By 1969,the traditional American western was pretty much dead and buried, nothing but a distant memory, a relic of a bygone era, the genre had been reinvented in Europe by the Italians and Spaniards and the rootin' tootin' cowboy pictures audiences once loved and craved so much were replaced by the violent, symbolic and surreal Spaghetti Western.However,Universal,whose westerns had been so popular in the 1950s,still faithfully churned out the odd favourite just the way they had a decade earlier, DEATH OF A GUNFIGHTER was one such film,. The plot is like this, in the small Texan town of Cottonwood Springs at the turn of the twentieth century, the sheriff Frank Patch(RICHARD WIDMARK)kills a drunk in self defence after the latter makes an attempt on his life, the town elders, who have wanted rid of Patch for some time because they feel they must move on from the violent ways of the past, persuade him to resign, but the stubborn lawman won't go down without a fight and elects to stay. The elders are now forced to use more brutal methods to get rid of Patch of Patch and after one of them commits suicide after being humiliated by Patch, the rest of the town and even his closest friends begin to alienate the Marshall as he descends on a downward spiral of self destruction...
DEATH OF A GUNFIGHTER is a brilliant movie, in my opinion one of Universal's best and this movie proves that they could still make a superb and exciting western similar to the ones they were famous for. GUNFIGHTER is a brutal and gripping tale of self destruction and the effects it can have on the individual, the storyline is quite unique and I have never come across one like it in a western since, although the title ruins it a little by giving the ending away. The camera-work is excellent and there's a lot of magnificent, Leone style close-up's which add to the taut, tense atmosphere of the film, the scene in which one of the town elders tries to kill Patch was really well directed and expertly shot and the viewer can almost feel the unease of the characters involved. The film's main action scene, the climatic mass shootout was absolutely fantastic, again the camera-work which plays a major part is amazing here, I loved the way the camera follows Patch as he shoots his way through the town's empty streets and buildings. The whole sequence was planned out and scripted in an outstanding way and the suspense of the whole sequence just topped it off, I was really impressed the way that there are parts of non stop shooting and then there were lulls in the violence to allow the viewer to digest the action. My favourite part of the shootout was when Patch chases a gunman into a corral packed with Cattle, shoots him in the ribs,lassoos him and drags him out behind his horse as they guy gets trampled over by several Cows. The end of the shootout was similar to that of a Spaghetti Western, a wounded Patch staggers down the empty street to meet his fate, all we hear is the wind blowing and then you get a shot of the Mayor striking a match and lighting his Cigarette which is suddenly followed of a semi close-up of Patch violently flinching as he is riddled with bullets.
The acting and characters were great, Richard Widmark was excellent at showcasing the raw desperation and fear of a man out of touch with the modern world, I was also extremely impressed by the performances of Carroll O Connor and John Saxon and the town elders were an excellent bunch of scumbags.The only gripe I had with the film was that it got painfully slow at times and dragged terribly at times, there's too many scenes of long, boring dialogue which is completely pointless and at times irrelevant to the plot and there's scenes in which the characters tend to veer off into some of the most dreadful conservation I've ever heard.
DEATH OF A GUNFIGHTER is an exciting and awesome western with an intelligent, tight script and good strong characters portrayed solidly by a group of fine actors. As is the case with dozens of other westerns like it, GUNFIGHTER is definitely deserving of a DVD release.9/10.
DEATH OF A GUNFIGHTER is a brilliant movie, in my opinion one of Universal's best and this movie proves that they could still make a superb and exciting western similar to the ones they were famous for. GUNFIGHTER is a brutal and gripping tale of self destruction and the effects it can have on the individual, the storyline is quite unique and I have never come across one like it in a western since, although the title ruins it a little by giving the ending away. The camera-work is excellent and there's a lot of magnificent, Leone style close-up's which add to the taut, tense atmosphere of the film, the scene in which one of the town elders tries to kill Patch was really well directed and expertly shot and the viewer can almost feel the unease of the characters involved. The film's main action scene, the climatic mass shootout was absolutely fantastic, again the camera-work which plays a major part is amazing here, I loved the way the camera follows Patch as he shoots his way through the town's empty streets and buildings. The whole sequence was planned out and scripted in an outstanding way and the suspense of the whole sequence just topped it off, I was really impressed the way that there are parts of non stop shooting and then there were lulls in the violence to allow the viewer to digest the action. My favourite part of the shootout was when Patch chases a gunman into a corral packed with Cattle, shoots him in the ribs,lassoos him and drags him out behind his horse as they guy gets trampled over by several Cows. The end of the shootout was similar to that of a Spaghetti Western, a wounded Patch staggers down the empty street to meet his fate, all we hear is the wind blowing and then you get a shot of the Mayor striking a match and lighting his Cigarette which is suddenly followed of a semi close-up of Patch violently flinching as he is riddled with bullets.
The acting and characters were great, Richard Widmark was excellent at showcasing the raw desperation and fear of a man out of touch with the modern world, I was also extremely impressed by the performances of Carroll O Connor and John Saxon and the town elders were an excellent bunch of scumbags.The only gripe I had with the film was that it got painfully slow at times and dragged terribly at times, there's too many scenes of long, boring dialogue which is completely pointless and at times irrelevant to the plot and there's scenes in which the characters tend to veer off into some of the most dreadful conservation I've ever heard.
DEATH OF A GUNFIGHTER is an exciting and awesome western with an intelligent, tight script and good strong characters portrayed solidly by a group of fine actors. As is the case with dozens of other westerns like it, GUNFIGHTER is definitely deserving of a DVD release.9/10.