10 Best Spaghetti Westerns You Must See Before You Die

8. A Bullet For The General

A Bullet for the General
M. C. M.

One of the more famous Zapata Westerns, A Bullet for the General is one of Damiani's best works. Set during the burgeoning moments of the Mexican Revolution, the film follows Gian Maria Volontè (who famously played El Indio in the original two Dollars films) as he dons the role of El Chuncho, a bandit turned revolutionary, as he navigates the revolutionary milieu with an ostensible prisoner of the government's forces, El Nino (Lou Castel), who's also American.

What follows is a brilliant tale of deception, political intrigue and loss that serves as one of the most heartfelt and politically-charged cinematic portrayals of the conflict ever put to film. It's brilliant, and Volontè's portrayal of Chuncho remains one of the most overlooked in the genre, with the actor having undertaken a particularly difficult task in conveying the character's shift from militant opportunist, to socially-conscious revolutionary.

It's one of the best Westerns out there, and a definite watch if you were at all engrossed by Volontè's villainous turns in Leone's Dollars Trilogy.

Advertisement
Content Producer/Presenter
Content Producer/Presenter

Resident movie guy at WhatCulture who used to be Comics Editor. Thinks John Carpenter is the best. Likes Hellboy a lot. Can usually be found talking about Dad Movies on his Twitter at @EwanRuinsThings.