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Information

A.k.a.
El Topo
Year
1970
Runtime
125 min.
Director
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Genre
Western
Rating *
7.5
Votes *
12,445
Checks
5,134
Favs
520
Dislikes
102
Favs/checks
10.1% (1:10)
Favs/dislikes
5:1
* View IMDb information

Top comments

  1. dombrewer's avatar

    dombrewer

    This is very possibly one of the oddest films I've ever seen, and I'm pleased I caught it on the big screen among a crowd of similarly minded cinema goers; intrigued, amused, appalled and baffled in equal measure.

    This Mexican "acid" Western was a massive underground hit and was a favourite of John Lennon who brought it to greater attention in America, and ended up influencing later surrealists like David Lynch. If you like your Westerns peppered with large doses of Christ allegory, copious blood, physical deformity, massacres, clowning, midget sex, transvestitism, self-immolation, homosexuality, castration, Russian roulette, randy old women, suicide and lesbianism this is definitely the film for you. Apart from all that, which is all entertaining enough, I found the constant graphic images of animal death quite repulsive - horses and donkeys lie around disembowelled, owls and goats are crucified, piles of rabbits twitching and dying, crows blown to pieces - which definitely affected my overall feelings about the film, but it's a unique, insane vision, part crass 70s exploitation, part religious investigation, part Spaghetti Western (or perhaps Burrito Western?), part blackest comedy. This was my first experience of Jodorowsky, but it certainly won't be my last.
    10 years 10 months ago
  2. dhan_bo's avatar

    dhan_bo

    The first half looks like an action game: find the gang, defend the monks from Evil Colonel, defeat 4 gunmasters. The second one is like online strategy - earn money and dig the mine. Plus the sauce of satire and religion symbolism.

    Definitely worth watching.
    9 years 5 months ago
  3. Paulorsadv's avatar

    Paulorsadv

    This movie is torture. 8 years 3 months ago
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In 8 official lists

  1. This movie ranks #7 in 366 Weird Movies
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    366 Weird Movies

    7
  2. This movie ranks #24 in Badmovies.org's Best B-Movies
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    Badmovies.org's Best B-M…

    24
  3. This movie ranks #87 in iCheckMovies's 1970s Top 100
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    iCheckMovies's 1970s Top…

    87
  4. This movie ranks #98 in BFI's 100 Cult Films
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    BFI's 100 Cult Films

    98
  5. This movie ranks #247 in TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest Films: 1001-2500
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    TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest F…

    247
  6. This movie ranks #312 in Roger Ebert's Great Movies
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    Roger Ebert's Great Movi…

    312
  7. This movie ranks #501 in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
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    1001 Movies You Must See…

    501
  8. This movie ranks #916 in The Guardian's 1000 Films to See Before You Die
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    The Guardian's 1000 Film…

    916
View all lists this movie is in