"Deadlock" is a German English-language film from 1970, so it had its 45th anniversary last year. The writer and director is Roland Klick and after having seen his most known works basically, he really does not feel German at all in his approach to filmmaking. This is neither a positive nor a negative statement, but it is a negative statement that most of his works did so little to me, so I guess his success with awards bodies is mostly due to him really being somewhat different compared to other filmmakers from his country. Here he unites Mario Adorf, Marquard Bohm (brother of Hark) and Scottish actor Anthony Dawson ("Dr. No") for a German western movie. Quite a challenge. All in all, I must say not a successful challenge unfortunately. I would not really blame any of the acting trio, but the writing mostly. Adorf was probably the standout here and his strong physical approach to acting as well as his whole looks thing fit perfectly into the world of western movies. Had he been American and not Swiss, he may have ended up as one of the huge stars of the genre. Bohm was almost entirely wasted in my opinion, especially from that moment on when it became a three-man show and not a two-man show. He really did not manage to hold his own against the other two and he also did not have the material, so it is really difficult to understand and appreciate the ending with him being the great winner. Dawson did fine with what he was given, but it was all too generic and stereotypical in my opinion. His sadistic approach got old really quickly and the longer it went on, the more it just became a film lacking any action except Adorf's character being pushed around and humiliated by Dawson's. Quite a shame. I felt that Klick had a lot more at his hands to make this a good film, the potential is there, but the execution is just so underwhelming that I would only really recommend it to the most die-hard western fans. Then again, these may be the most disappointed here. Still, to end the review on a more positive note, another thumbs-up for Mario Adorf channeling his own Eli Wallach while looking a lot like Bud Spencer. But a thumbs-down for everything else. I don't recommend the watch.

The movie is so slow paced that you may not like how it evolves. It also only has a few characters and a very contained location setting. But if you buy into it and do not mind that it tends to get violent, tends to have weird characters to say the least and sounds like it has been dubbed (the english allegedly original audio) - then you will have a movie that will have your attention from start to finish.

I really dug the weirdness of it, the setting, the character quirks and how it went on with the intertacting and backstabbing. Certain things are quite predictable - which may be because I've seen quite a few movies and because they rely on cliches too. Still a low budget sort of western, that might be able to tickle you in all the right places. Be aware of what this is and how its pace is and mood are ... and decide for yourself

A strange, small scale little movie, a showdown between three main characters and other assorted oddballs, as everyone falls out following a heist. Shades of RESERVOIR DOGS here, then, and it does have plenty going for it aside from the scant plotting. It's a German movie shot out in the Israel desert somewhere, with a great sense of the visual: all rusted machinery and ghost town chic. The cast happens to be very good, even with some dubbing; Mario Adorf delivers another great sleazy turn that reminded me of his roles in the Fernando di Leo crime classics, and '50s veteran Anthony Dawson (DIAL M FOR MURDER) is a welcome presence too. No classic, and very obscure, this is still worth tracking down for genre fans.