
SABATA at least has the distinction of a lead role filled by Leone regular and all-around badass Lee Van Cleef. Van Cleef seems a man who was just built for westerns. His profile (especially when shaded by a cowboy hat) and remarkable voice were a resume which no director in their right mind could ignore. To say he made himself iconic in both THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY and FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE is a drastic understatement. Few actors could go toe-to-toe with Clint Eastwood in a western (or any other setting) and leave you wondering who that "other guy" was and wanting to see him again in another movie as soon as humanly possible. Those who have anointed Steve McQueen as the quintessential cool guy never saw enough Lee Van Cleef movies. The man is cool personified. And SABATA is a fantastic showcase for how cool he can be.
SABATA is a great character for Van Cleef to play. Upon first glance he feels a lot like his character from A FEW DOLLARS MORE, but a bit more altruistic. Sabata is of course a master marksman, almost superhumanly so and even possesses the ability to throw coins strategically. His draw is blindingly fast as well. Sabata doesn't always choose to be lethal with his gunplay though. He's one of those sharpshooters that uses his firearm to do much more entertaining things than killing (like shooting legs off of chairs a clipping strings on banjos). When he does fire his six-shooter, the soundtrack rings out with that indelible "Italian gunshot sound" - that powerful piercing sound we first became accustomed to hearing in Leone's films. I love that sound. It is to spaghetti westerns what the sound of a light saber is to STAR WARS movies. So once we've established that Sabata is awesome, he needs a good villain to challenge him. This film has a good villain in the form of a homicidal rich fella with lots murderous toys to entertain himself with. As Lee Van Cleef characters are known to do, Sabata decides he wants to extort a little money from this evil hombre and that of course leads to the inevitable hiring of another gunman to take Sabata out. It's a showdown worth waiting for most assuredly. There's plenty of great standoffs in the movie as a whole.
This film spawned two follow-ups - first, ADIOS, SABATA in 1970, which saw Yul Brynner taking over the character and then RETURN OF SABATA in 1971 where Van Cleef did indeed return (to the role). All three of these films were directed by Gianfranco Parolini (billed here as the Americanized Frank Kramer) who was unfamiliar to me but is clearly a dude with a good amount of pinache and makes an energetic movie dripping with style.
This film spawned two follow-ups - first, ADIOS, SABATA in 1970, which saw Yul Brynner taking over the character and then RETURN OF SABATA in 1971 where Van Cleef did indeed return (to the role). All three of these films were directed by Gianfranco Parolini (billed here as the Americanized Frank Kramer) who was unfamiliar to me but is clearly a dude with a good amount of pinache and makes an energetic movie dripping with style.
SABATA is one of several westerns (DEATH RIDES A HORSE comes immediately to mind) that truly makes me wish Van Cleef had been given more opportunities to be an action hero/leading man in Hollywood. He is as dynamic an actor as any of his contemporaries and how the went relatively unrecognized is beyond me.
This Blu-ray has not much in the way of extras (other than a theatrical trailer), but the transfer is quite solid and shows off the stylish 2.35 to 1 compositions rather well. Colors pop pretty good too.

Like SABATA, this Blu-ray is also a bare-bones (except for a trailer) release. The transfer is strong though, even better than SABATA. Also like SABATA, THE SCALPHUNTERS was shot in scope and the Blu-ray presentation brings out the color and detail in this gorgeous format. THE SCALPHUNTERS features more majestic outdoor vistas shots in general which looks excellent in widescreen.
Both SABATA and THE SCALPHUNTERS arrive on Blu-ray on July 22nd. For more information head on over to Kino Lorber. Also due out on that day are WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION and THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (which I reviewed here: http://www.rupertpupkinspeaks.com/2014/07/kino-lorber-studio-classics-witness-for.html)
FYI - All four titles are currently on sale at Amazon for $16.99 a piece (43% off):
http://amzn.to/1lhrOYV
Both SABATA and THE SCALPHUNTERS arrive on Blu-ray on July 22nd. For more information head on over to Kino Lorber. Also due out on that day are WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION and THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (which I reviewed here: http://www.rupertpupkinspeaks.com/2014/07/kino-lorber-studio-classics-witness-for.html)
FYI - All four titles are currently on sale at Amazon for $16.99 a piece (43% off):
http://amzn.to/1lhrOYV
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