A Bullet for Sandoval

PG-13

1969

1 hr. 31 min.

Western

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Reviews

25%

50+ Ratings

Audience Score

Upon hearing that his Mexican lover, Rosa (Annabella Incontrera), is both pregnant with his child and deathly sick from cholera, Confederate soldier John Warner (George Hilton) deserts the army alongside his friends, Sam (Antonio Pica) and Lucky (Alberto De Mendozo). Facing down Rosa's father, Don Pedro Sandoval (Ernest Borgnine), who had refused to let his daughter marry a white man, Warner and his fellow fugitives swear vengeance on her family after learning of Rosa's death.

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I was not aware that Ernest Borgnine had appeared in an cheapie spaghetti westerns, but apparently he did. This one was okay, not bad but nothing special. The story is about a civil war deserter who goes to Mexico to marry his pregnant girlfriend before the child is born, but when the woman's father, Borgnine, intervenes and inadvertently becomes responsible for the child's death, the film becomes a fairly standard revenge story. Borgnine is good and I did alway like seeing him play a villain, which he did not often do during this later period in his career, so that is a treat. However, the film is pretty slow, awfully predictable, and done with little style (which you expect some flair in even the weakest of spaghetti western). However, the violent ending was pretty good. Overall, it's a serviceable of story and Borgnine is quite good, which makes this film worth checking out for fans of spaghetti westerns or Borgnine.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

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Audience Member

Well this was a pleasant surprise. Though I like main Italian star George Hilton I wasn't expecting much when going into "A Bullet for Sandoval". I guess I've just been soured due to viewing a handful of dreadful spaghetti westerns prior to this. Not only did "Sandoval" end up being a damn fine Spaghetti Western, but also one of the best I have ever seen, even biting at the heels of the classic Leone "Man With No Name" trilogy. Yes, "Sandoval" is that damn good. Ever dependable George Hilton plays Warner, a brave soldier for the confederates that abandons his post when he learns his old flame is giving birth to his child, a child he had no previous knowledge about. Going AWOL he arrives on her father's ranch to marry her but learns she has passed away during birth. Her father Sandoval, not too keen that this low life knocked-up his daughter, treats Warner like the shit on the heal of his boot and forces him off his property with his bastard son. While trying to raise the baby it comes down with a fever and dies so Warner snaps, gets a gang together and starts terrorizing the countryside before setting his sights on vengeance. What I love about this film is it plays out like a complex Greek tragedy. I really felt pity for Warner as he truly wanted to be a good husband and father. Everything was against him from the Army, to his lover's father, to people who wouldn't help his dying child. He truly is a good man broke down and turned bad. A tragic figure that can't help but suck you in and George Hilton plays is perfectly. Classic American actor Ernest Borgnine is also a sublime ying to Hilton's yang as he is a truly detestable hothead fueling the fire with in Warner. Spanish director Julio Buchs keeps the pace moving tightly and loads the film up with memorable visuals, especially the final shootout in a bull fighting arena that is eerily similar to the American western "The Wild Bunch". Oddly enough cult director Lucio Fulci is sourced as co-director on many releases of this film but from my research this is entirely false, with star George Hilton even stating this in interviews. Sorry Fulci fans... this isn't one of the late gore godfather's wonderful westerns. "A Bullet for Sandoval" is a must see for fans of Spaghetti Westerns and is one of the best this hardcore fan has ever seen, and trust me, I've seen a lot (I own nearly a hundred on DVD). The Greek tragedy plot mixed with two great leads sucks the viewer in and the picture perfect ending will make sure this western will stay with you for a while. The DVD release I have from VCI Entertainment in a double feature with "Any Gun Can Play" is odd. On a standard television "Any Gun Can Play" looks fine but "A Bullet for Sandoval" looks scrunched. Thankfully watching it on my widescreen TV in the living room I can get around this error by adjusting the picture mode. Just a word of warning to any potential buyers who only have a standard television.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

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Audience Member

Darn good spaghetti Western

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

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jack c

Sad for what it could have been- there's the kernel of a really powerful and emotionally resonant western-revenge film. It isn't that, instead it's a cheesy spaghetti-western punctuated by a one-note Ernest Borgnine turn and some hammy acting, even from one guy with only one eye! But once one accepts how its kind of lame, it can be a lot of fun, right down to the lead character's convenient arm wound being easily handled by an arm-sling and little to no blood, and the big four gunmen in Morton's gang all in the same step as they walk forward to their big climax. One more note: DO NOT GET THIS THINKING IT'S LUCIO FUCLI! I was in part fooled to watch this thinking Fulci had at least co-director credit. I even thought his lack of credit in the film meant maybe he was uncredited, but according to IMDb trivia it's a mistake, confirmed by the actors, that he was credited in some press... such as NETFLIX! Argh. Sadly I can't say how this posits in the rest of Julio Buchs cannon of work as it's just.. an average spaghetti western, heavy on gunplay and full of ham and bacon on the acting.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Just your average ordinary Spaghetti Western except.......This 1 has Ernest Borgnine in it

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

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Audience Member

Mediocre spaghetti western fare with a familiar story, cheap production values, a handful of so-so action scenes, and an overall lack of style - it's only redeeming quality is a typically spirited performance by Ernest Borgnine as the villain. Uninspired and forgettable.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

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Julio Buchs

Director

Ernest Borgnine

Don Pedro Sandoval

George Hilton

John Warner

Alberto De Mendozo

Lucky

Annabella Incontrera

Rosa

Antonio Pica

Sam

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

I prefer the alternate U.S. title: Those Desperate Men Who Smell of Dirt and Death, which sounds like one of those spoofs like Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood and Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th.

Rated: 2.5/4

Nov 12, 2023

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Michael J. Casey

Michael J. Cinema

A movie that feels like it could break into something special at any moment but never does.

Rated: 2.5/5

Nov 7, 2023

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Sean Axmaker

Seanax.com

Director Julio Buchs... embraces the nihilism inherent in more extreme versions of the genre, right down to an epic massacre that climaxes the film.

May 15, 2010

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

It was pretty to look at, even if everything about the spaghetti western was as ugly as sin.

Rated: C-

Feb 9, 2009

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Synopsis

Upon hearing that his Mexican lover, Rosa (Annabella Incontrera), is both pregnant with his child and deathly sick from cholera, Confederate soldier John Warner (George Hilton) deserts the army alongside his friends, Sam (Antonio Pica) and Lucky (Alberto De Mendozo). Facing down Rosa's father, Don Pedro Sandoval (Ernest Borgnine), who had refused to let his daughter marry a white man, Warner and his fellow fugitives swear vengeance on her family after learning of Rosa's death.

Director: Julio Buchs
Executive Producer: Ugo Guerra, Elio Scardamaglia
Screenwriter: Julio Buchs, Federico De Urrutia, José Luis Martínez Mollá
Production Co: Leone Film
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Western
Original Language: Spanish (Spain)
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 13, 2020

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