As a kid I hated westerns. I simply couldn’t stand them. It didn’t matter to me what the movie was about either. If there were cowboys and the setting was the Old West I never even gave it a chance. Except for Young Guns. I always loved Young Guns because it had Emilio and who doesn’t love Emilio?

Now that I’m older and wiser I’ve grown to truly love and appreciate westerns. Particularly that of the spaghetti variety. These days I consume as many of them as possible. I’m happy to have added Navajo Joe to my consumption.

Directed by Django director Sergio Corbucci, Navajo Joe is the story of a Native American simply referred to as Joe (Burt Reynolds) who seeks revenge for the murder of his family. During his attempt at vengeance, Joe manages to become a hero of sorts to a small town. The man Joe is after is a bandit leader named Duncan (Aldo Sambrell). Duncan is a feared man by the town and is planning to rob the town of all their money.

Westerns have to be without a doubt the most violent, coldest and ruthless movie genre there is. The opening of Navajo Joe features a young Native American woman getting some water from a small creek. Duncan approaches her and the woman looks at him and smiles. Then calmly, like its no big deal, Duncan removes his gun from his holster and murders the poor woman. To further prove he’s heartless, Duncan removes his knife and proceeds to scalp the woman. He then holds her bloody scalp up high in the air for all the world to see.

This opening scene pretty much sets the tone for the entire movie. At no point does the violence let up. Navajo Joe is a brutal, brutal film. And every second of it is awesome!

There are a few things you have to wrap your head around to enjoy this movie. Mostly it’s Burt Reynolds playing a Native American with a pretty terrible wig on his head. Reynolds isn’t Navajo but apparently he’s part Cherokee which is close enough I guess. This was one of the first feature film roles for Reynolds, so I suppose then it was easier to pass him off as Native.

Despite this weird look from Reynolds, he’s quite good. The film is a great indication of why he would eventually go onto stardom. Joe is a bit of a reluctant hero, as is the case with the heroes in most westerns. He doesn’t really care to help the town so much as he really just wants revenge on Duncan. At least that’s what Joe wants you to believe. Underneath his cold exterior you can see a bit of compassion from Joe throughout. This isn’t always the easiest thing for an actor to pull up, but Reynolds does a terrific job.

If you haven’t seen Navajo Joe yet, the score will likely still be quite familiar to you. Composed by none other than the master himself, Ennio Morricone. Morricone’s work here is so good that Quentin Tarantino used elements of the score in Kill Bill. I’ve yet to hear a score from Morricone that isn’t wonderful and this is no different. It’s incredible how much amazing music has been produced by one man.

The production of Navajo Joe is actually quite funny. Apparently Reynolds only agreed to do the film because he thought Sergio Leone was directing. Corbucci was apparently enticed to direct because he was under the impression that Marlon Brando was going to star. I’m not sure who is responsible for this misinformation, but Navajo Joe was produced by Dino De Laurentiis so I like to think he is responsible. Reynolds tried to pull out of the movie once he learned Corbucci was directing but was unable to do so. Over the years he has voiced his displeasure with the film multiples times, joking that he got the “wrong Sergio.” While I think the joking of the “wrong Sergio” is kind of amusing, it bums me out that Reynolds dislikes Navajo Joe. Why is it that Ole Burt seems to hate his better movies?

I don’t know that Reynolds caused issues on set, but I can’t imagine he and Corbucci got along splendidly well. This makes his performance all the more impressive. Reynolds could have easily phoned it in given he had no desire to be there. Reynolds played it straight however, and gave a good, sincere performance.

Navajo Joe isn’t perfect. It’s not likely to top anyone’s list of the best spaghetti westerns. It is highly entertaining however, and features a stellar final battle between Joe and Duncan. If you’re in the mood for some Old West violence and want to try something a little different, give Navajo Joe a go.

Navajo Joe is out now on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.