Bud Spencer Movies

There isn't much disagreement as to whether this spaghetti western is styled after the Director Sergio Leone's Clint Eastwood blockbuster, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Ace High, directed by Giuseppe Colizzi, and filmed in Almeria, Spain, is missing at least two ingredients that could possibly lift it up to its predecessor, and they're Eastwood and Colizzi. The plot fits: An outlaw Cat Stevens (Mario Girotti) is saved from the noose and is then hunted by his saviors when he goes back to crime. But Stevens is on a hunt of his own, pursuing three roamers who'd sent him to prison years before. ~ All Movie Guide

Unlike Clint Eastwood, who in the 1960s was cast as the Man With No Name, Beyond the Law star Lee Van Cleef has a name, and a very functional one. Van Cleef is known to one and all as Bandit Turned Sheriff. Actually, a more appropriate cognomen would be Bandit Turned Sheriff But Still a Bandit, since Van Cleef only pretends to reform so that he can steal a cavalry payroll. Since it's hard to watch Beyond the Law with a straight face to begin with, the producers wisely decided to turn this spaghetti western into a semi-comedy. Released in Italy in 1967 as Al Di La Della Legge, Beyond the Law was distributed in the US in 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this grim spaghetti western a murderous robber hijacks a payroll train, murders everyone aboard and then stashes his loot. A gunslinger learns about it and decides he wants the money for himself and so hatches an elaborate plot to get at it. He lures the crook into a rigged poker game, and afterward a gunfight ensues. The quick-drawing gunman makes short work of the robber, then teams up with an insurance agent to look for the hidden fortune. Unbeknownst to them, the robber had an ace up his sleeve and didn't really die during the showdown. As soon as he can, he and his gang ride out for two-fisted, blood-soaked revenge. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Five Man Army can best be described as a marked-down Magnificent Seven. Peter Graves, James Daly, Bud Spencer, Testuro Tamba and Nino Castelnuovo play the quintet of the title. Caught in the middle of the 1914 Mexican Revolution, the five men pool their individual skills in hopes of incapacitating the enemy. With Mission: Impossible star Graves in the lead, it's only natural that the plan involves the "impossible" task of relieving a nasty general of a large gold shipment. Set in Mexico but filmed in Italy, this spaghetti western was bankrolled by MGM, the same folks who brought you the popular The Dirty Dozen and who were undoubtedly hoping that lightning would strike twice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Italian action hero Bud Spencer stars in Maurizio Lucidi's comedy Western The Big and the Bad. While wandering through the West (which looks a lot like Spain), Spencer becomes intimate with the gorgeous Dany Saval -- discovering, all too late, that she is the younger sister of vengeful gunslinger Jack Palance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After wrapping up a recording session with his garage band, drummer Roberto (Michael Brandon) follows and confronts a mysterious stranger who has been stalking him to an abandoned theater where Roberto impulsively stabs him. A grinning puppet-like figure takes photos of the attack from a mezzanine box, which arrive in an envelope at Roberto's home the following day. It appears that he is being blackmailed, but it's not clear from whom or why. Suspects include a club-footed neighbor and various friends. After Roberto confesses to the stabbing, his housekeeper discovers the killer's identity, is murdered, and an increasingly paranoid Roberto sends his wife, Nina (Mimsy Farmer), out of town. He eventually tracks down the man he stabbed with the help of a flamboyant detective (Jean-Pierre Marielle) and colorful transient friend Godrey (Bud Spencer), but both the man and the detective are killed. Roberto's cousin Dalia (Francine Racette) visits and, against their better judgment, they begin a passionate love affair. Elsewhere, the police use a special camera that can capture the final image a murder victim sees off their eyeball; this technique is used to track down the real killer. ~ Michael Buening, All Movie Guide

Italian action star Terence Hill aims for the breadbasket while playing for laughs in All the Way Boys. Hill and his frequent filmic cohort Bud Spencer play a couple of what-the-hell flyboys, working for a ramshackle air freight line. Ordered to navigate the treacherous Andes, Hill and Spencer grimace and groan as they narrowly avert sudden death. Prominent Irish performer Cyril Cusack is brought in for acting relief as "Mad Man". Yes, All the Way, Boys is funny, so long as you aren't expecting Noel Coward...or even Neil Simon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This film is a madcap slapstick comedy about a pair of racing drivers who tangle with crooks and get themselves into all manner of perilous situations. ~ Mark Hockley, All Movie Guide

Among the spice plantations of Columbia are to be found any number of abused peasant farmers. Normally, the great landlords expect the church to support them and at the same time keep the natives quiet. In this Italian family comedy, the ruthless spice masters are instead saddled with two of the most radical revolutionary priests imaginable, Padre G. (Terence Hill) and Padre Pedro (Bud Spencer), who straighten things out using little more than fisticuffs, righteousness, and more than a little slapstick. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide