Linbeymusol
Wonderful character development!
Teddie Blake
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
Aspen Orson
There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.
lastliberal
Saturday continues with another Spaghetti western with Ernest Borgnine and George Hilton.The story takes place during the Civil War. Hilton got Borgnine's daughter pregnant, and she died delivering. Hilton comes back to marry her, finds, out she's dead, and takes the baby, who dies because no one would defy Don Pedro Sandoval (Borgnine) and give him milk.After the baby dies, he flips and gathers some murderers to get revenge on all who were responsible, particularly Sandoval.Great knife fight between the two of them at the end, and I assure you it wasn't a bullet that did him in.Good action throughout.
Scarecrow-88
George Hilton has a big role in this spaghetti western where he portrays an embittered Confederate deserter whose infant child dies of cholera and starvation due to the apathy of others who deny him milk for the baby. In retaliation all those who he blames for the death of his child, especially one Don Pedro(..portrayed by a unsympathetic Ernest Borgnine who hates Hilton's John Warner so much he denounces his own daughter's existence because she fell in love with him), a wealthy man who practically owns the village of Los Cadres, the place where the cholera broke out, whose disease has created a widespread panic plaguing the surrounding areas. Evolving into a remorseless outlaw, with a growing pack of cutthroats and dangerous gunmen joining him, Warner sets his sights on destroying Don Pedro Sandoval in every way possible, blaming him for the death of his child.I think the major mistake of A Bullet for Sandoval is establishing, effectively I thought, Hilton's Warner as a legitimate tragic hero only to transform him into a murderous thug. I never personally thought Hilton was as good as some loathsome killer gathering a brood of gunfighters as he was a mistreated soldier, stripped of any form of dignity due to leaving his regimen before their battle against a major Yankee outfit because he took off with Don Pedro's son, who had informed him of his beloved's sickness and the child he never knew he had. Seeing a pitiful Warner, in a hopeless quest to find a sympathetic figure to provide him with milk for his baby really tugged on my heartstrings and I certainly found his situation devastating. Then, the film, after the baby's death, strips him of his humanity, and he becomes some outlaw collecting his own personal army..I never bought Hilton as an effective heavy, and believe in switching his personality costs the film some major dramatic punch. Borgnine, while attempts at showing a remorse for losing his daughter, while at the same time hating her for the love affair with Warner, never earned an ounce of empathy from me, and I imagine others will have just as hard a time caring about his fate. If anything, the film removes anyone to care about. That is a mistake, in my mind, that the film never recovers from. Almost every time he's on screen Don Pedro is berating someone, loudly barking at others for allowing Warner to roam free, failing to accept his responsibility for what transpires.As you expect, the movie prepares you for the eventual showdown between Warner and Sandoval. It's really about waiting and fate. How long will Warner and those he associates himself with last as a unit? When Sandoval and other ranchers plea with the Confederacy for man/firepower, will Warner be able to successfully avoid a court martial or certain death? Can Warner and those men not killed by the soldiers, attempting to flee a set-up after one of their own betrays them, survive in Mexico? Will they attempt to re-enter America? You just know that Warner and Sandoval will meet face to face to settle their differences. The major bugaboo that bothered me was the reason Sandoval hated Warner so much to begin with. There's mention that Sandoval thought Warner was only interested in his wealth and ranch, but to hate him with such guile, the film doesn't seemed too worried to address this very important question with great detail.There are some action scenes, but most of them lack vigor and punch. And, there are several build-ups to stare-down gunfights which never reach the level expected for this genre. There's lots of potential for A Bullet for Sandoval, but for some reason director/writer Julio Buchs doesn't wish to stage full scale shootouts which is a standard for any great spaghetti western. There's also enough story here to build from if Buchs had stay the course. Too bad.
Space_Lord
Now people who know me will tell you I'm into westerns. Spaghetti or otherwise. So when I found this DVD for less than $10, I thought I had stumbled across a bit of a bargain. Fulci co-directing a western? Bring it on!!! But after viewing I felt somewhat... indifferent. On one hand the film exudes atmosphere and does a great job building towards a climax. On the other hand you have an anti climactic ending where the bandit Warner leaves his enemy Sandoval (Borgnine) at the mercy of a rampaging bull rather than finishing him off himself like a real man.That's why I was disappointed! Sandoval didn't get the bullet promised in the title, he got a bull!!! But I guess "It's a bull for Sandoval" just doesn't sound right!
Mike-945
Anybody who is into spaghettis should watch this film. The plot is about a woman that dies after giving birth to the son of her lover (George Hilton), a soldier away on duty. The father of the woman (Ernest Borgnine), hates Hilton and blames him for her death. The hatred the men have for eachother consumes them both and they spend the film stalking eachother, until they finally settle the account at the end, with one of the best and climatic endings I have ever seen in any movie.For a start, the acting in this spag, is better than 90% of the spags I have seen. The atmosphere is dripping with a sense of fate and destiny...a sort of weird nihilism between the two men. The cinematography is gorgeous and the film moves from scene to scene very smoothly...making it easy to watch.The ending is an unusual one for a spaghetti. Its simply brilliant.
