ACE HIGH (1968) is the middle film in a trilogy of Euro Westerns directed by Giuseppe Colizzi and starring Terence Hill and Bud Spencer. Kino has given it a fine presentation on Blu-ray.
Bounty hunters Cat (Terence Hill) and Hutch (Bud Spencer) are led on a rambling chase by bandit Cacopoulos (Eli Wallach), who has stolen a large amount of money from the pair. The three men eventually form a tenuous alliance to scam a casino owner (Kevin McCarthy) who betrayed Cacopoulos.
Most spaghetti westerns are either action-filled violent affairs, or quirky stories with bizarre elements & characters. ACE HIGH falls in between. It's not ridiculous enough to be put in the same category as the Trinity films, and there isn't all that much gun-play. The movie has a tendency to shamble along, without any sense of urgency (despite the large amount of money that is at stake). Every sequence goes on just a bit too long, and most of them seem to exist just to pad out the running time (which is two hours).
This was only the second film to team up Terence Hill and Bud Spencer, but their main characterizations are already set, even though they're not as silly in ACE HIGH as they would be for most of their big-screen couplings. Hill is laid-back and laconic, while the big, burly Spencer is a grouchy fellow who would rather bop guys on the head than engage in shootouts.
Eli Wallach gets to make the biggest impression, mainly due to the fact that he gets a number of dialogue-filled scenes that allow him to show off his distinctive acting style. Wallach's Cacopoulos comes off as a close relative of the actor's famous role of Tuco in THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY. Wallach at least gives the story some much needed spirit.
The other major character role in the film is played by Brock Peters--he's a wire-walker who joins forces with Cat, Hutch, and Cacopoulos. In all honesty Peters' role could have been written out of the story without all that much effect on it. As for Kevin McCarthy, he doesn't even show up until there's about 15 minutes left in the movie.
I do have to say that the final gun duel (involving a roulette wheel and a waltz!) is very inventive. It's too bad the rest of the film didn't have that creativity.
ACE HIGH shows up on a number of retro-movie cable channels from time to time--but it's always presented in a terrible-looking pan and scan version (which stopped me from ever viewing it in its entirety on TV). Kino presents on this Region A Blu-ray an excellent-looking 2.35:1 widescreen print, which the company says is from a 4K scan of the original 35mm negative. There are a couple scenes that are a bit ragged, but I assume that is due to the original elements. The only voice track is the English dub, and it is thin at times.
The only extra (other than an original trailer) is a brand new audio commentary by writer/director (and Euro Western expert) Alex Cox. He deserves some credit for being honest--Cox spends a lot of time discussing the problems with ACE HIGH's plot, and his frustrations at the slow pace of the film are rather humorous.
Kino has given a number of Euro Westerns fine presentations on Blu-ray in the last decade, and ACE HIGH is one of the best-looking of them. When it comes to story quality and excitement however, ACE HIGH is mediocre. One wonders if the other two films connected to ACE HIGH--GOD FORGIVES...I DON"T, and BOOT HILL--will get the Kino treatment in the future as well.
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