RyothChatty ridiculous rating

Hulkeasexo it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

ironhorse_iv One of the earliest Spaghetti Westerns directed by a pre-Django Sergio Corbucci, this film was indeed, fun to watch and you don't need braille to see that. It's a huge upgrade from his lousy previous film, 1964's Grand Canyon Massacre; a film that doesn't feel like a Spaghetti Western film. Between the time of Grand Canyon Massacre release and the making of Minnesota Clay, a little film call 1964's Fistful of Dollars by Director Sergio Leone came out and change how Italian westerns films would be made. The film would be, more violent, cynical, and have more complex gritty darker story lines. You really see, how much Sergio Leone's film influence the making of this film. The year is 1883, Minnesota Clay (Cameron Mitchell) has just escape from a prison labor Camp. Determined to prove his innocence, he return home to confront the man that framed him, Sheriff Fox (Georges Rivière) whom terrorizing and extorting the town folks for years. Now Minnesota Clay is one fast guy with a gun. Possibly the fastest in the world. Unfortunately he is also slowly losing his eyesight, with his vision now so impaired that one more blow to the face could cause complete loss of sight. To make the conflict worst, Mexican bandits leaded by a man named Gen. Domingo Ortiz (Fernando Sancho) wants to take over the town, no matter whom is the winner. The whole concept of the rivaling gangs (Mexican vs. American) wanting control of a little town, resemble the premise of 1966's "Django" as well as Leone's Fistful Of Dollars in which both were based on Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece 1961's Yojimbo, which in return is based off, the 1929's novel, 'Red Harvest' by author, Dashiell Hammett. The whole idea of a blind man taking on gangs, were taken from the Japanese's Zatoichi's series of films, like 1962's The Tale of Zatoichi & 1962's Zatoichi on the Road. Most of this movie's story ideas, came from director, Robert D. Webb's 1956 hit, 'The Proud Ones' in which the protagonist has to deal with his old nemesis, as well as recurring bouts of blindness. So, the story and plot isn't anything new. Still, the film packs violent shootouts, a really high body-count and action pack scenes. The whole runaway wagon was very entertaining to watch. Lot of crane shots and elaborate pans, truly filling the widescreen frame. You really get the scope of how big the gangs are, with these shots. The acting is pretty good for the most part. Special mention to Fernando Sancho in his ordinary role as the fat Mexican bandit that always fun to watch. George Riviere was alright in the role, but way over shadow by Sancho. He hardly stood out. He clearly isn't in his element in a western context: it would be his only spaghetti western. The women in the film are just beautiful. I have to say, Diana Martin as Nancy was just wonderful. Another was Ethel Rojo as Estella who is as devious as she is beautiful was fun to watch. It was nice to see women have complex roles. There was only one annoying character; that the film could do without, and that's the talkative and clumsy admirer, Andy (Alberto Cevenini). He comes off as a Spaghetti Western version of Jar Jar Binks!! Cameron Mitchell was great in the main role, and you really see his acting chops in the more emotional scenes. While, the acting is good, the whole English dubbing dialogue sounds a bit off. It really didn't match, the lip movement at all. The music score by Piero Piccioni really didn't stand out. Still, it was later featured in the video game 2004's Red Dead Revolver. The stunt work is dangerous in some scenes, the horses & stuntmen really took some awful falls. The movie would influence other films such as 1966's 'An eye for eye¨ by Michael Moore, 1971's 'Blindman' by director Ferdinando Baldi and 1994's ¨Blind Justice¨ by Richard Spence. The movie is a bit aged, but the DVDs out there like the ones from St. Clair Entertainment are in good copies. Due to the low bitrate, there are some smudgy outlines, especially during sideward pans, but colors are vivid and print damage is reduced to some hairs and scratches. The audio is loud and clear, but there are quite a few dropouts. The movie has various endings to this film. Two different versions were made, a shorter one with an unhappy, and one with an added-on happy ending. Some copies of the film, end with Clay lying apparently dead in the street, with Nancy at his side, but in the Italian version, there is a version, where Clays rides off alive and his sight completely restored. The dying ending was a bit off putting. Overall: Watch it yourself, whatever ending you prefer. It's simply a must-see from the early years of the Spaghetti Western.

bkoganbing I remember Minnesota Clay when it first came out on the big screen in my neighborhood. It was one of the first spaghetti westerns to hit the American market and was playing as the second feature on a double bill.Cameron Mitchell who was doing sword and sandal epics in Italy at the time stars in this in the title role. Mitchell is an old gunfighter who is in a prison in the Southwest who's there for a crime he didn't commit. A witness who can clear him is another gunfighter who has had himself appointed sheriff of a town in the next territory and is doing a lot of looting.Mitchell busts out of jail and heads for that town where he used to live. They're between the devil and the deep blue sea. There's also another gang doing a lot of looting around there headed by a self styled Mexican general.Mitchell's also working against the clock because in addition to everything else, he's going blind. It sounds like he's got glaucoma which is not getting better with the burning Southwest desert sun.Those of you who are devotees of the spaghetti western can pretty much figure out what's going to happen. As per usual a ridiculously high body count with enhanced fast draws will characterize things. Mitchell is the only name you'll know in the cast and he creates a sympathetic character. Turns out he has family in the town, family that doesn't know he's a blood relation.I'm not generally liking spaghetti westerns, but Minnesota Clay is all right and will hold your interest.

Witchfinder General 666 As a huge lover of Italian Westerns, Sergio Corbucci is one of my favorite directors ever. Corbucci's most famous and influential film is doubtlessly the blood-soaked cult-flick "Django" of 1966, his most brilliant achievement is the dark 1968 masterpiece "Il Grande Silenzio" ("The Great Silence"). But Corbucci enriched the Spaghetti-Western genre by even more masterpieces than the aforementioned two films, such as the Mexican revolutionary Westerns "Il Mercenario" (aka. "The Mercenary", 1968) and "Vamos A Matar, Compañeros" (1970). And even his lesser known films, such as "I Crudeli" ("Hellbenders", 1967) or "Navajo Joe" (1966) stand out as gritty and great Spaghetti Westerns, which makes Corbucci the undisputed number 2 in the genre, right after Sergio Leone. This being said, Corbucci's early Western "Minesota Clay" of 1965 does not live up to his later films in the Genre. While this is by no means a bad film, it is nowhere near as cynical, gritty and memorable as Corbucci's later Westerns were, as it bears more resemblance to the traditional American 'Good Guys Vs. Bad Guys' Westerns than the masterpieces of Corbucci's later career.The eponymous hero, Minnesota Clay (played by the great Cameron Mitchell) is not really a typical anti-hero, as he is looking partly for revenge, but mainly for justice and for an opportunity to redeem his name. The two rivaling gangs (Mexican vs. American) that control the little town where this is set resemble the premise of "Django" as well as Leone's milestone "Fistful Of Dollars" (both of which were based on Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece "Yojimbo"). Yet, "Minnesota Clay" can not nearly make as much of it as "Fistful..." and "Django". Since the aforementioned films are masterpieces, this is not to say that this film is bad, however. "Minesota Clay" is an entertaining film, without doubt. The film's main fault is probably the lack of a real anti-hero with hardly any morals. If the film had just been a little more 'evil', it could have been way better. Even though a tough guy, Minesota Clay is basically an honest man who is looking for justice, and not nowhere near as immoral as anti-heroes like The Man With No Name or Django. Yet, Cameron Mitchell gives the character a certain greatness. I've been a fan of Mitchell since I first saw Mario Bava's Giallo-milestone "Sei Donne Per L'Assassino" (aka. "Blood And Black Lace", 1964) years ago, and he once again delivers a great performance here. The sexy Ethel Rojo and Diana Martin make a nice-looking female cast and the supporting cast includes Spaghetti Western regulars Antonio Casas ("The Good, The Bad And The Ugly"), Fernando Sancho ("The Big Gundown") and Gino Pernice ("Django"). As mentioned above, this film often resembles a traditional American Western - only with a bit more violence and Spaghetti-style. The locations and photography are great and the score by Piero Piccioni is also quite nice. Overall, I would have probably rated this a 7/10 as such, but I have to detract one star as it is way inferior compared to Corbucci's later films. This is an entertaining film that my fellow Spaghetti-Western-freaks should enjoy, yet I recommend everybody to see some of Corbucci's other films before. Especially "The Great Silence" and "Django" are essential. My opinion on "Minesota Clay": 6.5/10

classicsoncall I just picked up a 3 DVD/9 Movie set of Spaghetti Westerns put out by St. Clair Entertainment and am getting an introduction to some neat Eurowest films. My only familiarity with the genre has been the Clint Eastwood movies, so these are proving to be a treat. "Minnesota Clay" is one of the entries, with a unique twist involving the main character - he's going blind. Cameron Mitchell portrays protagonist Clay, a gunslinger who escapes from a labor camp while waiting to be hanged for murder. The man who can clear him is now in control of Clay's home town, proclaiming himself sheriff and chief desperado. 'Five Aces' Fox (Georges Riviere) and his band of five henchmen carries on a running feud with Mexican bandit Ortiz (Fernando Sancho), while the town suffers in silence.If things weren't hot enough, the presence of Ethel Rojo as Estella turns up the action a few degrees. In turn, she manages to set up Clay and Ortiz for villain Fox, but when a townsman fingers her for Clay's escape, Fox makes her swear on a Bible without giving her a chance to say her prayers.The gradual loss of Clay's vision is handled cleverly, when he fires his weapon he relies more on hearing than sight to find his victim. This will come in handy for the final showdown when his daughter Nancy signals her own presence while Fox waits in ambush. Nancy (Diana Martin) only knew her father as Mr. Clay, having met him for the first time in the course of the film. However that seems at odds with the history of the town, since virtually everyone knew of Clay and his reputation as a fabled gunslinger.The town where the story takes place is never mentioned by name, which I found odd. Besides Fox's saloon, there were only a few other buildings and people in town that we ever see, which made me wonder about one thing. As his gang of outlaws begins to bear down on Clay, Fox demands that a handful of citizens pony up a tribute of a hundred thousand dollars in addition to their regular payment of protection money. Fox never mentioned any plans for leaving town, so what exactly would he have done with all that money?