They Call Me Trinity

I first saw this Trinity movie in the mid-seventies and laughed and snickered through it. Recently, I watched it again, and found that it held up well over the past decades, and recommend it highly. The humor in this movie is both subtle and broad. The lead actors, Terence Hill and Bud Spencer, slyly parody spaghetti western stereotypes without hamming it up. They do a masterful job at underplaying their characters' brotherly dislike of each other. There is plenty of broad humor too. Trinity is so scruffy and dirty that when he sits down to eat, puffs of dust fly up. The production values are generally pretty high; this doesn't look like a cheap movie. But the dubbing, as in any dubbed movie, is very obvious. Still, this is a highly enjoyable movie.

'Lo chiamavano Trinità' is one of the most charming and funny comedies ever made. The incredible duo Spencer/ Hill is fabulous. When you watch 'Lo chiamavano Trinità', it's like you get a good feeling all the time (you will get the same feeling if you watch the sequel). 'Lo chiamavano Trinità' is very unpretentious - and the simple jokes hits you all the time. It has also wonderful music (the sequel has even better music). Trinity is for me without doubt one of the most charismatic characters ever in filmhistory. I have to mention a quote:

Mescal: It's mierda! (When tasting the farmers soup)

Rating: 8 of 10.

just bought this and the sequel on dvd. every time i see a new american market copy of this movie the picture and sound just get worse. that no one has given this film the treatment it deserves... original sound/language, subtitle options, dubbed version option, letterboxing, restored print and sound, etc... makes a thoughtful person wonder.

my sometimes too protective mother let me watch this movie as a kid and watching it now i wonder why. i think she was a sucker for sexy leads. it embodies everything that is/was deemed tasteless by those who would know and really don't. it's the long gone pre pc violence of bugs bunny cartoons, three stooges dysfunction with a twist of simpsons atheism. it begs no qualitative analyses of point or moral only craft. and craftwise it's glorious. cheap, direct, clever and simple. somehow it all adds up to something more than meaningless debate on harmful vs. harmless, not to mention it's hella funny.

i like it all from the burt bacarachish neil diamondish theme song to the dubious decision to dub. (and by the way this film is very well dubbed. if you don't feel so i'm guessing you haven't watched many asian films.)

clucher's film is not just a great western it's a great movie period. like it's protagonist it's carefree, dirty (really dirty), and decent. if i was unbiased i'd give this movie a 7.5 or 8 out of 10. but this movie sits close to my heart. especially when enduring the endless flow of garbage at todays cineplexes. 10 out of 10.

some favorite funny lines

"our weapons are faith and love." brother tobias

"only love shall combat evil..." sarah and judith

"god is with us" brother tobias

thanks mom

I am by no means an expert on the 19 or so Terence Hill / Bud Spencer films. But of the handful I have been able to see, They Call Me Trinity just might be my favorite. I distinctly remember watching this movie over 30 years ago and thinking it was one of funniest, most enjoyable movies I had ever seen. Re-watching it last night, I realized that, although my opinion isn't quite as high as it once was, I still enjoyed They Call Me Trinity immensely. It's not perfect, but it sure it fun. Hill and Spencer play off each other as well as any of the better known Hollywood duos. They complement each other in both style and appearance. There are a few moments that had me laughing out loud. Their first meeting with the Mexican bandits while unintentionally disguised as Mormons is one of these moments. Hill also has some particularly funny scenes on his own. One that I remembered from my first viewing three decades ago was the scene where Hill eats the entire plate of beans. Good stuff! And who doesn't get a kick out of the dust-covered Hill being pulled along behind his horse. It's a classic image right up there with Django dragging the coffin through the mud. There's just something about both of these scenes that I find very funny.

But what I really enjoy the most is the way They Call Me Trinity makes fun of some of the better known Spaghetti Western clichés. There are several examples I could use, but I'll just cite one. In most Spaghetti Westerns, the main character is usually an expert shot. So expert, in fact, that they almost never miss. Look at Lee Van Cleef in Sabata or Clint Eastwood in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly for example. Van Cleef's Sabata is able to his any target at any distance and Eastwood's Blondie has no problem hitting the rope about to hang Tuco. Trinity takes this already exaggerated ability to the absurd. As seen in the one of the bar fights, Trinity can hit targets behind his back - without looking. If you're a fan of these movies, you'll enjoy They Call Me Trinity's poke at Spaghetti Western conventions.

(aka: THEY CALL ME TRINITY)

I have to admit I'm not one for comedy westerns but this one was actually funny in parts. It's almost as funny as SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF (1971) and I would almost consider it a welcome addition to my DVD collection were it not for the fact that the current Direct Source Media DVD weren't so awful.

Trinity (Terence Hill) a dirty, dusty drifter-turned bounty-hunter comes to town to pay a visit to his horse-thieving half-brother Bambino (Bud Spencer) who's pretending to be the real sheriff. Bambino's looking for the best way to rustle some of the Colonel's horses before he leaves and he's not interested in letting Trinity cut in. In the meantime, the Colonel (Farley Granger) is doing some plotting of his own, not only to get rid of Bambino but also to displace some Mormons who are settling on some land he wants for his own cattle.

The fights, the stunts and the gunplay Trinity and Bambino play on the Colonel's men is hilarious. I like it when Bambino uses the bottom of his fist to hit the bad guy's on the top of the head. And the ending fist fight scene at the Mormon's camp cracks me up. No wonder this film made Hill and Spencer popular in Europe.

Like I said, the DVD is a travesty with a transfer that's watchable but looks like it was lifted from a VHS source. The print itself the transfer was taken from is pretty grainy with bad splices and an audible hum in the soundtrack. It deserves a failing grade.

The TRINITY series needs the Anchor Bay DVD treatment, really bad. Since these Euro westerns were so popular, I'm surprised they haven't secured the rights to it yet.

7 out of 10

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