Who payed the critics

Too much about the plot just didn't add up, the writing was bad, some of the scenes were cringey and awkward,

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Forgotten Pistolero 1969 was based off a Greek Tragedy and told wonderfully in this Ferdinando Baldi aka Ted Kaplan movie, who did 10 SW movies in his career well known ones such as Blindman, Get Mean, Texas Adios, and Forgotten Pistolero. What is great is the amazing music score that immediately starts by Roberto Pregadio which was used in the movie "Kill Bill". The music really makes a SW movie and the music here really sets the mood. I liked such scenes as when Peter Martell's character Rafael is being hunted down from Mexico into Texas by Miguel (Jose Manuel Martin)who to me has the face and good acting for a small part SW actor that plays Mexican bandit roles to the tee. He finds boyhood friend Sebastian and helps him remember his blocked out past and seek the revenge they both rightfully deserve. It was amazing the ending scene with the Hacienda burning and the music playing and justice being served. You have to see it and will not be sorry....

Poor Mexican farmer Leonard Mann is met one day by mysterious stranger Peter Martell, who tells him that he's really the son of a wealthy landowner, murdered by his unfaithful wife and her lover. They then travel to his boyhood home to seek revenge, reclaim his birthright, and save his long-lost (and long suffering) sister from his mother's now ex-lover.The Forgotten Pistolero, which borrows a little from Hamlet, is a well-told story, with excellent production values, and enough great western/Mexican atmosphere to go around. The imitation Ennio Morricone score by Roberto Pregado is pretty swell too.The entire cast give really great performances, though the lack of any real bankable international star probably helped get this above-average Italian western unjustly buried. Mann and Martell are exceptional though, and they do make a great team.The climax amidst a flaming backdrop is superb and ultimately quite satisfying.However, there are some unanswered questions regarding Mann's apparent amnesia in regards to his childhood, or lack thereof. Is he even the same person? Did he tell the villain the truth when they first met? No answer is given.

Out of all the spaghetti westerns I've seen (and there are probably three dozen of them, so far), this would easily rank among the top five, and for several reasons: 1. The story is engaging, action-packed, and well written, with lots of twists and turns. This is a spaghetti western with a mystery, and I like that.2. The acting is exceptional, all around. The bad guys play their parts so well that you can't wait for them to "get theirs". Especially good is Luciana Paluzzi, Peter Martell, Pilar Velazquez, and Leonard Mann. Martell is so good that he often upstages them all.3. The photography, costumes, sets, and music really add to the film. In short, if you like spaghetti westerns, you'll like this one.

Ferdinando Baldo needs only 85 minutes to deliver a family drama of high complexity. Rafael hates Anna Carrasco because she didn't permit him to marry her daughter. To accomplish his revenge he searches for Anna's son Sebastian who wants to avenge the murder of his father who was actually murdered by Anna. Anna back then was helped by her lover whom she replaced already by another men. I will not continue any further, I hope you've got an entry into the muddled plot. Unfortunately this isn't a Western plot which means that genre fans will be rather disappointed. Fans of serious drama will be disappointed by the high pace which never permits to get any deeper into the characters. Anna's daughter Conchita says: "I will not leave the town as long as the murderers of my father still live here". Well, I would always prefer not to live together with murderers but that quantity of logic is missing. The story as it is told often rises more questions than it answers. Acting is as good as the weak script permits, the women are really handsome. Sets and locations give the impression of being in Southern Spain and not in the American West most of the time.The high quality German DVD is a real bargain and has an English soundtrack.5 / 10 (**)