make the transition to home video. Nonetheless, this is a film crying out for a digital upgrade. There are hints of good photography, good editing, and thoughtful writing here, but the negatives far outweigh the positives at this point.

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!