I Live for Your Death

Steve Reeves only made one spaghetti western, but it's a good one. VIVO PER LA TUA MORTE was made in 1968, a golden year for the Italian Western, and many of the genre's favorite sons appear in this tale of revenge and redemption, among them Aldo Sambrell, Nello Pazzafini, Spartaco Conversi, and Silvana Bacci. Reeves makes a good western hero, losing his shirt at times to give us a glimpse of his splendid physique; at age 42 he was still in great shape and spends lots of his screen time running, jumping, engaging in fist fights and carrying on like a much younger man. The film's depiction of Yuma Territorial Prison is good also, replicating the feel of the prison remarkably well. A very minor knock is that the pistols are of the John Woo variety, shooting fifteen or sixteen times as needed, particularly noticeable in the prison break. The music by Carlo Savina is outstanding, but that's as usual for this genre. A lesser gem, in a nice package from Wild East including an interview with Mimmo Palmera.

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.

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.

Good gracious!!! Steve Reeves in a western movie??? It's really hard to find this movie on DVD, i need to wait for a long long time to get a chance to watch this movie. Luckily i found it on You Tube and download this as well. Honestly, I'm not disappointed after watching it! Steve Reeves came up with his final movie and quit acting after this movie, i wonder why??? The way he acted in a cowboy movie was surprisingly good and he could turn out to be a lot better if he further his career. It's too bad he quit earlier..I wish he acted more in spaghetti western movies..he could be as popular as Franco Nero or Lee Van Cleef! A Long Ride From Hell is just one of the best western movies i have seen so far. In my opinion, this one surpasses Django and The Great Silence. I just thought that A Long Ride From Hell is better.

10/10 stars (excellent)

Great movie that's been down played and over looked for years. Reeves was born to make Westerns. If you loved his "Sword and Sandal" films this one won't let you down. Cool action, great shoot outs and that classic build that put's his contemporaries to shame. On the other hand, if you like the Westerns that were coming out of Italy at the time, you've got to check this one out. Not going to go so far as to say he rivals Eastwood but Reeves is heads above most of the guys who tried their hands in the genre. Best of all it shows off Revee's horse riding skills that were only hinted to in the "Hercules" type films. Very hard to find on tape but well worth the effort once you get your hands on a copy.