revtg1-3 The master gunfighter(the character)is cut from the same glossy cardboard as Billy Jack. Same flat expression condescension, same arrogant and over done slow motion. Laughlin tried to borrow some of the childish, long and drawn out attempts to over dramatize that the spaghetti westerns make viewer suffer through. His versions were not as bad as the Italian directors. The movies only saving grace. He lost almost all the money he made on Billy Jack trying to make a dead horse get up and walk. The only other worse idea he ever had was running for President. The Master Gunfighter belongs on a list of the worst oaters ever made, along with The Outlaw and I Shot Jesse James. Where it should be listed (maybe #1) I'll leave up to someone else. If you have not seen this movie consider yourself blessed.

classicsoncall I don't want to mis-characterize "The Master Gunfighter" as a bad film, but it will take some patience to sit through. With Tom Laughlin's name attached to the project, I wondered if there would be a Billy Jack sensibility to his character, and it didn't take long to find out. Laughlin generally shows his smug impatience with the bad guys by rubbing his face and head, allowing time to contemplate his next move, which usually involves shooting them, or utilizing a more novel touch, skewering them with the Samurai sword that's part of his arsenal. It might have been cooler to see him kick someone in the head. The cinematography takes a gorgeous turn every now and then though, with location shooting along the Monterey Coast, and if you enjoy this kind of natural beauty, Barbara Carrera's also part of the cast. Dedicated fans of Billy Jack will probably find the picture to be entertaining enough, for myself it was a B Western that didn't have to run two hours to get to the final showdown.

dexter-3 A terrible film set against the natural beauty of the California coast (my guess is the creators knew what a dog they had). Mexicans with samurai swords and training? A gun that looks like a six-shooter but holds 12 shots (is this a LeMat)? TOM LAUGHLIN? He should credit himself as "Laugh (as in "funny")-lin". The best scene occurs when Laugh-lin (astride his horse) faces off against a bad dude about to commit rape. As in "Billy Jack," Laugh-lin woodenly tells the dude "I don't want to kill you. I'll just ride away." The dude can't deal with the karma emanating from Billy - oops, I mean Finley, and Billy - sorry, Finley - kills him. The dude doesn't know that when Billy - er, Finley - takes off his hat and rubs his hand on his head and face and speaks in a weary tone, that's it! Yikes!A better title may be "Billy Jack - Sorry, Finley - Kicks Ass on the Monterey Peninsula." Punctuated by really boring gun and sword battles (other viewers will anxiously wonder - as I did - who's going to win). This should be a "0."

widebill The kind of film one would expect from the genius behind "Billy Jack Goes to Washington," the movie does distinguish itself in the area of weaponry. Apparently set in the era of old California, the gunfighter blazes away with a remarkable handgun called a LeMat--which didn't exist if the period is prior to the Civil War as it seems to be. Nonetheless, bringing this weapon to light is a nice historical touch. While the Union officers in the Civil War used six-shooter percussion revolvers, they were hard pressed if they came up against a Confederate with a ten-shooter LeMat (nine balls plus a shotgun round). The other milestone in weaponry is the use of swords not a la Zorro but in the fashion of Samuri, a ludicrous touch only Mr. Laughlin could have thought up. If you enjoy odd weapons or the odd use of them, you must see this film,