Redemption [DVD]

Low budget western, a gunfighting stranger walks into town and embroils himself between the two warring factions that control it. Sounds familiar! I had picked this up on the rack in Asda and thought good! Somebody had the nerve to remake "Yojimbo" / "Fistful of Dollars" yet again. Of course I don't expect that anyone can beat the original, but that doesn't mean I'm against someone doing the story in a new way. I hasten to add that I'm a spaghetti western fan, so I'm familiar with the guilty pleasures of a B movie, indeed that is precisely what I hoped to get here.

All I can say is, wow! - and not in a good way. How to describe it? Well, the easiest way I can think of is to say: imagine a porn movie in which all (or most) of the porn bits have been clipped out, leaving just the "acting". That'll give you a pretty good idea of the production values and acting quality on display here. Even Ed Wood would run screaming.

And for the teen boys out there thinking that the remaining nudity might interest them; frankly I think you'll be disappointed, because the picture quality and camerawork is as crappy as everything else.

Frank Hardin is out looking to make some kind of amends for a shooting that he carried out. Looking for a Mexican girl he vows to get her out of a life of prostitution. At the same time 'The Prophet' a priest who is out to bring the Lord's Justice to those who trangress has also taken up the case of the Mexican prostitute, and find out who is responsible for her being brought so low.

As both thse persons make their own way to where the girl is now, they both are headed for the town of Redemption. Originally a small mining town, this place is now in the grips of former Civil War soldiers of both factions who run the town against each other.

This is by no means a great movie, but then again it isn't so bad that you can't watch it. I would personally say to anyone, if the story sounds interesting to you, then you may get some fun out of this, but if not, steer well clear. There are plenty of shootings in this and it is a non-demanding way to while away just under an hour and a half. Perhaps though someone can tell me why this has an 18 certificate in this country, but only a 15 in Eire.

Now the plot sounds good, as mentioned before it hints at A Fistful of Dollars but with some differences. However this must be the worst film I've ever seen and I've seen Outlaw and First Knight.

Looking at the credits you can see some names popping up again and again. That gives you a clue as to the budget of the film when members of the cast are doing several crew jobs as well. And the low budget really shows, which isn't good when it's mainly based in a couple of small western towns and the desert. Still the lack of acting ability or decent camera skills or directing ability doesn't help this film either. I get the feeling that a bunch of Civil War reenactors got together and decided to make a film without really knowing what goes into the making of a film. So part of me wants to congratulate them for having a go, but I can't because my eyes are now scarred for life and are refusing to forgive me for what I put them through.

The characters didn't really work, not even sure why they bothered with that Prophet character, they could have missed him out altogether and probably improved the film. The main character didn't seem that guilt ridden over his past actions and so just went round doing stuff. The first gunfight was actually ok and made me think that the film might have some promise. However it kinda went downhill from there where it got the the point where people were stood about 10 foot apart and totally missing each other. It kind of reminded me of that scene from The Naked Gun where they are about 2 foot from each other and missing and eventually throwing guns when they run out of bullets, except it was more cringe worthy than amusing.

Some of the shots out in the desert looked quite good, but they couldn't maintain such quality when in the towns or actually moving the camera.

The plot had some good potential, it's just everything else let it down. Points for giving it a try but 2 out of 100 just isn't good enough. I'd avoid this film and go for something like The Good, The Bad, The Weird, which is a Korean version of The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.