One of the things I like about the IMDb is reading the reviews of serious fans who often offer even more perspective than the film itself. For this picture, I would direct you to the reviews of FilmFlaneur and MARIO GAUCI, who almost make me envious with their obvious passion and insight for the spaghetti genre. As for myself, the best I can muster is that I liked the picture, particularly as a vehicle for one of my favorites, Lee Van Cleef. By now I've seen him in so many variations of the Western genre, that his presence is almost expected. That would include a guest appearance in just about every classic TV Western series at least once.

So even though this is one of the better Italian Westerns I've seen, I had to scratch my head over the treatment the script gave to hero Corbett (Van Cleef). Not only was he bushwhacked from behind by a thirteen year old girl, but he was also bamboozled by a phony snake bite gimmick engineered by the nominal villain Cuchillo (Tomas Milian). That bothered me, because even as a layman, I could tell that wasn't a poisonous snake, so a desert traveler like Corbett should have known it too. That was a little weak.

As for Cuchillo himself, I thought it pretty odd that he would play into the story planted about his being a child rapist and murderer. Always on the run and barely eluding Corbett a number of times, his actions did more to convey guilt than the final resolution would ultimately suggest. However the big gundown of the finale is worth the wait, and aptly involves not one, not two, but three showdowns that bring together the film's principals, somewhat in the manner of "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly". If you think about it, this one had the three of those as well.

Unofficial lawman John Corbett (Lee VanCleef) hunts down Cuchillo Sanchez (Tomas Milian),a Mexican peasant accused of raping and killing a 12-year-old girl.

"The Big Gundown" hit American theaters thanks to the success of Sergio Leone's Clint Eastwood films. Despite being made before "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", it was that film's power that attracted people to "Gundown" and star Lee VanCleef. Unfortunately, the folks at Columbia did not give the film the respect it deserved and tried to pass it off as a film starring "Mr. Ugly" (who was actually Eli Wallach, not VanCleef, showing how little they cared).

Ennio Morricone, the biggest name in Italian composing, provides the score and it is among his best work. Actor Milian was actually Cuban, not Mexican, but he filled the role as well as anyone could (and starred in two more Sergio Sollima westerns in 1967 and 1968).

Through Grindhouse releasing, the film is now available on DVD and Blu-ray, completely uncut, looking sharp and sounding great. There are interviews with Sollima and Milian, as well as a complete commentary from Western authority C. Courtney Joyner. If the film itself were not enough, the booklet has a few essays and a bonus CD contains Morricone's entire soundtrack.

As a big fan of Spaghetti Westerns, two of my all-time favorite directors are Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci. Out of all Spaghetti Westerns directed by neither Leone, nor Corbucci, Segio Sollima's "La Resa Dei Conti" aka. "The Big Gundown" is my personal favorite, and doubtlessly one of the greatest films the genre has ever brought forth. An exciting and extremely stylish film with brilliantly drawn characters, "The Big Gundown" is a masterly Spaghetti Western with a political message.

Jonathan Corbett (Lee Van Cleef),a famous gunman and bounty hunter, is sent to hunt down a Mexican small-time crook named Cuchillo Sanchez (Tomas Milian),who is accused of the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl. Corbett is an experienced and successful lawman, but Cuchillo is very clever too. On the his long hunt Corbett gets to know Cuchillo, whose guilt he finds more and more doubtful. Although this is a very serious Spaghetti Western in most of its parts, there are some very funny characters, like the almost cartoonish aristocratic Austrian gunman Baron Von Schulenberg (Gérard Herter),a cold-blooded but extremely arrogant and almost Nazi-ish killer wearing a monocle and always looking neat as a pin.

Sergio Sollima's directing is truly outstanding. The acting is also great, especially the brilliant performances of Tomas Milian and Lee Van Cleef, two of my personal favorite actors. The score by Ennio Morricone is one of a kind, outstanding, even compared to most of the other Morricone soundtracks. In one ingenious part of the movie, for example, Morricone mixes Ludwig Van Beethoven's "Für Elise" with a Mexican guitar and his typical dynamic Spaghetti Western drums. The cinematography and settings are overwhelming in a manner that is en par with Leone. In short: "The Big Gundown" is a formidable gem that even Leone would be proud of, and an Italian Western highlight that no lover of the genre could possibly afford to miss! 10/10