The Complete Sartana Collection (1968-1970) (Arrow Video) - June 26, 2018

[Baron Blood]

Originally Posted by bigshot

Well I was kind of hoping someone with knowledge of the subject might be willing to offer some context and recommendations. Are these top of the line examples of the genre or bottom of the pack? Is the main focus on cinematography or acting or action? Are they known to have great potential for image and sound quality? Are the musical scores memorable? Stuff like that there.

OK...despite many here can't accept other peoples opinions I'll stick my neck out

I'm a huge SW fan and consider Leone one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.
For me, not even Corbucci comes close.

So as you'd might guess none of these Sartana films comes even close to the brilliance of a Leone film. (or even Corbucci)
Not with imagery, dialogue, casting, acting, soundtrack or heart.
Definitely don't expect the uniform quality of the Leone canon.
I have no idea who directed these and truth be told...don't really care.
I'd be surprised if anyone familiar did or even directed more than one.

"...Is the main focus on cinematography or acting or action?.."
Definitely action.

But that's not to say these films are without merit.
I personally want the first because of it's Gothic tone and less goofy nature when compared to the rest.
I'd have to revisit the others to refresh my memory and see if my opinion changes since it often does.
(I revisited If You Meet...two weeks ago)

The best way to describe these films is Inspector Gadget meets Django.
They came out at a time when SW's were being reinvented to remain fresh and everyone started looking like hippies.


In the end I applaud Arrow for tackling all these films and any SW completest should be thrilled.
However, for me I think I'm getting too long in the tooth and therefor more selective with my viewing time.
I think Arrow knew if they split these up there would be winners and losers.

Right now only If You Meet...is in my top ten most wanted SW's.
The best advice, already given, is to check some out while you can.

Light the Fuse...Sartana is Coming! - YouTube