800 balas (2002)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

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 | Fight | Tourist

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:

The young man with beard, curly hair and glasses behind Laura when she talks to the camera is not Álex de la Iglesia but 'Francis Aguilar'. An Almeria-born director of short movies ("Zombeach"), he joined the crew of 800 balas and became a friend of de la Iglesia. They look so much alike that they decided to give him a cameo role to fool the audience.

Goofs:

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

Movie Connections:

References Abre tu fosa, amigo, llega Sábata... (1971)

800 BULLETS (Alex De La Iglesia, 2002) ***

I rented this one on a hunch, not having watched any of director De La Iglesia's work, even if I had heard of him - if not the film in question.

I thought this was going to be an out-and-out Spaghetti Western update, and it looks like it at first, but the way it developed makes it original and even more interesting than I had imagined! It's frequently uproarious and displays a refreshing irreverence, especially in its use of foul language (which I found even funnier because it's so similar to our own); astoundingly, there are also sex scenes witnessed by, and almost involving, a minor! Deliberately paced and overlong, it ultimately emerges as an endearing, even infectious, spoof of Spaghetti Western film-making and the world of stunt-men (which to me, having been in Hollywood a little while back, has a special relevance). Recurring jokes like forgetting the hanged man once the shooting's over, a stuntman dedicated to making his fall from a roof-top as realistic as possible, and the front of a poor woman's house being demolished by a runaway van are very funny, and there's a hilarious funeral finale with a surprising appearance by "Clint Eastwood" (who, as everyone knows, became a household word in Italian Westerns filmed in Spain)!

The cast is largely made up of unknowns (except for Carmen Maura) but they enter enthusiastically into the tongue-in-cheek spirit of things, with Sancho Gracia's characterization being especially vivid (at times, even a moving one). Indeed, among the various in-jokes which crop up throughout the film is the mention of the Raquel Welch/Burt Reynolds Western 100 RIFLES (1969), a film in which Gracia really appeared!