Lee Eisenberg
The most noticeable thing about Ferdinando Baldi's "Blindman" is that Ringo Starr plays a supporting role in it. Yes, the annular member of the Beatles appears in a spaghetti western...with his voice dubbed! It's more than a little jarring to hear the man who sang "Yellow Submarine" and "Octopus's Garden" have a neutral accent.But anyway, it's an OK movie, not great. Tony Anthony plays a man hired to deliver fifty brides to the miners, but the brides get kidnapped and so he has to take charge. It's got a lot of the things that we can expect in a spaghetti western, along with a few things that wouldn't have been acceptable just a few years earlier. It's a fairly interesting flick, partly to see the most famous drummer in the world play a bandit, but mostly just to see this lesser known entry in the genre. Good times.PS: Producer Saul Swimmer also co-produced the documentary "Let It Be" and directed the documentary about George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh. In other words, this is one spaghetti western that's all about the Fab Four.
ma-cortes
A mysterious blind gunfighter roams through Mexico with a mission he has sworn to carry out , as he was hired to escort fifty mail order brides to their miner husbands . But his business pals treason him, selling the women to a nasty villain . As some enemies have stolen 50 women that belong to him , thus Blindman heads into Mexico and sets out in pursuit . Blindman is imprisoned by the bandit called Domingo (Lloyd Batista) who has the brides in a fortress where comes a military party commanded by a Mexican general (Raf Baldassarre) . In the middle of these two parties is a beautiful woman , Candy's(Ringo Starr) sweetheart, who helps Blindman . The gunfighter enters the stronghold attempting to take the girls shipment , being trapped between two feuding factions , a Mexican officer and a gang of Mexican bandits led by Domingo and Sweet Mama (Magda Konopka) , and he then is caught up in a struggle against them . But here is a problem however, the gunman is blind .The film packs violence , shootouts , high body-count , and it's fast moving and quite entertaining . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shoot'em up or stunts every few minutes . Tony Anthony is very fine, giving even some comic touches , he ravages the screen, he shoots , hits and run and ultimately takes the law on his own hands It's an exciting western with breathtaking showdown between the starring Tony Anthony and his enemies Lloyd Batista , Ringo Starr , Magda Konopka , among others . The movie contains gun-play, action Western , thrills , bloody spectacle and some nudism in charge of beautiful girls , including the ordinary female shower among them . Made on a fairly middling scale with acceptable set design , adequate photography filmed in Elios studios and evocative musical score by Stelvio Cipriani . Screenplay with interesting premise about a 'blind gunfighter' though its origin results to be a Japanese series starred by ¨Zaitochi¨, a blind swordsman from the 60s and being recently remade by Takeshi Kitano . This interesting theme about a blind gunslinger in the West has been treated in other films such as ¨An eye for eye¨ by Michael Moore with Robert Lansing and ¨Minessota Clay¨ with Cameron Mitchell , directed by Sergio Corbucci and finally ¨Blind Justice¨(1994) by Richard Spence with Armand Assante , Robert Davi and Elizabeth Shue . An interesting casting full of usual Italian/Spanish Western players such as : Tito Garcia , Fortunato Arena , Guido Mannari , Renato Romano and very brief appearance of Eurotrash goddesses as Malisa Longo , Krista Nell , Janine Reynaud , Shirley Corrigan , among others . Special mention to Raf Baldassarre in his ordinary role as a cruelly baddie , he is terrific , and bears a hysterical and mocking aspect , subsequently he would play similar characters . The movie gets the ordinary Western issues, such as avengers antiheroes , violent facing off , quick scenes and exaggerated baddies . This is a good Spaghetti Western with some moments genuinely entertaining if you can avoid thinking too much . It's an improbable blending of standard Western with pursuits, high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining . Acceptable cinematography by Ricardo Pallottini , but is necessary a perfect remastering , being the copy a little washed-out . Of course , the film was appropriately filmed in Almeria , Spain . As it was shot in Texas Hollywood-Fort Bravo , Almeria, and ¨ a fortress called Condor¨, where was filmed several Spaghetti as ¨ Blind man, Massacre at Fort Holman¨, ¨A man called Noon¨ , ¨El Condor¨ and ¨Conan the Barbarian¨ .The motion picture was compellingly realized by Ferdinando Baldi . Direction by Ferdinando Baldi is well crafted, here he is more cynical and violent and inclined toward humor and packs too much action . Baldi makes a nice camera work with clever choreography on the showdown , fighting , moving shootouts and bemusing scenes . Baldi was a craftsman who directed all kind genres but especially Western such as "Carambola's Philosophy: In the Right Pocket" , "Django, Prepare a Coffin" , ¨Adios Texas¨ , ¨Rita in the West¨ and of course ¨Il Pistolero dell'Ave Maria" or USA original title "Forgotten Pistolero" at his best . ¨Blindman¨ is an outlandish , surprising and uneven story but will appeal to Spaghetti Western aficionados . Rating : 7 , riotous Western in which there's too much action and violence and excitement enough .
zardoz-13
The Europeans produced some of the most outlandish westerns and BLINDMAN exemplifies the greatest departure from the norm. Indeed, our gunslinging hero cannot see anything and relies on his horse and the generosity of strangers. A good movie always put the hero in the most perilous predicaments and "Blindman" is no exception. Not only does our hero have to compensate for his lack of vision, but he also must contend with an evil bandit (Lloyd Battista) and his army of bloodthirsty killers. Like the typical Spaghetti western, "Blindman" bristles with twists and turns galore right up to its surprise ending. Of course, as you might expect from a Continental western, the story contains savage shoot-outs and nothing but contempt for human life. Unlike most Spaghetti western protagonists, the eponymous hero--as played by Tony Anthony of "A Stranger in Town" and "The Stranger Returns"--has feet of clay and never is a step ahead of the opposition. In fact, the villains often capture him but they make the fatal mistake of not taking him seriously. This explosive western takes place on the American frontier initially as our hero searches for the hombre who double-crossed him.Basically, his partner and he had a contract with some miners in Lost Creek, Texas, to deliver 50 mail-order brides. Since his partner double-crossed him, the villain has sold the women to another outlaw who resides in a massive fortress in Mexico. Our hero blows up his ex-partner and has a goat herder point his horse in the direction of Mexico and off he gallops to get the girls. "Blindman" is an unforgettable western, and director Ferdinando Baldi does not squander a second in this trim 83-minute saga. Interestingly, former Beatle Ringo Starr plays the villain's brother. The comeuppance that the villain gets is something to see!
spider89119
This is one of those movies that is just plain great. I would recommend this movie to anyone, not just spaghetti western fans.Tony Anthony is great in this movie. This is the second Anthony spaghetti western that I have seen, and the other one (A Dollar Between the Teeth) is incredible also. After seeing this film, I am convinced that Tony Anthony deserves more recognition as a spaghetti western star than he has gotten. He belongs right up there with Nero, Gemma, Eastwood, and Milian (no one comes close to Lee Van Cleef). His character in this film is one tough hombre. He really takes a beating, but always returns to create Hell on Earth for his enemies. He has a lot of great lines in this movie too.The movie really stretches ones suspension of disbelief when the blind man is able to ride a horse to Mexico, and when he exhibits his uncanny ability to aim a gun, but this is such a high-quality film that it manages to pull it off with ease.The music score is excellent -a great classic spaghetti western sound with a little bit of sitar thrown in.Besides being a spaghetti western, this film also borrows some elements from exploitation movies, (lots of scantily clad and naked women, women behind bars, etc.) but manages to do it without sacrificing the quality of the movie. Fans of both genres should be especially pleased with this film.This is a must-see for spaghetti western fans, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys movies that are somewhat off-beat, and very well made.
