a review of 黑霸王

2021 CULT MOVIE CHALLENGE WEEK 38: FRED WILLIAMSON WEEK (NOTE: I saw this one as "BOSS" on Tubi, and with all due respect to Fred Williamson and Jack Arnold, I think the only thing really salvaging the original title 40+ years later is the funky as hell theme song.) The remarkable resemblance to BLAZING SADDLES basic plotline aside, I was really impressed with the degree to which Williamson and Arnold succeeded at making an honest-to-goodness gritty, contemporary Western that threads the stylistic needle between older American B-Westerns and the postmodern flair of the newer Italian ones. Williamson makes a rootable (yet ruthless) hero who easily fits in with The Man With No Name and Django; I've also come to really enjoy seeing D'Urville Martin pop up as comic relief in both Williamson and Rudy Ray Moore's films, he's genuinely funny and always maintains a certain level of likability even when he's playing swindlers and scumbags.