The Grand Duel

source: The Grand Duel

Trailer—Il grande duello

Il grande duello

A grizzled ex-sheriff (Lee vanCleef) helps a man framed for murder to confront the powerful trio of brothers who want him dead. There is a bit of history for the people involved. The film was directed by Giancarlo Santi, who had previously worked as Sergio Leone's assistant director on "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and "Once Upon a Time in the West". So that's good. Also, the film's music was composed by future Academy Award winner Luis Enríquez Bacalov; the title score was later used in Quentin Tarantino's film "Kill Bill: Volume 1". As far as spaghetti westerns go, it is decent. Not great, not terrible. Probably not very memorable. Personally, I really like Lee VanCleef, and I think his presence is the film's saving grace. As with many Italian films, the dubbing is cheesy and it is strange to hear VanCleef dubbed when he obviously speaks English. But that's the fun of these films.

And like most such westerns why are they complaining about the audio. Course a partial italian western is shot in how many language. Would be alot of fun gibberish if everyone spoke what they actually said :) As for the movie bit. Yeah there's a bit of a twist to this movie . Some needless action though. Didn't we already have a machine gun in a certain Eastwood western. Horrible acting in that one part. Hey stop faking getting shot. Johnny Cage be thinking "this is the part you fall down" zzzzz for a $3 blu ray with 2 movies on it , probably an easier watch than Battlefield Earth and many other westerns for one single reason. Lee Van Cleef. Think I'll stay away from the spoilers on this one. Quality: 3/10 Entertainment : 6/10 Replayable: 3/10

The Grand Duel is one of the most under-rated Spaghetti Westerns ever made. Van Cleef returns as the Man in Black and he is at the top of his game. Good action scenes and a great sound track by Luis Enriquez Bacalov under the name Sergio Bardotti. Beware of the cut version under the title Storm Rider.

Sheriff Lee Van Cleef aids a fugitive convicted of murder in his escape from a group of vicious bounty hunters and involves himself in a murder mystery involving the fugitive and a powerful family of three ruthless brothers. The Grand Duel is watchable but not particularly exciting or memorable, with the plot taking way too much time to develop with Van Cleef's motivations remaining murky a bit longer than they should. Horst Frank is good as the eldest brother with delusions of grandeur. His effeminate psycho brother is a lot of fun to watch too. The title event where Van Cleef takes on multiple gunmen is the best thing about the movie.