All these Quentin Tarantino rip-offs simply make me appreciate his original films all the much more. Because obviously his particular style is not easy to pull off, seeing that these imitators keep failing. And failing spectacularly, at that.Case in point, Sukiyaki Western Django, a spaghetti western homage, starring an all-Asian cast yet taking place in the Wild West, specifically in Nevada. And, featuring a cameo by Tarantino himself, the only Caucasian dude in the whole movie. The reason it fails? It tries to be too much like a Quentin Tarantino film. It has an extreme case of style over substance, is filled with meaningless dialogues that don't connect with the plot in any way, has action scenes filled to the brim with gore, splatter and over the top stunts, cares more about looking cool than explaining any of its logic and is at its heart a big, nostalgic softie for the bygone days of film making. Unfortunately, here the mixture doesn't work and the whole film feels hollow and empty, instead of meaningful and revolutionary like most Tarantino films do.One of the reasons for this is simply the fact that the actors are nowhere near talented enough to pull off the nonchalant attitude needed to sell the premise. I can see that they would probably be fine in any other film, but here their talents are simply not enough. The other reason is the writing, which is riddled with spaghetti western clichés and conventions. And yeah, it's an homage, of course it has clichés. But the thing is, an homage still needs to do something new with the clichés, just like any other film. Either that, or it needs to be absolutely sure that it uses the clichés correctly and in a non-boring manner. Which this movie does not.Still, the film has its upsides. The action scenes are enjoyable, especially the final fight sequence, though once again I'm annoyed that the final confrontation is between two dudes despite the fact that the proposed toughest badass in the whole film is a lady. The said final battle also looks really good, although the rest of the film suffers from serious colour balance problems. But, the overall style and art design is solid, the actors try their best and the soundtrack has some really good moments.Personally I think that Sukiyaki Western Django tries too hard. It would have been a better film if wasn't trying to imitate Tarantino's style so heavily, though the fact that it did is understandable because the man himself was involved with the project. Nevertheless, if you're a die-hard fan of the so called Tarantino approved films, you should check this one out. If you're not, there are better films out there.

Sometimes a film presents itself to you as a character, whole in definition, with whom you have to deal. This is possible either because the film has a soul that the artist has created, or because the filmmaker borrows one by hijacking a genre. That is what Miike has done here. Though some of his other experiments sit well with me, this does not.Dealing with such a character is not a simple emotional (and sometimes intellectual) transaction. Sometimes it is a struggle, a contest where each party wants to pull the other into their own world. Even these than be worthwhile, but the chances go way down; motives get questioned, selves get examined when you have to struggle.I saw this together with 'Rango.' Same strategy, and even many of the same references. But as thin as Rango was, it presented a worthy character. Whether you choose to argue or even try to win is up to you. But at least you should choose your encounters wisely.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Reading some of the reviews, I am surprise that others are confused as to the story. It is basically a samurai movie made as a Japanese western with Japanese cowboys instead of samurais. The story is almost the same as Yojimbo/A Fistfull of dollars. Stranger comes into town and gets the 2 opposing gangs to start killing each other. The difference being he has a sidekick in the kick ass Bloody Benten (female gunslinger). I think what makes everyone go "huh?" is its rather confusing opening with Quentin Tarantino and also the dialogue in heavily Japanese accented and enunciated English. It is rather jarring and does distract from the story. However if you have watched enough undubbed samurai movies you will be familiar with the style and delivery of the dialogue so the distraction goes away. The movie is nothing original but based on it simply being a gunfight movie its not bad.

This is director Takashi Miike's homage to the spaghetti western. I did find it kind of odd watching a western with Asian actors in an Asian setting, but at the end of the day it was pretty well done and there was a neat little cameo from a certain Quentin Tarantino. But more of that later, here's a short summary first.Two clans, the Reds and the Whites are fighting over a treasure believed to be buried in or around a small village. Most of the villagers have left, leaving the mayor and a few others in between the clans. Into this comes situation a lone gunman who immediately proves his worth. Both clans vie for his services but an old woman tells him to think it over first, which he does. She tells him of a woman, of the white clan, who fell in love with and had a child with a man of the red clan. They lived in the village until the young man was killed by the red clan leader. She then went to the white clan for sanctuary but was just abused and kept as a concubine by their leader. The son will no longer speak and lives with the old woman. The gunman goes the whites and tries to buy the freedom of the young woman but is ultimately unsuccessful. So he sets up an ambush that results in the Reds and the Whites almost annihilating each other. Surprisingly, the old woman turns out to be a great ally in this adventure. I really don't want to say any more, I think that's more than enough to whet your appetite.This is a very well made film, as I said at the beginning, the setting is Asia and all of the actors, apart from Tarantino is Asian. This unfortunately had the side-effect that the accents made quite a lot of the dialogue quite hard (for me) to hear. Having said that, the cinematography was really well done. Also the stunts were superb.The plot seems to have been heavily based on the 1964 Sergio Leone film, A Fistful of Dollars which kind of made it a bit easier to follow. There are, of course, plenty of twists and turns in it that deviate from the original which does keep the audience interested. Over all, it's a pretty entertaining film although it can be a bit gory for those of a nervous disposition. I pretty much enjoyed it, so it's recommended.My score: 6.4/10