The Gatling Gun

(1972) Gatling Gun ENGLISH DUBBED SPAGHETTI WESTERN

Low budget western which also a history lesson centers on a double crosser Yankee, Pvt. Sneed (Robert Fuller) who steals a gatling gun so that he can sell it to some comanches. The Union soldiers eventually get it back except that the gun doesn't work, mainly because they're some missing parts, unbeknownst where they're. And as the film progresses, viewers don't know whether they will ever survive this desert since the comanches outnumber their regiment 3 to one.

Acting is lousy as well as the production values where you'd see some Indians getting shot earlier in the film, but then it's like some of those very same Indians who were supposed to be killed got up again.

i don't watch many westerns,the few I've seen i actually enjoy.this was one of them.a Gatling gun is being sought by the apache,and the us calvary led by guy stock well must overcome all odds to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands.talk about a stellar cast.when i found John Carridine was in this,i just had to watch. Carridine was one of the greatest actors that ever lived,he plays a preacher,also in the cast is Pat Butram(Mr Haney of green acres)woody strode,Barbara Luna and Patrick Wayne(son of John Wayne)its a wild wild western,a good cast and good story.8 out of 10.all in all a very well made western made by universal in 1973.

In many ways, this movie looks and feels much older than 1973, and I'm still not quite convinced that this is accurate. Yet, the social conscience of the 70's is there, if only in throw away lines and occasional, unexpected preachiness. The struggle for the WMD of the era, i.e. the Gatling Gun of the movie's title, involves a small band of US Cavalry, one "bad apple" (Robert Fuller playing effectively against type), and the Apaches, headed by the Spanish speaking chief "Two Knives." Thrown in the mix are the vixenish step-daughter of a self-righteous preacher (must have been a handful for that man of the cloth) and an All-American, sharp-shootin'"Annie Oakley Type" who in one brief scene appears in a dress and is described as "All Girl" (which she is!). Plus John Wayne's son, I think, and a couple of old codgers. Any and all of the characters vacillate here and there in their views on the treatment of the American Indian and their role in history but the Gatling Gun has the final word.

Disappointingly routine western. Not bad enough to be funny, not good enough to be enjoyable.

The plot is a cliche: a bunch of bluejackets tries to protect a machinegun from an indian tribe in the desert. The indians are evil, the soldiers are (mostly) good and righteous, and the women are ornaments.

2/10 because it's not overlong...

I admit, the only reason I picked this one, was to see Dr. Brackett (Robert Fuller) in a different uniform. I'll forego echoing what the other's here have posted, as I agree with all of them; it's just a so-so, typical below-grade Western.

I will comment on the cinematography, or lack thereof. This almost looks like it was shot in 16mm and not 35mm film. Whatever film stock they were using, didn't hold up over the decades. It's very washed out - the whites are too white and the dark too dark. The reds are very bright, which I believe, is a degradation of the film stock. So many films from the latter part of the 20th century suffer from this. Thanks Kodak!

Also, the clarity is lacking, it's borderline fuzzy, at least the copy being shown on my free-Western channel. Compare this film to One-Eyed Jack from 1960, and it's like night and day.

This really has a made-for-tv feel to it. Lots of dialogue and not a lot of panorama shots.

One positive - there's a redheaded chick in the flick and her hair looks great : )

2nd positive - Mr. Haney from Green Acres is in it !