Good story, Not enough for a whole film

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.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

"Boot Hill" (1969) is directed by Giuseppe Colizzi and stars Terrence Hill, Bud Spencer, Woody Strode and George Eastman.The screenplay by Collizzi concerns a circus travelling the West who pick Cat Stevens (Hil), who has been injured by a mining company who are after his claim. When the company's henchmen kill a circus acrobat, former gunfighter Tomas (Strode) teams up with Stevens to avenge the man's death.This is a very underrated Spaghetti Western, brilliantly photographed (by Marcello Masciocchi) and edited (by Tatiana Casini Morigi) with an unusual script, handled well and shot through with weird moments of humour and very well handled by the director, whose third film with the duo Hill and Spencer, after "God Forgives, I Don't" (1967) and "Aces High" (1968) this was. Although there are connections in this film with the previous two, it is sufficiently divorced from them that you can watch this and not the previous entries in the trilogy.From the great opening scene to the final gun battle, this is one Spaghetti Western you can't miss.

Boot Hill, the English title for this spaghetti western finds Terrence Hill confronting a the hired thugs of town boss Victor Buono and getting shot up for his efforts. A traveling circus takes him in and gives him shelter over the objections of owner Lionel Stander who reluctantly gives in. After that Hill teams up with Bud Spencer, a fellow gunfighter whom he brings out of retirement and Woody Strode who is with the circus, but has his own agenda with that town and its boss.The film sadly enough tries to be a comedy, but the laughs don't quite come in the right places. For the life of me I could not understand the dubbing of Victor Buono who is playing a variation on the part he had in Four For Texas. Buono had one of the most cultured voices in the English language during his lifetime so that just seemed incredibly stupid to me.Boot Hill marks the farewell performance of Eduardo Ciannelli who was all of 80 years old and looked it. He was dubbed, but his Italian accent would have been really out of place in this western. My guess is that Ciannelli was not in the best of health making this film. Not one I'd want to go out on.For those who like the pasta westerns from Europe you might enjoy Boot Hill. But it just isn't my taste.

I've wanted to see Boot Hill for a while now, but it's been difficult to find a watchable transfer. I realize now that I haven't been missing much. For the most part, the film is standard Spaghetti Western stuff. A group of claim jumpers, lead by Honey Fisher (Victor Buono), have everyone in a small mining town under their control. Eventually, though, one of the townsfolk gets tired of being robbed and asks for the help of his friend, Cat Stevens (Terence Hill). Using a traveling circus as cover, Stevens is able to get into town unnoticed for a final showdown with Fisher and his gang of thugs.Other than the use of the circus, the plot and action in Boot Hill aren't as original or as good as you'll find in some other films of this type. The final showdown is predictable and lacks any real tension. When Stevens finally meets up with Finch, the head bad guy, nothing much happens. Although most of the film is played straight, there are a few attempts at humor that feel out of place. For the most part, the acting is decent, but it's nothing to write home about. Hill, Bud Spencer, and Woody Strode are okay, but it's nothing special. The exception is Buono who is by far the standout in the film. Unfortunately, his screen time is limited and he doesn't even appear until the movie is half over.Where Boot Hill excels and what makes it unique are the directorial and editing decisions made with the film. There are a number of instances where scenes of violence are quickly spliced with scenes of the circus. Gunfight – a clown playing a trumpet – a man gets shot – a trapeze act – hiding in a barn – dancing girls. It's a nice touch.Finally, whether intentional or not, Boot Hill features several scenes that can best be described as homosexual in nature. From the miners dancing check-to-check in the opening to Bud Spencer calling the tall, blond, good looking cowboy he lives with "Baby Doll" to the unexplained relationship between Woody Strode and the young, good looking trapeze artist, there's an undeniable homoerotic feel underlying a lot of the movie.

This is an entertaining conclusion to the trilogy of westerns made by directer GIUSEPPE COLIZZI and stars TERENCE HILL and BUD SPENCER.The first collaboration GOD FORGIVES... I DON'T benefited from the presence of FRANK WOLFF, the ruthless master criminal BILL SAN'ANTONIO; ACE HIGH allowed ELI WALLACH to steal the show whenever he was on-screen, giving us a variation on his TUCO role (THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY), so that we could overlook the meandering approach to the memorable finale, set deliriously to a waltz, and the third film BOOT HILL provides a white collar villain in VICTOR BUONO.His angle on life and death in the west is complementary to what SERGIO LEONE proposed in ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST. Big business and its money was the only means of beating the gun. And so the heroes' approach to defeating the wonderfully obese BUONO is different from the slugfests and shootouts from earlier westerns.This is why I would disagree with Tom Weisser in his otherwise excellent tome on spaghetti westerns - "the genre's most (unintentionally) nonthreatening villain, Victor Buono". The most successful villains get others to do their dirty work, yet believe their own hands are therefore clean!On the Spaghetti Western Scales of Justice, another 7.5/10: good cast, music, plot and characterization with some novel elements such as the traveling circus troupe, and the stubborn old judge.