Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

ManiakJiggy This is How Movies Should Be Made

SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Bezenby A different kind of Spag Western that tries to mix in a bit of light-hearted drama that draws the film out a lot longer than it should, but is ultimately saved by the charisma of the actors involved. Actually, it plays out more like one of those Western Westerns that are made in the West, with John Wayne in them!Lee Van Cleef is a stinking, thieving homeless bastard with a heart, drifting through America with his equally smelly but much more wonky eyed sidekicks Lionel Stander and the other guy. Between them, they steal a bunch of miner's wages from under the nose of Czech immigrant Antonio Sabato, which gets him into stick with the mine's owner, Bud Spencer without a beard! Thing is, Lee's ended up striking up a huge Bromance with the naïve but resourceful Sabato and feels kind of guilty for robbing him, but not enough to try and rob him again. Somehow he ends up fending off some much more violent would be robbers, and ends up sheriff of the town (and mine) (!). This doesn't bode well with his mates, who are in two minds, and four different eye directions, about whether to steal all that lovely silver that's being dug out of the mine.Throw in big-faced evil bad guy Gordon Mitchell (with sidekick Romano Puppo) who also want the silver and are willing to kill kids and women for it, and also throw in the romance with the girl who makes Van Cleef take a bath and put some decent clothes on. He's so scummy he doesn't know how to dunk a rich tea biscuit in some tea! That's a lot of plot up there, and that doesn't leave time for gun fights and what not. There's a fairly big one at the end, but we're talking at the end of a nearly two hour long film. Luckily Van Cleef's conflicted personality carries the film whenever he's around, as he's torn between a life of being poor and free or being settled with a roof over his head. I guess the ending is kind of sad when I think about it.Nice looking film too, I guess if you're looking for more character development this film might be for you. If you want endless shoot outs, you might want to try something else.

Leofwine_draca Here's an example of the spaghetti western genre at its finest, with a complex and twisting plot, multiple characters, good action, and some of the finest actors that the genre has to offer. The combined result makes for watchable and entertaining viewing with a movie that always has something interesting going on. Things start off predictably enough as we are introduced to the eminently likable Lee Van Cleef, as a cheeky thief who steals the payroll belonging to a mining corporation which is brought to town by a very young-looking Antonio Sabato. Van Cleef finds himself on the right side of the law for a change as he befriends Sabato and helps fight off a gang of ruthless bandits who are also after the money. He even finds himself made the town sheriff. However, when the bandits turn up, led by the ruthless Gordon Mitchell, and kidnap the town's womanfolk, Van Cleef finds himself leading a full-scale battle against the enemy.The biggest fault is probably with director Giorgio Stegani, who is at the opposite end of the talent spectrum from master director Sergio Leone. His film totally lacks style or charm so it lies on the actors to make things entertaining. Thankfully, Fernando Di Leo's script is fairly complex with some degree of characterisation and there are lots of interesting people in the tale who interact with each other in different ways. The plot is fast-paced and while there are no really impressive or memorable shoot-outs or gun-downs, a wealth of action-orientated scenes keep things moving and the full-scale battle at the film's close is both well-shot and exciting.The cast is what makes this film really good. First of all we have genre icon Lee Van Cleef in the likable leading part of a character who begins the film as a ruthless bad guy and undergoes a complete transformation into becoming a good-natured heroic sheriff! Van Cleef is excellent in the part and really sympathetic, especially in his doomed relationship with the exceptionally pretty Graziella Granata. Secondly we have Antonio Sabato as the fresh-faced European stranger who comes to take care of the town's mining operation; you can't help but like his character and he does well with what is a rather underwritten and one-dimensional part. There's solid comic support from Lionel Stander and Herbert Fux as a pair of greedy robbers who figure in the film's surprise twist ending and the aforementioned Graziella Granata is fine as the female romantic interest. However, stealing the show is one Gordon Mitchell who has a really impressive and sinister entrance as the scary chief villain, Burton. It's surprising how much he resembles Peter Cushing in TWINS OF EVIL in his part and he relishes the opportunity to kill innocent folk and snarl orders at his men - a really nasty role. The casting and the story combine to make this a must-see for spagwest fans.

Uriah43 "Beyond the Law" (as it is also known as) is a poorly made Spaghetti Western starring Antonio Sabato who portrays an immigrant from Europe named "Ben Novack" who has journeyed out west to lend his knowledge to a silver mining company. Lee Van Cleef plays a thief named "Billy Joe Cudlip" who, along with his partners, "Preacher" (Lionel Stander) and "Al" (Al Hoosman), conspire to rob the payroll from the stagecoach and the silver from the mine. Bud Spencer (who later gained fame in the "Trinity" movies) plays the mine owner named "James Cooper". Additionally, bandits led by "Burton" (Gordon Mitchell) come along and rob, kill and create chaos in general. Anyway, having given the basic details of the plot I would just like to say that this is one of the worst westerns I have ever seen. The acting (for the most part) was abysmal, the script was weak, the character interactions were disjointed and the scenes had no rhythm or flow. Now, it could very well be that one reason for the incoherence between scenes was due to extreme editing after the film was shot. But even so, this was a dreadful movie completely lacking direction and expertise. For example, in one scene the townsmen have set up an ambush for the bandits. Yet the ambush is conceived so sloppily that they leave a hill open with plenty of cover and concealment for the bandits to take up a defensive position and return fire. If that wasn't bad enough, both sides prefer using pistols at long range rather than rifles. Even more incredible is the astounding accuracy all the main characters seem to have shooting these pistols at moving targets who are running and scampering all over the place. It defies common sense. Anyhow, in spite of the major flaws in this film there were a couple of elements which were slightly positive. I thought Lee Van Cleef and Bud Spencer gave decent performances in their respective roles. Likewise, Graziella Granata ("Sally Davis") was very good-looking. But other than that I see nothing worthwhile in this film.

John Seal No one seems to have reviewed Wild East's DVD of Beyond the Law (which also includes Lee Van Cleef's The Grand Duel) so I guess I'd better take up the challenge. Unlike all previous American video releases, Wild East's disc is correctly letterboxed and includes some scenes previously only available on European prints, which immediately renders all the bootlegs and pan and scan sell-throughs redundant. The film itself is a modest affair involving Van Cleef, Lionel Stander, Bud Spencer, and the still active Herbert Fux in a caper to abscond with a silver shipment. Though the film was rather blandly shot by cinematographer Enzo Serafin--whether intentionally or otherwise, it's drenched in browns and yellows, lending it a rather dusty appearance--the proceedings are immensely improved by Riz Ortolani's majestic score. Though Beyond the Law is overlong and drags at times, a spectacular finale involving caped villain Gordon Mitchell enlivens the third act and will leave spaghetti fans satisfied.