Boot Hill

Released in 1969 and directed/written by Giuseppe Colizzi, "Boot Hill" stars Terence Hill as Cat Stevens, a hunted and wounded man who hooks up with a circus troupe and the oppressed citizens of a small town in the Southwest to take on Honey Fisher (Victor Buono) and his murderous gang who corruptly gain leases on valuable gold-yielding land in the area. Woody Strode plays one of the trapeze artists.

"Boot Hill" is the last film in a trilogy that started with "God Forgives... I Don't!" (1967) and "Ace High" (1968), all starring Terrence Hill as Cat Stevens. It was then rereleased as "Trinity Rides Again" to cash in on the later success of "They Call Me Trinity" (1970) and "Trinity Is Still My Name" (1971) even though "Boot Hill" has nothing to do with those movies, except that Terrence and Bud Spencer star in them.

The main reason people complain about this movie is not due to the quality of the film itself, but rather the lousy fullscreen pan & scan 1:33:1 reduction print, transferred to VHS from 16mm and then transferred from VHS to DVD and typically sold for a buck or less. This crappy version often cuts out the speaker during a scene (!). The movie itself, however, was filmed on anamorphic 35mm in 2:35:1 Techniscope, and was meant to be seen in the widescreen format.

In regards to the film itself, it's a spaghetti Western in the tradition of Sergio Leone's "Dollars" trilogy. I like it better than the first two "Dollars" movies, but it's not technically as good as 1966's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly."

There are several things I appreciate about "Boot Hill." For one, Terrence Hill is as good or better than Clint Eastwood and it's surprising that he didn't become more popular. Secondly, the traveling circus sets this movie apart from other Westerns. Thirdly, it's nice to see a black character in a Western as one of the protagonists. I can only think of two other Westerns off the top of my head that have done this (not including Mario Van Peebles' "Posse" from 1993): "Duel at Diablo" (1966), with Sidney Poitier, and "The Gatling Gun" (1971), also with Strode. Fourthly, there's a cool Ennio Morricone-like score by Carlo Rustichelli.

On the negative side, the story's kinda muddled and the circus girls aren't as prominent as they should be. In fact, the latter is made out to be a joke when the high wire act starts to perform and the audience boos because they're all male, lol. I also don't like the title "Boot Hill" because I can't figure out why it's the name of the movie; I'm assuming it's the name of the main town in the story, which they should've made clearer at some point.

The movie runs 97 minutes and was shot in Almería, Andalucía, Spain.

GRADE: B-

I have seen alot of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer movies and this is one of the first I ever saw and i have to say, it sucks! It's just awful. The plot is about a guy named Cat Stevens ( Terence Hill ) who was shot buy some bandits and a circus trupe helps him recover. Cat Stevens needs to get revenge and avenge the death of a circus performer who helped him recover. he asks his old buddy Hutch Bessy (Bud Spencer) to help him. This movie may sound good, but believe me, its not!!!!!! I suggest you see either They Call me Trinity , Trinity is STILL my name , My name is Nobody , Crime Busters or Watch Out...Were mad!

Misleadingly promoted as a "Trinity" film, "Boot Hill" can barely even be classified as a "Bud Spencer-Terence Hill" film, since it gives the two stars very few chances to exercise their teamwork (Spencer appears after the first half-hour). The story is confusing, and the direction is annoying: for one thing, many action scenes take place in the dark, and for another, the camera focuses a little too closely on the actors; too often half the action appears to have been chopped off the sides of the screen, even though the version I watched was letterboxed. Not recommended. (*1/2)

Terence Hill & Bud Spencer early pairing. Low budget western with a lot of stars in it. Not the usual by any means.. western-wise or hill/spencer-wise.. 3 years before Trinity, Hill portrays a character named Cat Stevens ( A name that was also his characters in both Dio perdona... Io no! & I Quattro dell'Ave Maria). It can be dull at times but it's a good movie given the chance. I originally wrote a more negative review of this film and after watching it a few more times since I have edited it to lean on the more positive side. Worth checking out & it is made on DVD now. Although the transfer is cassette quality. It does give the film that nostalgic quality & makes the dirt floors & dirty faces look even more filthy.

The U.S. TV print of this film is awful. There is no pan and scan so there are long sequences where nothing is in the center of the screen! I found myself almost hallucinatory after an hour of this film. None of the American actors dubbed their own voices with the possible exception of Lionel Stander. Terrence Hill plays it straight here.

I would be very interested to see this film in Italian, subtitled and letterboxed. If you get the Trinity box set here in the U.S., I recommend you throw Boot Hill out immediately, unwatched.