Synopsis
Couple of strangers arrive in a small town, each one after a different thing.
Shoot the Sun Down
Cast
Director
Producer
Writers
Editors
Cinematography
Set Decoration
Special Effects
Stunts
Composers
Costume Design
Makeup
Genre
Releases by Date
Theatrical
-
USA
Releases by Country
USA
01 Jan 1978
- Theatrical
Popular reviews
More-
The search for Aztec gold sees a ship captain (Bo Brundin) his indentured servant (Margot Kidder), a noble gunslinger (Christopher Walken), and a scalphunter with all the scruples of a scalphunter (Geoffrey Lewis), converge on a desert in the outskirts of Santa Fe. Can they keep their relations cordial enough to ward off hostile natives long enough to obtain the treasure?
First time director David Leeds is surrounded by a wealth of talent, not the least of which is cinematography by Michael Chapman. Even if tense relationship study calls for a methodical pace, under Chapman’s watchful eye, the endless desert lends itself to beautiful tableaus. Against this backdrop, is an acid western that will not be for everyone, but fans of Geoffrey Lewis should seek it out. The late character actor rarely had parts of such substance, taking a clear monster, and adding great depth to the role.
-
Had to be influenced by Monte Hellman's "The Shooting" in both story and style. Walken is good in actually playing the straight man to a much looser and unhinged Goeffrey Lewis.
-
Kino had a sale sometime last year, as they do many times every year, and I bought a dozen or so discs, this among them. I normally have next to no interest in westerns, but this one stars a young Christopher Walken, and purports to be in the vein of Sergio Leone's work.
Shoot the Sun Down is valuable to me mostly for the settings. It features some beautiful scenery from New Mexico and Texas... blinding white sand dunes, rocky hills... making every sight of water like the gold that the characters covet. The personalities are stock, much like the plot, but it is really rather nice to look at. Geoffrey Lewis fills the shoes of the villain quite adeptly; he's fairly scary here.
-
The vultures are circling. Not just the protagonist, but also “SHOOT THE SUN DOWN”. There’s not much to this creaky, workmanlike western with minor offbeat strokes. A British sea captain and his accompanying lady (though there's more to their relationship) are on a quest to find the lost treasure of Montezuma, where along the way to Santa Fe they’re joined by a wandering stranger and a small posse led by a conniving scalphunter.
Watch it for the cast (Christopher Walken, Margot Kidder & Geoffrey Lewis), but even then they don’t look all that interested either. Actually, I would make Lewis the exception. Without his smarmy performance as the scalphunter it would be quite a slog to sit through. With the likes…
-
Nothing really special about this one, it’s just your regular run of the mill western. The more interesting thing I found about this is that the director made this one film and then decided he rather be an artist and became a sculptor, at first when I read this I thought oh boy this movie is probably gonna be bad but it’s not, I’m sure the guy could’ve kept on making films, just crazy how life is huh?
-
Christopher Walken as a complete, mesmerizing anomaly in a confusing, stilted, often times inchohernt western. I genuinely enjoyed it, but basically the movie’s strength is Christopher Walken genuinely turns in a top-notch uncanny performance surrounded by a bit of a boilerplate second wave seventies western. and not your normal Walken uncanny, I mean...he’s on some alien LSD or something in this.
-
An interminably long series of vignettes that don't really go anywhere, explain nothing, and are not particularly interesting.
Unless a young Christopher Walken throwing knives at people appeals to you, you're probably better of skipping it.
-
I'm watching all Christopher Walken's films
Shoot the Sun Down is a little known Western from the back end of the 70s and a first, and only, project for David Leeds. He wears his influences on his sleeve, basing the opening shots on El Topo for example. The film itself is nothing special but he's got Christopher Walken right before the Deer Hunter and Margot Kidder (or possibly her English cousin "MarGOH KiddAAAAH") right before Superman. So they're firing on all cylinders while they're both outdone by a trademark sleazy turn from Geoffrey Harris.
The film meanders quite badly and suffers from one too many scenes where two people sit down to talk without really saying anything. The characters aren't…
-
Someone called this a acid western. It does seem like it was made in 1968. The score is very spaghetti western.
The cinematography is very good. Margot Kidder gets top billing but spends have the time injured. I honestly didn't know what was going on. I found it hard to follow the story. If you want to see Christopher Walken in a western then this is for you. -
A sea captain, a scalphunter, a lady, a conquistador, an Apache, and Christopher Walken walk into a pseudo-spaghetti western hunting for some lost Aztec gold. A great set-up for some fun in the desert, which is slowly squandered over a tedious hour and forty minutes.
-
very well done and stylized western adventure filled with plenty of double crossing and a strong cast
-
Ever wanted to see Christopher Walken as an old west gunslinger who is just as proficient with knives? Well, here's your chance and he's joined by Geoffrey Lewis, Margot Kidder, A Martinez, and Bo Brundin, the "Ow, my eye!" guy from THE HEADLESS EYES. One and done co-writer/producer/director David Leeds has crafted an offbeat western with some interesting ideas and effective sequences. What he didn't provide was a sturdy framework to tie everything together and help what story there is flow properly. It's a little traditional American western and a little spaghetti western, with a dash of EL TOPO. If that interests you, seek this one out but know in advance that it's not the sum of its parts.