In Daugherty City, Texas, the U.S. Army has stored $100,000 in the bank overnight — a record amount for the institution. In an ingenious heist, Old West-style, the 2-ton safe is swiped. The next day, it’s returned — along with the dead bodies of the men who stole it — by sharpshooter Sabata (Lee Van Cleef, Escape from New York), who rode into town just before the theft.
Accepting $5,000 as a reward, Sabata believes the Virginian Brothers acrobatic act, also in town, were in on it. He uses this knowledge against the crime’s mastermind, the wealthy land owner Stengel (Franco Ressel, Blood and Black Lace). Rounds of blackmailing, double-crossing and dynamite-blasting ensue.
The first of three Italian films on the can’t-miss gunslinger, Sabata is a winning one, not just for showcasing Van Cleef at his bad-ass best, but for having so many tricks up its sleeve. For example, Sabata has another gun concealed within the pop-open butt of his pistol, while his on-again/off-again ally Banjo (William Berger, Keoma) has a rifle hidden inside the ever-present musical instrument that has earned him his nickname.
Directed by Frank Kramer (an Americanized pseudonym for Gianfranco Parolini, God’s Gun), Sabata brushes a slight 007-ish marinade atop an already above-average spaghetti Western that, like its lead character of “the man with gunsight eyes,” has perfect aim. The stunts — particularly those of the bouncing, leaping acrobats — are amazing. —Rod Lott
This is one of my favorite pasta horse operas. William Berger’s Banjo character is great enough he should’ve been spun off in his own movie.
I agree with Tony. This is one of the best of the spaghetti westerns. Lee Van Cleef is great. I did not care for Banjo as much as Tony did but he fit the movie.
I recommend this movie even if you are not a fan of spaghetti westerns.
The sequel RETURN OF SABATA is even better in regards to having great set pieces and one of my favorite spaghetti western scores, but it is much weaker story-wise. (And if we’re going to be thorough, ADIOS SABATA with Yul Brynner is also a solid film.)
I bought the Sabata Trilogy set, so I look forward to watching both follow-ups.
Btw, there are some sync issues with the Sabata trilogy set (at least for the Van Cleef movies). I don’t know if it’s a disc or player issue and but there are times when the sync (and I’m talking about sound effects especially, music not so much) are slightly off.