just watch it!

It is a performances centric movie

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Fred Williamson also authored the story and wrote the screenplay for this Western vehicle for himself. He plays the title character, a black man who fought for the Union side during the Civil War. He travels to the homestead where his mother (Kathryn Jackson, "The Black Godfather") has been a maid for a frontier family. Unfortunately, an outlaw gang has just been there. They've killed his mom and made off with the ranchers' wife (Brenda Venus, "Foxy Brown"). Naturally, he relentlessly stalks them, aiming to kill them one at a time in the name of vengeance.Produced and directed by Larry G. Spangler ("The Life and Times of Xaviera Hollander"), this is neither very good nor very bad. It's a rather middle-of-the-road film with competent but undistinguished filmmaking. The scenery looks reasonably good as shot in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio, but you can tell this was still done on a budget. The music by Mike Irwin is fairly decent, but also repetitive. The Hammers' story is very simple and straightforward, and leads to a cynical ending. It's violent without being very gory, and poor Venus does get raped by the bad guys, although this *is* implied rather than explicitly shown on screen. The cast, overall, is nondescript, adequately filling out their roles but never amounting to much. Mexican superstar Isela Vega ("Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia") doesn't get a lot to work with, playing the good hearted woman who comes to Williamsons' aid at critical times. Ralph Willingham, in his only film role, is annoying as shrill old fart Weasel, a member of the gang.Taking everything into consideration, this is an okay viewing for a Hammer fan / completist, but it's absolutely nothing special.Six out of 10.

We've seen the vengeance-chase thing, the silent hero thing so many times and, with "Joshua" it's a case of here we go again, this time with lesser results.Fred Williamson acquited himself well, but the rest of the cast could have used some bad guy acting lessons.The music could have used less excess. At one point it sounded like somebody was just learning to play "Chopsticks."Also unnecessary was the 'bosom' scene. We all knew she had one. Jeez! I must say they were more 'bazoom' than your everyday bosom.The fight scene was quite something with sound effects unlike any ever heard before. It was weird. When they bonked each other it sounded like a symphony ocrchestra bass drum. By the way, every now and then it looked like they came close to connecting.The scenery was excellent, the horses were pretty. "Joshua" did well when he fought the battle of Jericho. This Joshua had more of a struggle, minus God in his corner.

This film I consider a very good example of how a film may elicit a variety of responses. I have learned not to take too seriously the comments by others or I may miss a real gem. Not that I would put this film in the gem category but definitely the good side of in-between. I am amazed to read how some abhorred the music. I recall how the music in Keoma drove some people crazy while others (like me) liked it. In Joshua the music fit the film perfectly, especially the low growl when the camera turned to the black rider. So (as we well understand) people's tastes vary. I went for the acting in this one also. I even liked the bad teeth on those ugly bad guys. Though I prefer an unpredictable story line, this film can be good when one prefers sometime something simple. Credibility got stretched for my taste but the music saved it for me. Not bad. I won't forget this one.

I agreed completely with Robiep's review. I too saw it/ own it on DVD. I got it in a 20-movie "Mean Guns" westerns 5-DVD set. It was a sight-unseen purchase which has turned out to be a VERY good purchase. A lot of rare "gems" were in this movie set. And Joshua I felt is Definitely a excellent Fred Williamson film & western! Fred Williamson is an amazing actor & writer. Many have said that "Joshua" is not an "original" plot or idea. While that may be true, (Some of the scenes we have seen in many a western) I felt they were handled from every original angles. ***SPOILER ALLERT***The "rattlesnake" scene is hilarious!!