800 balas (2002)

Director:

Álex de la Iglesia

Writers:

Jorge Guerricaechevarría (writer)
Álex de la Iglesia (writer)

Release Date:

18 October 2002 (Spain)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Western

Tagline:

Let the battle begin...

Plot:

Julián Torralba is a former movie stuntman in Almeria, Spain. He and several of his colleagues, who...

Plot Keywords:

Cowboy | Stuntman | Spain | Show | Stunt

Awards:

3 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Sancho Gracia	...	Julián
Ángel de Andrés López	...	Cheyenne (as Angel de Andres)
Carmen Maura	...	Laura
Eusebio Poncela	...	Scott
Luis Castro	...	Carlos
Manuel Tallafé	...	Manuel (as Manuel Tallafe)
Enrique Martínez	...	Arrastrado (as Enrique Martinez)
Luciano Federico	...	Enterrador
Eduardo Gómez	...	Ahorcado (as Eduardo Gomez)
Terele Pávez	...	Rocío (as Terele Pavez)
Ramón Barea	...	Don Mariano (as Ramon Barea)
Cesáreo Estébanez	...	Andrés (as Cesareo Estebanez)
Eduardo Antuña	...	Taxista
Gracia Olayo	...	Juli
Berta Ojea	...	Angeles

Also Known As:

800 Bullets (International: English title)
Ochocientas balas (Spain) (alternative spelling)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content/nudity and some violence.

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish | English | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Germany:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA (cable rating) | Australia:M (original rating) | Spain:13 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Alan Young Pictures

Trivia:

Director Álex de la Iglesia wanted Clint Eastwood to play himself in the film. He even offered to move to Los Angeles to shoot Eastwood's part. Eastwood, who was then working on the production of Mystic River (2003), was forced to turn down the offer.

Goofs:

Continuity: The man who takes the officers gun continues to shoot even when the gun is clearly out of ammunition.

Movie Connections:

Features "The Ren & Stimpy Show" (1991)

Return to Almeria, home of the Itie Western.

After COMUNIDAD, I was prepared to watch anything this lot did. Well ten minutes in, it was being brought home to me that this one was even better.

First surprise, the always watchable Carmen Maura's part is quite minor and while I must have seen Sancho Gracia half a dozen times, including some of my favorite movies like MARTIN H and COMUNIDAD, I'd never realized what a great screen presence he could be.

Big surprise however is how completely the film sucks you in. The Euro-Cowboy movie imagery - complete with the half animated drawings of the titles, backed by THE GODD THE BAD AND THE UGLY music - carries the spectator away in the opening, with the bogus Yak Canutt transfer to the speeding horse team and particularly the bender where the stunt show regulars with tomato picker Indians go on a horse back rampage, financed by Maura's 12 year old's Visa card.

We love these people and wish we knew them when we were twelve, despite the fact that they keep on telling us that what they do is a tacky imitation of something that was often a tacky imitation in itself. The grandfather is prepared to sell out the kid to preserve his waster way of life, the kid is spoiled rotten, the whore, who is the most decent character in the film, is bent on corrupting the kid. Half his luck - everyone picks up on that scene.

The shoot-out with eight hundred real bullets is great but they can't figure out where to go from there and the rest is an anticlimactic attempt to redeem the characters we admire for their corruption.

My only regret is I can't see this one on the big screen where it's action material must have been awesome.