one of the best sadists in film history
Hollywood goes overboard on sadists. And the 70s totally destroyed Westerns, as we all know, but more than that, it destroyed films for a while. Each producer had to come up with a more outlandish Sadist. We literally had a succession of films which were totally "My Sadist can outSadist your Sadist." And that trend was not only annoying, not only patheitcally one dimensional, not only the ultimate in cliches, but also completely void of being fun for the viewer,
But here we have the Sadist as depicted in the earlier, more realistic stages. Taylor's character was sadistic, but also need human companionship and acceptance. He had issues, but he wanted to be a part of a society. He wanted others to lookup to him.
We also get the most realistic characters across the board. Did you notice this is one of the very select few action Westerns of violence in which the hero doesn't actually kill another person. What happens is ultra realistic, and mostly because of great writing..
Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time
that's not funny!