This is a comedy western, but it isn't one of those totally awful ones that are more annoying than funny. This one genuinely provides some good laughs. Some of the slapstick in this film even reminds me of The Three Stooges. Especially one particular fight scene in a flooded hotel room.I would probably have given this movie seven or eight stars if the music score was better. It isn't terrible or anything, but it just isn't spaghetti western style music. What we have here instead is the kind of music one would expect from a Hollywood western, with some vocals thrown in here and there. To me, the musical style is a very important component in the spaghetti western genre, and it can definitely make or break these films.The acting is above average, and the quality of this film is decent. Giuliano Gemma always delivers a fine performance. The action scenes are well done, and the film features what would have been a very fancy and unique looking early automobile. I don't know what make it was.Overall I found this movie to be quite entertaining. It is worth watching for fans of the genre.

Not all of the slapstick works, but there are more hits than misses. Frankly I think the humor and production values are better here than all but the first of "Trinity" western-comedies. The English dubbing is not "awful," as one reviewer stated. It's actually better than in many spaghetti Westerns. I liked the attention to detail in the depiction of even minor characters, like the bank employees & dishonest doctor who encases one brother in a total body cast. While I agree the American distributors were guilty of giving this film an terrible "let's cash on on a better movie" title, I don't think seeing the prelude would have added much.The picture already seems a bit too long, with a throw in the kitchen sink approach to the screen writing ("Then's let's have them try this and fail, an then this..."), when a plot more focused on one or two criminal acts might have been better. I also watched this as part of the Mill Creek 20 pack, mostly to get Monte Hellman's "China 9, Liberty 32" and "The Big Gundown" I have only found one (so far) that was truly unwatchable ("Apache Blood"). My main complaint is being deprived, in most cases, of seeing the films in the original Techniscope widescreen process (similar to Superscope but invented at Technicolor's Italian lab), which, through setting the number of frames per inch of film higher in the camera, used only half as much film as Cinemascope or Panavision did. Some complained they could see more grain in the projected image in theaters, but in many cases that worked to the film's advantage, contributing to a gritty washed out look. As with Superscope (now called Super 35), the anamorphic squeeze was done in the lab on an optical printer, enabling the directors to use normal rather than expensive anamorphic lenses in shooting these movies. Unlike Techniscope, Superscope used a normal frame in the camera, so did not save any film stock. The price of film stock was a large part of the cost of making feature movies back then. Now, with digital video, it's not an issue.

A Spaghetti Western enthusiast, I will always have utmost respect for Giuliano Gemma for his performances in genre-greats such as "Day Of Anger" (1967) and "Price Of Power" (1970) as well as in other films, such as Dario Argento's stunning Giallo "Tenebre" (1982). Duccio Tessari's "Vivi O, Preferiblmente, Morti" aka "Sundance Cassidy And Butch The Kid" of 1969, however, is certainly the worst movie I've ever seen Gemma in, an utterly silly slapstick-Spaghetti Western that tries to imitate the style of satirical SWs starring Bud Spencer and Terrence Hill, but fails. Although the movie is amusing in some parts, and certainly not a total disaster, it is just too silly and not as funny as it should be, and Gemma is probably the only good reason to watch it.Two estranged brothers, city gambler Monty (Giuliano Gemma) and Wild West farmer Ted Mulligan (Nino Benvenutti) inherit 300.000 Dollars from their late uncle, on condition that they endure to live together for six months. The two start a fight over everything, and trouble begins as soon as Monty arrives in Ted's hometown...Besides Gemma, the only other Spaghetti Western regular appearing in "Sundance Cassidy..." are Antonio Casas (who should be known to lovers of the Italian Western for his appearances in "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly", "The Big Gundown", "Face To Face", "Price Of Power", "A Pistol For Ringo" and others), and Cris Huerta ("Navajo Joe", "They Call Him Holy Ghost", "Cemetary Without Crosses"), who plays the obese leader of an outlaw gang. Apart from Gemma and Casas, and one kinda funny, recurring gag, the movie has little to offer except for very flat gags. Beautiful Sydne Rome has a supporting role, but that doesn't turn the movie into a highlight either.All things considered, "Vivi O, Preferiblmente, Morti" is kinda funny in some scenes and an acceptable time waster if you're looking for featherbrained entertainment, but the only people I would really recommend it to are hardcore-fans of Giuliano Gemma. Others, watch Bud Spencer and Terence Hill flicks instead. 4/10

This film is also known as Sundance and the Kid in the U.S. release. Starting as early as the 1970's most Euro-Westerns started going downhill in quality and budget. So Italian producers started combining the usually dramatic Spaghetti Westerns with comedy and later in 1970's with martial arts! This film, Sundance and the Kid, is just plain awful in everything from the acting to the screenplay. This turkey was cranked out to compete with the more original Spaghetti Western comedies with Italian actors Bud Spencer and Terence Hill such as Boot Hill, They Call Me Trinity, Trinity is Still My Name..etc. and also perhaps to certain extent the quality U.S. film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with Robert Redford and Paul Newman which is recommended if you want to see a quality made comedy-western.Ironically, in my opinion, Italian directors made the very best westerns and the very worst westerns. On most all these Spaghetti Western-Comedies everything from the title of the movie to the names of the Italian actors, directors and sometimes even the production crew would change their names to American names and add awful English dubbing all designed to sound more American so it would sell better. In Spaghetti Westerns everything in fact is made in Italy but to make $$$ they had to make it look like an American made western as much as possible...but sometimes failed miserably as in this movie.