Search - A Bullet for Sandoval on DVD

An excellent Sppaghetti Western!!

02/20/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In this film,a rancher Don Pedro Sandoval(Earnest Borgnine) is set in the cruelest period of the American Civil War in the summer of 1862 denies permission for his daughter Rosa her hand in marriage to ranch foreman John Warner(George Hilton).Warner forceably resigns from his job to join the Confederate Army...Angered and distraught,motivates Warner to lead a band of cold heartless thugs that starts a reign of terror throughout the territory,but their main objective is to murder Sandoval.This is an excellent Spaghetti Western Adventure Drama that's well worth watching!!"

Heavily cut but above average Italian western

T O'Brien | Chicago, Il United States | 04/09/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The spaghetti western genre fully deserves the cult status it's gained over the years so it's a shame when these Italian westerns are released in cut versions, like A Bullet for Sandoval, but more on that later. On the eve of battle, Confederate soldier John Warner abandons his post when he receives news the mother of his infant son is dying. He is captured, only to escape and find that she has died and her father, Mexican land owner Pedro Sandoval, holds him responsible for killing his daughter. After being abused and ignored along the trail as he tries to care for his son, Warner begins to look for revenge, building a gang of cutthroats and murderers along the way, all in hope of killing Sandoval. This DVD has been cut by about 10 minutes, you can see bits of the cut scenes in the trailer, which is really a shame because I enjoyed the movie a lot. Some good shootouts, especially the finale in a bullring, great uses of Almerian locations, and an entertaining score from Gianni Ferrio. Not a well known spaghetti western, but one definitely worth checking out.

This was the first movie I saw with George Hilton starring, and I thought he did a pretty good job as John Warner, a man looking for revenge for his lover and son's death. The character goes through quite the transition over the course of the movie from a man trying to help his family to a killer with nothing but vengeance on his mind. One of many American actors who went to Italy to star in the spaghettis, Ernest Borgnine plays Don Pedro Sandoval, a rich Mexican landowner who believes Warner has torn his family apart and wants to see him dead. It's a good part for Borgnine as the family patriarch. The supporting cast is dominated by Warner's gang, especially Alberto de Mendoza as Lucky, the grave-robbing ex-soldier, Leo Anchoriz as Father, a former monk who's good with knife and gun, Gustavo Rojo as Guadalupano, the pretty boy of the group always looking for women and whiskey, Jose Manuel Martin as One-Eye, the treacherous convicted rapist, and Antonio Pica as Sam, a fellow deserter.

Even with the cuts made to the film, the DVD is a good buy at under $10. The widescreen presentation looks very good and really shows off the Almerian locations. Special features include a Borgnine bio in text form and a trailer for 'Sandoval' and another spaghetti western, Any Gun Can Play. So overall and even considering the movie's been cut by about 10 minutes, A Bullet for Sandoval is an underrated spaghetti western that fans will surely enjoy!"