Clint Eastwood was The Man With No Name. Lee Van Cleef was Sabata.
The Sabata trilogy is very much the Spaghetti Western cousin of A Fistful of Dollars and, as might be expected, the themes and dramatic beats are similar. Gianfranco Parolini’s direction never really reaches the same stylistic heights as Serge Leone’s—and the lower budgets are painfully obvious in some scenes. But there’s a reason that the Sabata trilogy has a cult following—and that reason is Lee Van Cleef, who dominates every scene, with all the skill and know-how of an actor at the height of his powers.
This October, all three films finally come to blu-ray, in a limited edition box set (first print run of 2000 copies only) that includes a Collector’s Booklet and a host of behind-the-scenes commentaries and extras.
Included are:
Sabata (1969) – Who he is and where he came from, no one knows. But the leading citizens of the Western town of Daugherty think he knows too much. And they want to silence him; forever. Get ready for the fast-paced, explosive action as Lee Van Cleef (For A Few Dollars More, The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly) stars as Sabata, a mysterious, steely-eyed gunslinger who imposes his bullet-laced brand of justice on the town.
Adiós Sabata (1970) – Yul Brynner (Westworld, The Magnificent Seven) takes the reins as the title character in this action-packed sequel. Under the brutal rule of local garrison leader Colonel Skimmel, a group of Mexican revolutionaries hire gunslinger Sabata to rob a transport of Austrian gold in order to buy weapons. But Colonel Skimmel has other plans, taking the gold for himself and blaming the revolutionaries, but no scheming colonel is going to keep Sabata from earning his pay!
Return Of Sabata (1971) – The great Lee Van Cleef returns as the famous freewheeling gunslinger Sabata. This third and final go-round for the enigmatic sharpshooter who administers a unique bran d of justice in the American West in the years following the Civil War finds Sabata in the role of victim. Sabata’s skills as a gambler and thief are unparalleled. However, when a shifty band of desperadoes cons him out of $5,000, he wants revenge.
This is a must-have collector’s set for fans of the genre.