I Live for Your Death

Usual western spaguetti played by the unforgetable Steve Reeves, already stigmatized character on those Peplum and Sandals pictures from the glorious past years, now Steve Reeves tries out on western proves that he can makes easily another genre, also allowed to us a strange offering, the plot is average also commonplace, framed in a train robbery he and his young brother were sent to the jail at impregnable fortress Yuma, there was a riot and he escapes, but his brother didn't make and the revenge just began, if we consider it as last picture of Reeves, we must be carefully, actually he was the great Hercules, so demands some kind of assessment, in fact I really love those magnificent epics, this western for Italian standard is plentiful acceptable and Reeves makes the best he could and quite enjoyable job indeed, due he wounded his shoulders previously he had to quit to make pictures unfortunately, meanwhile it wasn't a great picture, it's just the final movie of the great and legendary Steve Reeves, the good news is about the DVD, was fully restored!!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 6.25

In his last film, Steve Reeves played his usual hero number (though a bit too sombre, with no glimpse of humor, as in the adventure films he starred in), doing not too different grimaces and acrobatics as the ones he performed for his incarnations of Romulus, Sir Henry Morgan, Hercules and Sandokan. It was adapted from a novel, and probably the scriptwriters (including Reeves) were too respectful of the original (written, as told by other reviewer, by a specialist in western novels) and took little advantage of the European western film craze of the 1960s. Even in the more serious western dramas (as Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West"), there were always bizarre elements and even a bit of Brechtian estrangement, making it obvious that it was a foreign concoction turning a classic genre upside down, every now and then revealing something that had not been told in the classic American westerns (although I believe the real revisionist westerns were made by American filmmakers, as Penn, Peckinpah, Altman and Gries). This one plays it straight, and maybe Reeves wanted to do a real western, but it just comes out as an average European western without zest.

I saw this recently for the first time. Reeves is great in his final film, what a shame he was unable to continue making films because of an injury. He looks good and acts well in this revenge story which is head and (very broad) shoulders above of most of the post 66 Italian western output. Reeves could have been one of the great western stars but it wasn't to be. A glimpse of what he could have achieved can been found in such films as 'Sandokan' and 'Morgan the Pirate', non-sandal films that were great fun. I was glad to discover that his post-movie life was a success and that he was a happy and wealthy man. He is much missed by his fans.

Starts with a subplot of stolen cattle that is mainly used to bring Steve Reeves and his younger brother near the place of a train robbery, and Wayne Preston, an old friend of Reeves who's about to betray their friendship, appears. Reeves and his brother are framed for the robbery and sent to the hell of Yuma State Penitentiary. Reeves first refuses to take part in an escape plan, but changes his mind after his brother is killed by a sadistic warden. When the warden starts provoking him with his brother's death, he attacks the man, and subsequently uses the turmoil to escape and go after the men who have ruined his life.

Striking scenery and the horse raid got me interested, and it gets better with the appearance of Wayne Preston, and the train raid - the interest remain during Yuma prison camp scene, which thankfully is not drawn out too long. Nello Pazzafini as the warden from hell is a guy you would love to get his just desserts and Steve Reeves, in his only western role unfortunately, does just that in a well-staged and tough fight in a house. The camerawork quite inventive, artistic at times with loads of scenes shot into the sun. There's plenty of edgy action, chases and a shootout set in a mine-shaft. It's well-paced, lean, mean and entertaining, though a little violent and grim. It's adapted from a western novel by Gordon Shirreffs, called The Judas Gun. No wonder it's a good story as Shirreffs has written many good books. It's a pity that Steve Reeves didn't do more westerns as he is fits the genre like a glove.

Four years after his appearance as Sandokan, Steve REEVES (1926-2000) returned in front of the cameras again, this time in a spaghetti western. Unfortunately, this was REEVES' last screen appearance, even though the film was really good.

Together with his brother Roy (Giovanni Ivan SCRATUGLIA), Mike Sturgis (Steve REEVES) runs a horse breeding business in Arizona. When they are attacked, they want revenge on the perpetrators. In doing so, they get involved in an even worse matter, in which the railway boss (Wayde PRESTON) and the sheriff (Mimmo PALMARA) also have their fingers in the game. Mike and his little brother end up in the notorious Yuma State Prison, which only the hunky Mike survives. Now the day of revenge has finally come...

Decent spaghetti western by Camillo BAZZONI, who knows how to tell his story in a straightforward manner. Mimmo PALMARA and Steve REEVES had known each other since the legendary Hercules films from 1958 and 1959, which marked the beginning of the rise and financial success (especially in N-America) of the Roman Cinecitta.