Django

Django is sort of like a cross between Yojimbo (or since this is a western, A Fistful of Dollars) and Desperado.  So yeah, it’s pretty awesome.

Django is a wondering gunslinger that carries a coffin around with him.  He looks a bunch like Clint Eastwood in the man with no name series.  He comes into what looks like a ghost town and we learn that there are two rival gangs that fight over the territory.  Django joins one of the gangs, helps to defeat the other, they steal some gold, etc. 

This movie is similar to Desperado in that he carries around a gun in a case (the coffin) and his hands get smashed.  Also one of the gang leaders killed Django’s wife at some point in the past. 

But I guess overall this is really a Yojimbo remake but it’s changed enough and is also condensed so you might not recognize it immediately.  Django only joins one of the gangs and doesn’t try to play both sides, the love story between Django and the gang leader’s prized girl plays a bigger role here and there’s a scene where Django and one of the gangs steal some gold and then later Django tries to steal it from them.

And I like the changes that were made because honestly I’m not a big fan of Yojimbo.  It’s a good idea for a story but thought it was a little too slow and surprisingly jokey.  I thought it was done better with A Fistful of Dollars and even better yet with Last Man Standing.  And by the time we get to Last Man Standing we have a version that has been stripped of virtually all humor.  I like that that movie takes itself more seriously than the others.

Django makes it different enough so it doesn’t really feel like you’re watching the same story.  This movie is fast paced and seems like it should probably be another half hour or so longer but all of that fluff and trying to play both gangs stuff was cut out.  I like that it keeps the energy high and that the story moves along quickly.  So with all of these components Django might be the best version of Yojimbo for me so far.  But I still hesitate to call it that.  Let’s call it an abridged Yojimbo with a twist…nah fuck that, that’s way too long.

I mean a lot of people get murdered in this fucking thing, our hero is badass, the pacing is great, there’s ear slicing offing, it’s a spaghetti western so it looks incredible and everything is overdubbed so it sounds really good.  And that’s one trait about spaghetti westerns that I really love, there’s a lot of texture to them.  The sounds that are recorded and put in place later match so well with what you’re watching.  Whenever someone is walking on a wooden floor their footsteps have so much weight to them.  Every line that someone speaks sounds like it’s the most badass goddamn thing on the planet.  

There’s not a whole lot more I can say about this movie without giving away too much but what else do you need to know?  It’s a kick ass western.  And kick ass westerns are always top of the line grade A bad fuckin’ ass.