Oddly, the DVD for this documentary clocks in at 56 minutes--not the 65 listed on IMDb. Why? I really don't know. Perhaps IMDb is just incorrect."The Spaghetti West" is a documentary show about the Italian western films of the 1960s and 70s. Like you'd expect, it starts at the beginning--giving an overview of the sorts of films that the country was making before the westerns and then moves on to a chronological discussion of the seminal films--with particular emphasis on the first ("Fistful of Dollars") to among the very last. The film consists, naturally, of film clips and lots of interviews--mostly with Italian directors and the like. Among some of the very interesting things you learn in the film are the tremendous number of Italian westerns (over 500), the multinational nature of most of the films as well as the way Terence Hill's career began. All of which, and so much more, is fascinating and gives both information as well as a sense of excitement for the films. Well worth your time.

Spaghetti West, The (2005)*** 1/2 (out of 4) IFC/Blue Underground produced documentary directed by David Gregory and produced by William Lustig takes a look at the Spaghetti Westerns of Italy. This features interviews with Leone, Eastwood, Franco Nero and various others but I'll get back to them in a second. The documentary, like all of Gregory's work, is wonderfully entertaining and helps newbies such as myself understand these types of films and want to check them out. Having seen hundreds of Italian horror films, the one thing that they struck me as were ripoff of American films yet the directors of these ripoffs would never admit that yet they'd insult the filmmakers they were ripping off. The same here because their attitudes towards Leone, the man these films were ripping, is pretty damn stupid. I haven't seen many of the Italian westerns but the ones I have seen are no where near Leone's talent.