Rating: **
Review Date: 7/2/17
Cast: Lee Van Cleef, Ignazio Spalla
Sabata (Lee Van Cleef) joins the circus as a trick shooter in order to investigate its proprietor. When he arrives in Hobsonville, he bumps into an old war buddy and learns that the town is run by a corrupt group of Irishmen led by a fanatical crook named McIntock. Everyone wants to run Sabata out of town, but he has his mind set on stealing McIntock's gold, and nothing is going to stop him.
The film is disappointingly bizarre and goofy, which distracts from the story and the action. Sabata is repeatedly betrayed by his friends, but still continues to work with them for some reason. Lee Van Cleef is wonderful as always, but even he seems to be baffled by his character's motivations. The film is beautifully shot, with lavish sets and gorgeous cinematography. The action scenes are exciting and the stunt work is very good, although Sabata's acrobatic sidekicks are needlessly quirky. The music score is lively, and the theme song amusingly refers to Sabata as the "nine fingered man", making note of Lee Van Cleef's missing digit on his middle finger. Unfortunately, the movie was just a little too weird and convoluted for me to really enjoy.