source: Joshua

Joshua

The worst cinematography I've ever seen! Bad acting from every single character other than Fred Williams. Bad script! Bad ending! I mean just bad all around. Wow I'm shocked. I hope this movie cost $20 to make because that's all it looks like it took.

I agreed completely with Robiep's review. I too saw it/ own it on DVD. I got it in a 20-movie "Mean Guns" westerns 5-DVD set. It was a sight-unseen purchase which has turned out to be a VERY good purchase. A lot of rare "gems" were in this movie set. And Joshua I felt is Definitely a excellent Fred Williamson film & western! Fred Williamson is an amazing actor & writer. Many have said that "Joshua" is not an "original" plot or idea. While that may be true, (Some of the scenes we have seen in many a western) I felt they were handled from every original angles. ***SPOILER ALLERT*** The "rattlesnake" scene is hilarious!!

Wow, what a great film, I can't believe how some of the reviewers did not enjoy this movie!!!! Sure some of the acting wasn't that great. The music really set the tone on Williamson's character. He was quiet, calculative and ominous. He wasn't riding to play no games, nor have much conversation - he was riding to avenge his mothers death and the music and lack of dialogue from him showed that. Some people are just to critical on films like this. This movie was not made to win no Oscars or any other awards. It was made to entertain, and in my opinion it really did do just that for me. For those whom tend to be to critical I say - LIGHTEN UP!!! Just stop looking for things to complain about with a movie like this and just enjoy it. Great film.

The previous poster commented that this movie was not available in Widescreen. There's at least 2 ways to get this in Widescreen. I've got one on the 'Quality' label - it's a 2 movie set on one disc. The other movie is some William Shatner film. I was pretty shocked to see it in widescreen considering the package was only $5.00. The 2nd way is on the 'Legends of the West' 8 Movie Collection. I'm pretty sure that's widescreen as well. Slow movie that drags on. The theme song repeats all the way throughout the movie. Don't remember if there was more than one actual song played throughout it's entirety. This movie is really only for Blaxploitation/Fred Williamson completests.

We've seen the vengeance-chase thing, the silent hero thing so many times and, with "Joshua" it's a case of here we go again, this time with lesser results. Fred Williamson acquited himself well, but the rest of the cast could have used some bad guy acting lessons. The music could have used less excess. At one point it sounded like somebody was just learning to play "Chopsticks." Also unnecessary was the 'bosom' scene. We all knew she had one. Jeez! I must say they were more 'bazoom' than your everyday bosom. The fight scene was quite something with sound effects unlike any ever heard before. It was weird. When they bonked each other it sounded like a symphony ocrchestra bass drum. By the way, every now and then it looked like they came close to connecting. The scenery was excellent, the horses were pretty. "Joshua" did well when he fought the battle of Jericho. This Joshua had more of a struggle, minus God in his corner.

Joshua (Fred Williamson) tracks the band of cutthroats who shot down his defenseless mother (not a good thing to do to a strong black man) through the desert and into an implicitly racist town where things really heat up. Great location photography makes this low-budget blaxploitation/western look better than it's dollar figure would suggest. This is a minimalist viewing experience where the story (like a silent picture) is told primarily in pictures with most of the sparse dialog inconsequential, which I think explains the mixed reviews. Personally, I thought it was an okay movie but I'd wish that the filmmakers would have beefed up the script with more dramatics and emotions, playing up the racism in the town and forcing Williamson to fight to extract the despicable villains. Also, It would have been nice to see a recognizable character actor (Aldo Ray or Cameron Mitchell anyone? Slim Pickens maybe?) as the heavy. The repetitive score was a minus.

This really isn't as bad as the other review makes it sound. It does have a simple plot, and actually moves along fairly quick. Not much time is spend on any sort of character development, but we've all seen these types of characters in every other western anyhow. It's true that there is not a lot of dialog from Fred Williamson, but his character (Joshua) is a lone cowboy sneaking along quietly through the desert. What would he say? And to who? The film has a real nice gritty Italian look to it and its starkness works fairly well with the story. It's not going to be the greatest movie you've ever seen but it's interesting enough to watch once. I saw this on DVD which was made for a letter boxed version. They didn't shrink the image or pan and scan etc. So sometimes the picture is cut off a little. It was slightly annoying to watch.

Joshua starring Fred Williamson in the title role tells the story of a returning black civil war veteran who finds his mother murdered and some other woman abducted by this gang of some really loathsome cretins. Of course Williamson's duty is clear. The film was shot in the sacred John Ford country of Monument Valley, Arizona which as a tourist spot boasts of its fame as a location for some of the best westerns ever done. This however was not one of them. The story of Patty Hearst was fresh in people's minds and the woman abducted decides she likes it with the gang. Let's say she becomes less and less inhibited in her sexual relations with the gang and she's more like an outlaw groupie by the time the film ends. Unless you're a fan of Fred Williamson, pass this one by.