Verdict
Summary
A fairly standard spaghetti western that tries to continue the exploits of the bounty hunter whose origin film Django with Franco Nero was quite a cult classic (and pretty gnarly and stylish too), Django Shoots First lacks the style and startling violence of the original, but if you like episodic franchises that have entries that are more or less unrelated but similar in theme and execution, then this entry is adequate, if not entirely memorable.
Plot:
A bounty hunter tries to clear his father’s name.
Review:
Django (Glenn Saxson) is a wandering bounty hunter who happens upon another bounty hunter in the desert, and the other bounty hunter has a corpse slung over his horse, with the plan to deliver him for a five thousand dollar bounty in the next town. Turns out that the corpse is Django’s father, and not willing to let the other man cash in on his dad, Django shoots first and kills the other bounty hunter and buries him out there in the dust. He slings his dad’s corpse over his own horse and goes to the town and cashes in the bounty on his dad’s head, which is quite unusual, especially when the sheriff and the townspeople realize that Django was the dead man’s son. With the five grand in his pocket, Django sticks around town, but soon comes to understand that his father was innocent of the crime he was accused of, which got him the hefty bounty on his hide, and so instead of riding off into the sunset with his cash, Django sticks around and roots out the men who were actually responsible for his father’s tarnished good name. The corruption in the town goes all the way to the top, and so with his good business acumen and newfound fortune, Django buys the bank out and begins to finance his own plot of revenge …
A fairly standard spaghetti western that tries to continue the exploits of the bounty hunter whose origin film Django with Franco Nero was quite a cult classic (and pretty gnarly and stylish too), Django Shoots First lacks the style and startling violence of the original, but if you like episodic franchises that have entries that are more or less unrelated but similar in theme and execution, then this entry is adequate, if not entirely memorable. Saxson is very vanilla in the role, and he barely resembles the laconic, disgruntled bounty hunter who travels around with a coffin containing an automatic machine gun within it. The film is incredibly basic, but if you’re a fan of the genre, then you’ll appreciate it. From director Alberto De Martino.
Kino Lorber brings Django Shoots First, and the high definition transfer is adequate, and the disc comes with an audio commentary by filmmaker Alex Cox, plus an interview with Glenn Saxson.
