Chuka

Very happy with purchase///

Extremely satisfied with my order. Dvd was secure and in great shape. Packaging was proficient and delivered on time. Very happy with my order!

A question arises from the movie's prologue, which is actually its epilogue: Did they all die? Then the story begins for this superior Western and gather 'round the campfire buckos, because its a humdinger!At stake is a doomed outpost of misfit soldiers facing a nation of hungry, irritable Arapahoes, and an unfortunate group of visitors, including two beautiful Mexican ladies and the enigmatic gunfighter Chuka {Taylor). Chuka's duds are so cool, they rival anything Lee Van Cleef ever swaggered in. Late in the film, we are treated to witnessing his fast-draw, and I would say "eye-witnessing", but his draw is so fast, the gun is out before you even have a chance to blink! Taylor is tough as Chuka: his fight with the ape-like Ernest Borgnine literally rocks the timbers of the fort. I could easily imagine the film crew appauding after those scenes were done. Taylor is also incredibly tender in the long-awaited love scene with the Thunderball babe Lucianna Lallapollooza (sic).This is a very good Western and a must-have for fans not only of Rod Taylor, but Ernest Borgnine and James Whitmore. Their characters are flawed and three-dimensional, but not given to the irritating idiosyncricies that passed for "character development" in later films and television. As the situation becomes more desperate, the interaction between the characters is so good that I felt not only absorbed, but involved in the plot. You might want to have a stash of Sauza Conmemorativo (the Duke's favorite) handy to join the fellas as they try to take a break from contemplating their doomed scenario. One of the best scenes comes near the end, as the tough hombres, now comrades, rouse early in the dead of night just before dawn, to share a sort of communion, confession, and coffee before the grits hit the fan.I won't give the ending away, but if only one more scene had been added to assure me about the "second choice" I would give this movie 5 stars. Maybe I want too much. As it stands, it adds to my admiration of Rod Taylor. It is so frustrating that some of his excellent performances such as in Darker Than Amber and The Hell with Heroes aren't even available on videotape! I understand his fight scene in the former with body-builder William Smith REALLY rocks. And come on, The Hell With Heroes has Claudia Cardinale in her prime! Let's get more of Rod on DVD!

I first saw this movie on late night TV in the early 70s. It really blew me away...them it disappeared! Thank goodness it finally reappeared as a DVD and Amazon got it to me post haste after I ordered it. It was literally one that when the mail delivered it, I dropped everything right then to watch it. It was still wonderful. I won't go into the plot except to say it does pull you into the events and you do develop the uneasy sense of impending doom settling over the story. As for the conclusion, it hits hard, or at least it still did so for me, and I knew what to expect. Read the other reviews, they mention all the factors I could repeat here. That ending....from all the violence to a simple ray of hope. I want that ray of hope to be the truth...yet it was just a movie! Acting is great, even though the budget of the film brought it inside. To an obvious ( and small) soundstage. But, The sense of the walls closing in on the cast was thus magnified. Rod Taylor has always been one of my favorites. I wish he could have hit higher and longer " stardom" in the USA. His movies in the late sixties are worthy of more popularity. Ernest Borgnine, James Whitmore, and John Mills are all excellent in their roles. And the female lead, Luciana Palouzzi is simply beautiful a feast for the eyes and ears with that voice and accent. She did deserve a better career in the USA too. And the young actress who plays the young niece of Luciana was starring in her first movie as Angela Dorian, later to be known as Victoria Vettri in a series of European films...here she was "acting" as a result of winning an opportunity to be in a major Hollywood film, she being PLAYBOY magazine 1967 Playmate of the Year! Little acting, mostly just bring very lovely in the background, contrasting the terribly dark events coming up. Anyhow, a well acted, gritty western, with a fine storyline. To me, the overall mood invoked was very similar " The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance". Impending doom with a hopeful possibility in the climax. I think you'll like it.

tops film so good rod taylor at his best

By all that's reasonable, and as a Western fan of some 50plus years, I should dismiss this as absolute rubbish. An International cast-Australian Taylor,American Borgnine and Whitmore,English Mills, Italian Paluzzi, none of whom for me convinced, an awful clunker of a script made up almost entirely of cliches (sadly no one says "A Man's Gotta do/There are some things a man just can't ride around" which upset me a bit - A terrible set - The fort is so small it would fit into most people's back garden - and it seems to be manned by about 16 soldiers - on a frontier post keeping wild Arapahoes in check?? The acting is very macho( Watch Taylor in Wayne's "Train Robbers" for more of the same). Poor Luciana is given an awful part but still manages to look pretty good. Mills does his "Tunes of Glory" act, and Borgnine is pretty good as the tough faithful sergeant. His fight with Taylor was quite heavily censored for TV showing in the U/K-If stuntmen were used it was well filmed. Director Gordon Douglas-not an amateur by any means doesn't seem to know how to get the best out of the setting and script. By now, if you have managed to read all my rantings you may be wondering - 4 stars?? The truth is, I like this mess of a western, maybe because it is so bad, but I have seen it 4 times over the years and tho it gets no better, I just keep watching it. Freud might have an answer, I don't. The Spanish DVD is OK, colour pretty good, 16.9 ratio good sound no extras. A bit of fidling brings up English. Forgive the apparent negativity-it probably won't help anyone make up their mind if it's not been seen before. But remeber-it's a personal view, so read other reviews as well (and I did enjoy it!)

I bought the Spanish edition, with English audio available; however, there is a conversation between Chuka and an Arapaho chief at the beginning, in Arapaho, no English subtitles for this... the only fault with the DVD.

Excellent western enjoyable

very good