In the wake of Django Unchained, which I really enjoyed I decided to watch this Burt Reynolds spaghetti western. Director Sergio Corbucci, who directed the original Django (1966), a cult favorite, also directed Navajo Joe the same year.
The movie begins with a gang of low lifes who make money by killing Indians and selling their scalps to the local townspeople for a dollar a scalp. This was a practice that was done in many parts of the country where Indians were viewed as pests like crows or wolves, that needed to be exterminated.
The cutthroats raid a village and kill everyone, except for Indian Joe (Burt Reynolds) who follows the group out fo vengeance.
There is a minor story about money and the towns people, but the rest of the movie is really about Navajo Joes fight against the outlaws. The background music is a chanting of Navajo joe, Navajo Joe, over and over, which i guess is supposed to add a Native American tone to the movie.
Weak story, weak acting, bad dubbing, weak production values and a lot of killing. In other words, it is the typical second rate spaghetti Western.
Spaghetti Westerns are hard to evaluate. You have to take them for what they are. Their over the top violence almost takes on a comedic tone, which some people really enjoy.
I really liked the ending, when the villain got a hatchet in his head. I just wished it happened much sooner.
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