El Diablo

Colorful characters, played by colorful actors almost push "El Diablo" beyond average, but not quite. There are several laugh out loud situations, but not enough to cover 108 minutes of this uneasy mixture of comedy and western. Lou Gossett and Anthony Edwards carry the film, with nice support from John Glover, Joe Pantoliano, and Robert Beltran. Unfortunately the straightforward fish out of water story is too simple and seems stretched to the max. There are a couple of instant classic lines however, my favorite being "You look a man straight in the back and then shoot him". I'm sure no horses were harmed during this movie either. LOL - MERK

Anthony Edwards plays Billy Ray Smith, a school teacher who sees a young, female student of his kidnapped by a ruthless Mexican known only as "El Diablo" played by Robert Beltran. Billy Ray sets out after this known killer not knowing how to shoot a gun, ride a horse or just about anything other cowboys could do. He is seeking the help of "Kid Durango" who he's read about and thinks is the fastest gun in the west. Along his journey, he meets and teams up with Thomas Van Leek, played by Louis Gossett, Jr. Van Leek is a no-nonsense gunslinger who shoots opponents in the back because "their back is to me." A few more mercenaries join the duo including "Preacher" played excellently by John Glover. When they find Kid Durango. played by Joe Pantoliano, Billy Ray discovers that his western hero is just a convincing novelist. This film was apparently made for TV and should have been seen by many more people. It's a hoot and lots of fun to watch.

A very appealing comedy western. Anthony Edwards is very good as a tenderfoot schoolteacher from Boston who attempts to rescue one of his students (who is captured by the infamous El Diablo) without really knowing anything about the West or what his quest is going to entail. Luckily he meets up with a down-to-earth gunman who can help him along the way. Lou Gosset is excellent as the laidback, do whatever it takes gunfighter. When asked by Edwards why he shot a bad guy in the back he replies "Why, his back was to me." They meet up with a few other colorful characters and proceed to attempt the rescue. Good humor, good acting and colorful characterizations abound in this above average made for TV oater.

Funny though unknown TV Western with noisy action, brawls , humor, mirth, shootouts and amusement. This Western comedy deals with the young man, Billy Ray (Anthony Edwards), a gentle children's school teacher who must fight against a nasty enemy to free his kidnapped student Nettie Tuleen (Sarah Trigger's film debut). Firstly, Billy Ray enlists the aid of unscrupulous gunman (recently deceased and unforgettable Louis Gossett Jr). His mentors are some sympathetic crooks. The cocky dandy Billy Ray wearing elegant clothes but he changes his garments to a ridiculous cowboy style with pants made of animal skin. Billy Ray Smith creates a 'posse' made up of the most eccentric gunslingers: The Preacher (John Glover), the writer Kid Durango (Joe Pantoliano) Zamudio (Miguel Sandoval), Bebe (M. C. Gainey) and Indian Dancing Bear (Branscombe Richmond). The veteran partners teach him the West manners and training him for shooting. Along the way, the bunch confronts the deadly outlaw nicknamed "The Devil" (Robert Beltran). When a young man can't ride or shoot he needs help real bad and here's help that's real bad!.

Anything is possible in this comical-serious Western movie. This film contains Western action , shootouts, fist-play, high body-count, humor with tongue-in-cheek and results to be pretty bemusing. A good Western with lots of silly laughters in which the notorious outlaw El Diablo kidnaps a schoolgirl, her teacher, an Easterner named Billy Ray, decides to rescue her. It's an entertaining film with enjoyable comedy in which Anthony Edwards plays a young man who teaches at a school and promises to rescue a girl kidnapped by a bandit, incompetent to track her alone, he joins a team of gunfighters. And the leader results to be Louis Gossett Jr who steals the show as the shameless and ambitious ex-Union soldier, along with a notable plethora of secondaries, such as: John Glover, Joe Pantoliano, Robert Beltran, M. C. Gainey, Miguel Sandoval, Sarah Trigger, Jim Beaver and Branscombe Richmond.

The comical formula deals to enhance the hilarious observations of the western originated on the decade of the Sixties, including the following filmmakers : Andrew McLagen with ¨McLintock!¨, ¨The rare breed¨, Something Big¨ and Burt Kennedy with ¨Support your local gunfighter (one of his better spoof Western)¨ , ¨Support your local sheriff¨ (his highpoint) , ¨Dirty Dingus Mcgee¨ , ¨War Wagon¨ and ¨ The Good guys and bad guys¨, ¨Texas Across the River¨ by Michael Gordon and a bit later on, Mel Brooks directed the indispensable ¨Blazing saddles¨ and after ta-hat, Hugh Wilson made ¨Rustlers' Rhapsody¨.

The motion picture well directed by Peter Markle. And John Carpenter was the film's executive producer and writer. Peter Markle is an expert on all kind of genres as comedy as ¨Hot dog , the movie¨, ¨Wagon East¨ the last film of John Candy¨ ; Sci-Fi as ¨White dwarf¨; Sports as ¨Youngblood¨ ; ¨Drama¨ as ¨Personals¨, ¨Nightbreaker¨, and suspense as ¨Through the eyes of a killer¨ and ¨Last days of Frankie the Fly¨ , and Wartime genre as ¨Bat 21¨. Rating : 6,5 . Worthwhile seeing, better than average humorous western.

Wonderfully fun film that sometimes takes itself seriously, but mostly just has a lot of fun with the genre. Anthony Edwards is very well cast in his part, and Gossett is just fabulous as the "rode hard" old gunslinger who tries to turn Edwards into a western hero...sort of. Gossett's glorious line about why he shot someone in the back is no doubt destined to become a classic -- "Cuz that's the side he was pointing toward me." Whether you like westerns or not, this is definitely worth watching. And probably more than once.