Blindman

source: Blindman

"Blindman" is a bizarre piece of fantasy,and a fine work in its kind. Baldi fumbled in his pocket for a lay-out of slum burlesque and sombre surreal,where he could unfold his ghosts and intuitions.Of course,there is a certain amount of coarseness and rudeness,compensated by the excellent sense of the waggish narrative cartoon and peculiar aquaforte. Baldi knows and does well his job,in spite of the sometimes quite poor quality of the material.The movie manages to be interesting and so agreeable.Any psychology or human truth are entirely absent,as it must be with this kind of movie.The characters are mere puppets,the humor is thickened,cruel and disrespectful,sometimes out of tune,and in a way unworthy of Baldi.Of course,the whole scheme is unbelievable and absurd. With this movie,by this movie,we see what were able to do some talented directors with a western script,in the 60s and 70s.Such movies give the impression of being totally free of commercial compulsions and humdrum drawings,and show a remarkable skill for ranging a stock of epic elements.If the coarseness I've been mentioning does not lack at least sometimes,there are,in exchange,great amounts of humor,charm, resourcefulness,quickness,a powerful and vivid drawing,fancy,even some impudence,craft,merriment,striking beautiful music. Very often,the actors are outstanding and skillful (and so is T. Anthony too,to be sure).All these things place the European westerns together with the great Italian opera and the surrealist prose:the bread of the fanciful.A form of art unconventional and popular, intelligent and light.(there are,in "Blindman",some things insipid, clumsy and boorish,some bad taste,but also some unsurpassedly accomplished.) "Blindman" is a good sample for the genre's fine qualities. Anthony looks now petulant and now mild,now serene and now sanguinary,now sinister and now nice,adamant and cunning.His sniggers fit well.He is as great an western actor as Nero,Kinski,Volonte,Gemma and Eastwood are.His acting is liquid,elastic and sober,real and manly;a great actor.Anthony acts with a visible relish and delight,obviously enjoying. I greet all those who already like "Blindman" and the European westerns;and also all those who will.

A "blind gunfighter"? "military intelligence"? "jumbo shrimp"? I caught this bomb last night. What a pile! I can't believe all the rave reviews it has gotten. I was trying to figure out how "Candy" (Ringo) lost his Liverpudlian accent. Either they limited his lines to 2 or 3 words (which occurred) so he could practice verbalizing sans accent or his voice was dubbed in. Should have done the "Caveman" movie trip: NO dialog! This movie has got to be one of, if not "THE worst movies ever made. I mean, what was Ringo thinking?! Don't get me wrong; I've always thought Ringo was the "smartest Beatle" and my personal favorite but maybe he was just bored and needed something to do at the time what with the recent Beatle's breakup. (Thanks Yoko and John!) If I had the chance to watch it again, I think I'd rather stick my face in the proverbial fan. No thanks!

source: Blindman

It's not the first and it won't be the last spaghetti western that sees a purely iconic anti-hero roaming the sierras of Almeria in search of loot, money or treasure of one kind or the other. But it's the first and probably the last time that such a loot will have feminists and other PC characters foaming so furiously in the mouth. The titular Blindman (Tony Anthony) has a contract to deliver 50 women to the workers of a mine in Texas, only he's about to discover his cargo has been stolen by a sardonic baddie named Domingo and is being kept somewhere in Mexico. If I use the word 'cargo' to describe the 50 hapless women, it's because that's exactly how the movie treats them; as objects to be ravaged, enjoyed or transported as the need arises. They're herded and driven tied in wagons like cattle, washed with buckets of water like animals in a stable and always regarded as a piece of entertainment. Feminists will have a ball of course but Ferdinando Baldi's movie avoids any and all questions of moral and sexist nature by taking a purely cartoonish road. Blindman does not ask the viewer regard it as a serious piece of cinema anymore than it regards itself as such. After the half-hour mark story becomes largely irrelevant and it's all about the set-piece and the explosive action. It's more or less Blindman trying to get his 50 women while they're being taken from one place to the other – but every five minutes someone is getting shot at or something blows up. The two most prominent set-pieces among them being first the sight of the fifty women dressed in white nightgowns running scared through the desert while they're being pursued by a dozen savage Mexicans in heat, who proceed to shoot them, tear their clothes and take them right there and then. The other is the closing shootout taking place in a large windswept cemetery that perhaps recalls the ending of DJANGO. Another interesting angle here is that the connection between the spaghetti western and samurai cinema is furthered by having protagonist Blindman explicitly homage blind masseur swordsman Ichi from the ZATOICHI series, perhaps the single most popular serialized character in Japanese chambara. Blindman is cut from the same mold of solitary badass as Shintaro Katsu's blind swordsman and he shares the same impeccable aim despite his physical shortcoming. But that's something the avid genre fan already knows – the moment Blindman appears on screen we know he's going to kick ass and kick ass he does. He even hefts his Winchester like a two-handed sword and there's a bayonet in the rifle to further resemble the samurai sword.

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!

"Blindman"starring Tony Anthony and Ringo Starr is what I consider a special Spaghetti Western movie.Just when you thought you've seen them all,here is one with a twist,and quite entertaining as well!The movie takes you on this journey that enthralls you directly to the plot as it starts.A long-coated blind man is riding a seeing-eye horse out of the desolate Texas plains toward you.He's angry,ruthless and deadly.He's desperately after something.That something happens to be fifty beautiful mail-order brides that he was contracted to deliver to Texas.The women were purchased by miners,yet they ended up in Mexico.They were stolen by a partner Blindman trusted,who in turn sold them to an unsavory gang of bandits,all of whom has their own dishonorable agenda for the women.Now Blindman wants his fifty women,vengeance and paycheck!He deals out his own brand of justice,using his fine-tuned gift for sound and feel/depth-memory to unleash the bullets and the dynamite.The movie is action packed,exciting,violent,interesting and fun!There's carnage,nudity,and mass assault scenes that give this movie a bold and raw,yet fascinating cinematic appeal.It's a definite must-see for all Spaghetti Genre Western fans.Although some may find the plot absurd,the movie successfully takes on a life of its own.It's truly a movie to be enjoyed for what it is--entertainment.Tony Anthony(portraying Blindman)is convincing,with some of the best and funniest script lines of any Western movie I've seen.Ringo Starr(Candy)is well acted,blending in so tastefully as the quintessential bad guy.A good supporting cast fuels the engine for the movie,while the soundtrack-dynamics are true to form.What I find intriguing about this movie is that it speaks volumes about the will and perseverance of the human spirit."Blindman" is what I consider a truly collectible Western Film!

Could be (arguably) the ultimate spaghetti western.I remember seeing this film several times in one week(I'm from a small town),and enjoyed it more the more I saw it.The scenes with the leg lock around the woman when Blindman was making an escape as well as the snake in his food had me rolling.The action was at the get go and music-the music-the music.WOW!I never knew this was a 3D film, as stated in a viewer comment, which would be a rush in itself.This is such a fun movie it's a shame there is no VHS. I highly recommend this film to anyone(who is not a critic and doesn't take themselves too seriously).

Italian filmmakers were famous for ripping off popular franchises from other countries (usually America). Often these rips offs were near carbon copies (only with terrible actors being badly dubbed), but every now and then, an Italian rip off will become more than just another rip off. Setting a rip off of Japan's popular Zatôichi series in the wild west wasn't an obvious thing to do; western heroes are famous for their eagle eye gun handling abilities, among other things; but director Ferdinando Baldi dared to go there; and the result is Blindman, which despite the unimaginative title; is a rather decent western. The plot, as the title suggests, focuses on a blind gunslinger. He's been hired to escort 50 women across America; but runs into trouble when he is double crossed by his 'business partners'. Not willing to lie down on this one, Blindman sets off in pursuit of those that crossed him, with deadly results. Tony Anthony takes the lead role and does a good job with it. This is the only western I've ever seen with a blindman in a central role (unless you count Johnny Depp in Once Upon a Time in Mexico) and I really don't see how anyone could have done the role any better. I also liked how the film depicts the title character going about his business with modified tools - for example, a 'Braille' map and a compass without a casing. Naturally, due to the plot, the film is not completely serious but the tongue in cheek style works fairly well. The film is not overly violent compared to other films of its type, but there is a fair bit of violence directed towards women which might shock some viewers. There's also a small role for Beatles star Ringo Starr, which was a nice surprise. Overall, I can't say that this film ranks among the best of the genre; but its good fun and I'd certainly rank it as a western worth seeing.

Ferdinando Baldi's Spaghetti take on the 'Zatoichi' films is one of the most stylish and enjoyable Spaghetti Westerns I've seen. Tony Anthony stars as the titular hero who is after a group of seedy Mexican bandits (one of which is played by...Ringo Starr!) who have kidnapped 50 women that he was supposed to take to some miners in Texas. Loaded with well-directed scenes of violence and gratuitous nudity, 'Blindman' is a must-see. Ha-ha what a knee-slapper!