The Flick

In The Gunslingers (also known as Ecstasy of Gold according to IMDB), Butch (John Elliott – Prison Break) is a hard-working bounty hunter who just wants to do his job honestly and get paid in the same respect.  He has no time for excuses or whining criminals.  His complete indifference and muttered snark is actually fairly amusing.  His captor, the stupid and stumbling Rattler Fenton (Brad Allen), attempts to convince Butch to release him, claiming that he can pay him more than the bounty is worth.
Meanwhile, the brutal Akemi (Narisa Suzuki – The Myth of the American Sleepover) is busy plotting the death of her drunken captor – a man who, frankly, deserves the violent end he meets at the hands of Mondego (Ben Hall – The Familiar), the leader of a gang of bandits.  When her sister dies in the crossfire, Akemi vows to kill the man responsible.

Butch delivers Fenton to the sheriff’s office but soon realizes that they don’t intend to pay him what the capture is worth and he is forced to draw his guns.  Unfortunately, before anything can happen, both he and Fenton are knocked out and dragged down below deck.  When they wake up, they find themselves prisoners of the clearly corrupt lawman.  While Rattler attempts to bribe his way out, Butch sits quietly, digging a hole through the dirt walls – this is the Old West, after all, not Alcatraz – in order to escape.  After a wild and crazy gunfight ending in the burning of the jail, Butch takes off, accruing an odd assortment of followers along the way, including Aseki and two Mexican brothers who had originally imprisoned him.  The plan is to find Rattler’s Fenton’s supposed hidden fortune, but they are followed at every turn by Mondego’s gang, guys who seem to be awfully intent on finding Rattler Fenton, likely for the same reason.  Who will get to it first?
This is an interesting flick and I’m not sure whether to love it for its quirkiness or hate it because it’s so over-the-top and yet lacking in so many plausible ways.  There’s a lush forest with a waterfall in the middle of the freaking desert, for one.  I am unsure of the purpose of the Asian girl in the movie – or where she came from, for that matter – except to add some sort of hot Asian killer girl fantasy into an otherwise mundane film.  Suzuki is a beautiful girl, to be sure…I’m just wondering as to her storyline.  I actually feel as though the movie gets worse as time goes on.  It’s almost like everyone got tired of working on it.

Audio/Video

Butch’s fun sarcasm doesn’t make up for the shakiness of the filmwork.  I’m all for documentary-style movies, but this didn’t at all seem as such, but rather simply shoddy camerawork.  The colors aren’t anything to brag about – mostly browns and grays, adding to my perception that the Old West was incredibly boring.  The background is often blurry and looks very much like a green screen is bringing the cave walls and mountain skyline to life.  The surround sound isn’t really taken advantage of here, unlike some louder action movies I could name.  However, the dialogue is crisp and is never overpowered by the soundtrack, so that’s a plus.

Special Features

The Gunslingers comes on DVD in widescreen presentation with the following special features:

–    Storyboard to Screen Comparison
–    Alternate Opening
–    Behind the Green Screen (editor’s note: I knew it!): Shooting the Cave Sequence
–    Trailer
–    Various other trailers

The Storyboard to Screen Comparison is just a short look at the original movie sketches against a few of the scenes.  Nothing really there besides that.  The Alternate Opening showed a little more detail on Rattler Fenton and was, I felt, better than the theatrical version of the opening.  I’m not sure why they didn’t use it.  Behind the Green Screen COULD have been cool, had there been directors or photographers or even the actors talking alongside it.  Unfortunately, none of that was available – just another side by side look.

Overall

The movie reminds me of a college film project that maybe got a small-time director to film it.  Not a bad idea for a plot, just badly executed.  I am also a fan of certain B-movies and can appreciate camp just like anyone else.  I just don’t feel as though this film meant to be that, which somewhat ruins the charm for me.  I’d say it’s worth a rental, but only if you can get it at RedBox for a dollar.

ComicsOnline gives The Gunslingers 2.5 out of 5 pans of bean slop.

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