This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

I no longer follow the Western genre with the huge pleasure I had in my childhood. I prefer Thriller, Science Fiction, Comedy, a good Documentary. Except for Sergio Leone, his films I'm reviving cyclically, about 10 to 10 years, with great great pleasure. Not just for Leone's sake and his unique, original stories (though sometimes inspired by Japanese like Kurosawa), but also for Morricone's music and some actors, especially Gian Maria Volontè, Lee Van Cleef, Klaus Kinski, Charles Bronson. Clint Eastwood never fascinated me (not in Westerns, I liked him in "The Bridges of Madison County" and "Escape from Alcatraz"). Why am I saying all this here? Because Max Dillman, the director of this western, is none other than the one who filmed "Fistful of Dollars" and "For a Few Dollars More", Mr. Expert Cinematographer Massimo Dallamano, dead at the tender age of only 59. He just tried his luck, like many others, with a not too great story, in fact one very predictable, to copy the success of Leone's dollars. The Cinematography, also very professional as Master Dallamano's, is not signed by him, as would have been natural, but by the Spanish Emilio Foriscot. The distribution is made up of unknown actors, which, despite the slim scenario, they pay off somehow honorably. The music of the film, signed by Egisto Macchi, is clearly the Morricone clone, with guitars and trumpets, but not so successful as the original. Surprisingly, Venantino Venantini, after seeing him in many roles totally opposite to the tough guy, is here trying to equate Gian Maria Volontè as a villainous gunman. Of course he does not succeed, no one can do that, but he is not bad. The second reason I wanted to see this movie, apart from Massimo Dallamano, was the presence of another huge talent, another delight of my childhood, the Italian actor Enrico Maria Salerno. In spite of Salerno's talent and the only cool idea of the film, somehow like a christian symbol, in my humble opinion, the bullet holes in his character's hands (just like Jesus) (the idea had to be exploited and the script developed exactly there), the film is somewhere between average and mediocre. Only for those obsessed by Western.

This is one of those films where the running time flies by because the film you are watching is so good. This Spaghetti Western was directed by the guy who made What Have You Done To Our Daughters, stars the cop from Bird with the Crystal Plumage, so it makes sense that contained within the first scene is a giallo-like clue to what happens later in the film.You also get a sense straight away that the guy behind the camera knows what he is doing - check out that beautiful tracking shot of all those dead folk lying in and around the train following Venantino Venantini's massacre. The whole film plays out like that.Yep, this one starts with a train robbery and a massacre, and the only man left alive is, or was, a sharpshooter named Martin. Shot in both hands but left alive for some unknown reason, Martin seeks revenge against those who robbed the train, and for other reasons that aren't explained at this point either. What he finds first is a young potential trainee sharpshooter, but as this film is full of mysteries, he may not be what he seems either.So, gorgeously filmed, fully of inventive camera-work, great actors in front of the screen, loads of twists and turns. This one has it all and is one of the better Spaghetti Westerns out there (and that's me saying that! I love most of them!). There's plenty of shootouts too and the final duel is very creative, only eclipsed for me by a more emotional shootout a wee bit earlier in the film. Enrico Salerno has a certain aura about him in every film I've seen him in - I can't put my finger on it but he's probably the best thing in this.

"Bandidos" is a great, action-packed revenge story that is set up by a very dramatic opening scene that has a rogue gunfighter meet up with the man who taught him to shoot. The gunfighter shoots his former friend in both hands, and then tells him to try to get revenge if he's able to hold a gun. The stage is set, and the film doesn't let up until the very end.All the elements of a great spaghetti western are here. There is a cool music score, an engaging story, suspenseful gunfights, cheesy acting, a couple of great one-liners, and it is all done way over-the-top, like a good western should be. This movie is loaded with style, and style is the reason why the Italian westerns are so much more fun to watch than the ones made in the U.S.There is a lot of great camera work in this movie. The interesting use of camera angles here gives the film a distinct character in much the same way that the use of close-ups marks the Leone westerns.My favorite scenes in the movie are the ones that take place in saloons. There is one especially amusing one in which a man who has just lost a gunfight is sitting at a table drinking and harassing customers and saloon girls while he waits to die from his bullet wound. This old woman tells him to "hurry up and die," and he decides he wants to shoot one of the saloon girls so that he can take her to hell with him."Bandidos" is a must-see for anyone who likes their westerns Italian style.

This film starts with a classic sequence in which a train is held up by Billy Kane (Venantini) and his bandits. All the passengers are brutally massacred because, as Kane rightly states, if you don't want your face on any reward posters, you don't leave any witnesses. There is one survivor however - Richard Martin (Salerno) - a renowned fast gunslinger who attempts to take on the gang singlehandedly. There is previous history between the gunmen, and to remove the threat Kane shoots and cripples both of Martin's hands, ending his gunslinging days for good.Years pass, and Martin is now travelling from town to town, hosting a gunslinger show. Fate brings him face to face with escaped convict Ricky Shot (Jenkins) who he takes under his wing, passing on his prowess with a gun, with the aim of using the young hotshot to gain his revenge on Kane. As it happens, Ricky Shot has his own motive for facing Kane, as we find out as the story unfolds.Bandidos is a classic spaghetti western in the revenge sphere. Whilst the cast features none of the usual spaghetti stalwarts that we know and love, it is well casted, particularly Salerno in the part of Martin. It is also superbly directed by Dallamano, a man better known for his thrillers.The film contains some superbly tense gunfights, matched with a decent soundtrack. The story is at all times riveting, making Bandidos a highly recommended film for all lovers of Italian westerns, and maybe a few more besides.