"Old Shatterhand" is a collaboration between four European countries and a German-language film from 1964, so this one is already over 50 years old. It is the third installment of the Karl May Winnetou series and among the most famous films from the series. The title here implies that Old Shatterhand, played by Lex Barker, is the star of this film, but this is not really true. The result is just that Winnetou has less screen-time, which means Pierre Brice is not featured prominently really in here, even if he has more scenes than in latter films. This could be fine as Brice is not the most talented actor under the sun, but sadly the story is so mediocre and forgettable that it's just never an interesting, let alone compelling watch. At over two hours, this is possibly the longest film from the Karl May franchise and this turns into a major problem as the movie drags a lot on many occasions and at some point it just felt as if it would never end. If you know these films a bit, then you will know that the visual side (costumes, sets, cinematography) is always worth seeing, but also that the plot and story are hardly realistic or well thought-through. The character elaboration could have been so much better. There are a handful actors in here like Battaglia and Wolter and others who appears in a whole lot of these Karl May films, but these are also not good enough or don't have enough to work with in order to really elevate the material here. If this is what was considered a quality film over 50 years ago, then I can only say it has not aged well at all and I am glad we have better films in terms of quality and quantity these days. A disappointing watch and worth seeing only for the most die-hard Indian western film fans. I do not recommend it. Thumbs down.
Review of Old Shatterhand
