Review of Navajo Joe (1966) by Mark B — 22 Feb 2014

This movie is one of Quentin Tarantino's top 20 favorite spaghetti westerns, but i'm going to side with star Burt Reynolds' opinion, who described this movie as being "so awful, it was shown only in prisons and airplanes because nobody could leave.

" Okay, it's not as awful as Burt makes out, but it's a far cry from director Sergio Corbucci's best spaghetti westerns ("The Great Silence" or "Django"), let alone the films of Sergio Leone.

This revenge story about Burt seeking revenge on bandits who massacred his village should have been a whole lot better. The film was co-written by Fernando Di Leo, who made some wonderful modern day Italian revenge and crime pictures in the 70s and it has an amazing score by Ennio Morricone, credited as Leo Nichols for some reason.

Corbucci brings flair to the action sequences, but the film lacks the artistry of a Leone wester. It's better than a lot of the cheapie Italian westerns of the time, but considering the people involved, I'd have expected it to be a whole lot better.

They could have at least put a better wig on Burt.