Rent The Big Gundown (1966)

3.7 of 5 from 59 ratings
1h 50min
Rent The Big Gundown (aka La resa dei conti) Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental
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Synopsis:
When bounty hunter Jonathan Corbett (Van Cleef) is hired to track down a Mexican peasant (Tomas Milian, in a career-defining role) who has been accused of an appalling crime, he is initially outwitted by the wily bandit. However, the relationshion between the two men soon takes an unexpected turn and they team up to take on railroad baron Brockston (Walter Barnes).
Actors:
, , , , , Manolita Barroso, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Directors:
Producers:
Tulio Demicheli, Alberto Grimaldi
Writers:
Franco Solinas, Fernando Morandi, Sergio Donati, Sergio Sollima
Aka:
La resa dei conti
Genres:
Action & Adventure, Classics
Countries:
Italy
BBFC:
Release Date:
Not released
Run Time:
110 minutes
BBFC:
Release Date:
13/02/2023
Run Time:
295 minutes
Languages:
English Mono, Italian LPCM Mono
Subtitles:
English, English Hard of Hearing
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 2.35:1
Colour:
Colour
BLU-RAY Regions:
B
Bonus:
  • Three presentations of the feature: La resa dei conti (111 mins): the original Italian theatrical version, presented with both Italian and English soundtracks; the extended US cut (95 mins), with scenes added for television broadcast; and the original US theatrical version (89 mins)
  • Audio commentary with writers and film experts Barry Forshaw and Kim Newman on the Italian theatrical version (2023)
  • Audio commentary with film historians C Courtney Joyner and Henry Parke on the extended US cut (2013)
  • Spaghetti Western Memories (2012, 52 mins): documentary featuring director Sergio Sollima and actor Tomas Milian revisiting their much-heralded western
  • Tomas Milian: Acting on Instinct (2013, 30 mins): the genre-film star recalls 'The Big Gundown' and reveals some of his acting secrets
  • Prelude to a Gundown (2023, 10 mins): author and musician Stephen Thrower discusses the career of Sollima and the film's cast and crew
  • Heroes and Villains (2023, 30 mins): Thrower untangles the themes and politics of 'The Big Gundown'
  • A Settling of Accounts (2023, 23 mins): Austin Fisher, author of Radical Frontiers in the Spaghetti Western: Politics, Violence and Popular Italian Cinema, situates the film within the wider context of the genre
  • Original US theatrical trailers
  • Original Italian theatrical trailer
  • TV spots
  • Image galleries: production stills and promotional materials
  • UK premiere on any homo video format
Disc 1:
This disc includes the following:
- Italian Theatrical Version
- Extended US Cut
- Special Features
Disc 2:
This disc includes the following:
- US Theatrical Version

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Reviews (2) of The Big Gundown

Legendary - The Big Gundown review by sb

Spoiler Alert
18/02/2023

FILM & REVIEW https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063501/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_ Sergio Sollima’s legendary Western a print of which I have been after for ages… Van Cleef plays Corbett an aging but still lethal bounty hunter who is engaged by a railway baron Barnes to hunt down and bring to justice a Mexican farmer called Cuchillo (Millian) who is accused of the rape and murder of a little girl. In return Barnes will support Corbett in a run for the Senate so the hunt is on.. Cuchillo proves more than a worthy opponent using all the wiles at his disposal to evade capture leaving Corbett more and more frustrated and the hunt crosses over into Mexico which complicates his task even more… Van Cleef is as always excellent with Mullian in his breakthrough role and who would become a stable of Italian cinema fooling everyone one with his simple farmer routine. The film does take a while to settle down - the first third is a little uneven with a couple of sequences that don’t add much to the plot but once the border is crossed things improve with the final third coming to a thunderous conclusion. Fine score by Morricone and it’s a really great restoration with stunning use of the Spanish landscape - 4/5

1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.

Eight Job Opportunities have Arisen at The Sexy Widow's Ranch.....just saying. - The Big Gundown review by Strovey

Spoiler Alert
06/10/2023

Lee Van Cleef pops up in The Big Gundown in a role that paid so many of his bills as an older, wiser, but stoic bounty-hunter style hunter-killer in the Wild West. Sometimes he was bad, sometimes good, in this interesting and superior ‘Spaghetti Western’ he is mainly good but there are a lot of shades of grey to be seen in his performance as you watch the story unfold.

With The Big Gundown the story is all. Being an Italian-made western well over fifty years old and therefore right in the middle of that genres boom years, you get the overwrought and a tad odd set pieces with over-the-top sound effects, play-ground style shoot-outs where the combatants pull off impossible feats but while this might put off a younger generation, brought up on more realistic effects and films (sometimes), perhaps for certain generations it is delight that makes you smile.

Tomas Milian, a Cuban American who carved out a career in Italy, here plays Cuchillo, the scruffy n’er-do-well who is deadly, and I mean deadly, with a knife. Cleverer than he appears, a hidden strength, Cuchillo in general stays one step ahead of the greatest bounty hunter, who does not collect bounties, in the land. Milian plays the role to the hilt, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, arms pin-wheeling everywhere, screaming, pleading, gurning, almost a parody but actually fitting for the role and highly entertaining, never before has so much over-acting worked perfectly. His foil, in what for most parts is a two-hander, is Van Cleef, who seemingly just goes into his western hitman role and pushes ‘play’. His Corbett is minimal in expression and word and the polar opposite to Milian, he shows emotions or thoughts with a glance up, a slight movement. So different from the Cuchillo character it works well. If you like your pasta-based oaters this will be familiar and welcome.

The story apparently derives from an original written by Franco Solinas and Fernando Morandi which was set in a contemporary time period, with the protagonists' ages reversed and ending in a very bleak and nihilistic manner. When it came to the screenplay setting the tale in the ‘Wild West’ made more sense as it gave Sergio Sollima a lot more leeway with lawlessness and story beats. The ending is hilariously so ‘Western movie ending’ it is again almost parody but it was most definitely added as a nod to cinematic lore and to leave the audience upbeat.

But it is definitely the story that raises this film’s stock above similar-style movies. As with much Italian output, there is a barely hidden political agenda at play. Solima was in the Italian resistance against the Nazis in World War Two and the theme of the downtrodden, underclass maligned and mistreated fighting back is in the forefront with the armed branch of the elite, Van Cleef doing the bidding of this masters until the scales fall from his eyes. There is even a Nazi representation with stiff as a board Austrian Baron bodyguard played with fun and elan by Gérard Herter to who the death of a person just happens to be a side-effect of his obsession. Racism, classism and unthinking capitalism are all front and centre. Perhaps this sounds dreary and preachy to some, and that is understandable, but such is the format, such is the screenplay and acting that if you choose not to see that message it is easy enough to enjoy a rip-roaring and over-the-top western.

For ‘Spaghetti Western’ aficionados’ The Big Gundown is a must and anyone interested in cinema with an open mind likewise. If you are really fussy with realism, dodgy dubbing and so forth then perhaps bear in mind the year, 1966.

0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.

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