The Great American Western, Vol. 12

Customer Reviews:

Strange Brew.......2006-01-19

Platinum has so many of these oaters and off beat westerns available for the true western lover to choose from. There are somewhere around 30 volumes out now. You can buy them singly or in packaged deals, from 2 to 10 discs in a set(each in their own keep case). The problem is that the titles of the films are not listed on the buying info. The earlier volumes(1,2,3, etc) are usually 4 films of a specific actor, the later ones most often have some kind of theme running through them. This single Vol.12 may be found in the Vol 2 of the larger sets, which includes Single Vols 11-20). It gets confusing as the multi packs as well as the singles are called Vol 1 or 2 etc, You can usually tell by the price, how many discs, are in each volume, or check the buying info.

It looks like GAW vol 12, may have the intention of a theme of peaceful guys who must pick up a rifle to fight for right.Errors in misidentifying one of the films, and in a description of another, seems to have Vol 12 as a strange brew of films.

First up is "Savage Guns". It is listed on the box as the 1961 Richard Basehart film, but turns out this one is a really bad, so bad it's camp and funny, spaghetti Western from 1971: "Era Sam Wallach... lo chiamavano 'così sia'" (1971)
aka "Savage Guns". A guy swears revenge and hunts down some really bad hombres. The dubbing and the dialogue will have you laughing if nothing else.

"The Bushwhackers", was my favorite of the group. From 1951, it had quite a cast. The Civil War is over. Southerner John Ireland vows never to pick up a gun again, but as he travels West and lands in Independence, Mo., he gets involved in a new kind of war. Land Grubbers are terrorizing the townsfolk, and he must pick up a gun to fight for right. It also stars, Dorothy Malone, Lon Chaney Jr. and Lawrence Tierney. This one was worth the price of admission alone.

"The Sundowners" is next.(NOT the 1960 one with Robert Mitchum)This one was made in 1950. It stars Robert Preston, and Robert Sterling. Sterling plays Tom Cloud, a rancher who hires a notorious gunman to help protect his cattle. The film also stars such greats as Chill Wills as "Sam" and Jack Elam as "Earl".Filmed in Texas, it's pure Western action and entertainment.

From the description on the box of the next one, I was expecting something completely different. It is billed as a whimsical tale of how the Gatling gun was introduced, but i found nothing "whimsical" about it. The army is using it to squash the Indians, who by the way, once again get a bad rap in this 1972 Western. It stars Guy Stockwell, Woody Strode and an appearance by John Carradine, made it worth the view.

Don't expect much in the way of transfers. The Spaghetti Western, actually looked the best. The rest, were dirty, scratchy and grainy. But viewable and for the price, these films are somewhat of a treat seeing some of these big stars way back when, or in films they may rather not put on their resumes.

One other note..I noticed that the films on this Vol. even may vary from DVD to DVD as one of the other reviewers mentioned an urban crime drama on their copy. Mine did not have that. If you are purchasing through an ouside seller, you may want to check with them first.

Saddle Up and Happy Trails...Laurie

!!!!!DVD IS NOT WHAT IT IS ADVERTISED TO BE!!!!.......2004-09-24

BUYER BEWARE!! THIS DVD "GREAT AMERICAN WESTERN VOL.12" DOES NOT CONTAIN THE VERSIONS OF THE MOVIES AS ADVERTISED IN THE DESCRIPTION. "THE SAVAGE GUNS" IS NOT THE 1962 VERSION STARRING RICHARD BASEHART EVEN THOUGH THAT IS WHAT THE DISTRIBUTOR OF THIS DVD PUT ON THE CASE. IT IS A VIOLENT BADLY DUBBED WESTERN FROM PROBABLY THE 1970S. IT GETS WORSE! EVEN THOUGH THIS DVD IS PART OF THE "GREAT AMERICAN WESTERN" SERIES THE VERSION OF "FIGHTING MAD" ON THIS DVD IS NOT EVEN A WESTERN. IT IS A VIOLENT, MODERN DAY URBAN CRIME DRAMA!! IT IS OUTRAGEOUS THAT AFTER CUSTOMER RETURNS AND COMPLAINTS THAT AMAZON.COM STILL MARKETS THIS DVD AND ANY OTHER DVD'S BY THIS DISTRIBUTOR.

Do NOT buy this if you are a Richard Basehart fan!.......2004-01-13

If you are buying this for the movie Savage Guns with Richard Basehart do NOT buy it! Even if it does say on the cover and on the DVD that this movie is on the DVD it is NOT on the DVD! This is the only reason I bought it and it wasn't there!. On top of that when I returned it Amazon charged me a restocking fee and a return fee on top of the postage they charged me. I only got $1.59 back. So save your money! Pass this one by!

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