David Warbeck

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Unless he is being discussed elsewhere, I'm surprised that he hasn't got a thread all to himself. He has now.

He first graced my telly screen in The Beyond. He had a cool vibe about him and I always liked the ireverrant way he pushed bullets into the barrel of his gun in the hospital lift. His commentary on the DVD is class.

Particular highlights of his career for me are his appearances in the Gui La Testa and The Last Hunter.

Gui La Testa is of course Duck You Sucker, or more commonly known as A Fistful of Dynamite. If you've seen the remastered uncut version, Warbeck's character is incredibly poignant and important.

He was taken from us far too early.

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

Yeah Warbeck was good,especially in The Beyond and The Last Hunter.
Deserved to have a bigger career than he did.

[mbv]

In the Beyond the way he keeps shooting the zombies everywhere except the head even though he downed a few by shooting them IN THE HEAD drives me mental everytime I watch it!!!

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

Yeah he was a good 'tough guy' character actor.

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I bought the Shameless releases of The Black Cat and Rat Man yesterday, coincedentally. i've got the Redemption version of Black Cat but never seen Rat Man. the tagline is one of the best I have ever seen! "The Critter from the Shitter"

[Wilson Bros]

Nick & I had the pleasure of meeting him back in '94 and he was a lovely man.

He was a marvelous raconteur, who always had an amusing anecdote or a dry quip for every occasion. Though the audio commentary for The Beyond was essentially recorded on his deathbed - his voice was a tell-tale sign that he was very ill - he was sharp and witty to the end.

He was being seriously considered for the part of Bond when Connery bowed out after Diamonds are Forever, but obviously lost out to Roger Moore. They are both of the same ilk, but for us, Mr Warbeck was the better actor of the two.

His performance in The Beyond is fabulous and he really tears up the screen in The Last Hunter, both movies we love to pieces.

Kev W

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Originally Posted by Wilson Bros

He was being seriously considered for the part of Bond when Connery bowed out after Diamonds are Forever, but obviously lost out to Roger Moore. They are both of the same ilk, but for us, Mr Warbeck was the better actor of the two.
[/B]

Damn shame! I would have loved to have seen Warbeck as Bond. I think he would have brought something a little deeper to the role than Moore. Not quite so much as Dalton, Brosnan or Craig but the combined swagger and charm of Lazenby (not as bad a Bond as people make out him to be) and a more believable character.

Some argue that Bond is a two-dimensional character. I argue that the Moore era made it that way.

[Wilson Bros]

Lazenby made a damn good stab at Bond - if he had stayed on in the role, he would have been a VERY good one.

Lazenby and Warbeck were both from Australasia, and Warbeck's accent probably wouldn't have had to have been as heavily modulated as Lazenby, because Warbeck was from New Zealand.

Kev W

[Peter Neal]

Warbeck's appearance is about the only thing which made me watch the late (mess of a) giallo "Fatal Frames" to the end.

He brought a likeable and resourceful presence to his roles.

I'm ashamed to admit that I still haven't watched "Fistful of Dynamite"- despite it sitting on my shelf for the past 5 years...

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Make sure that you've got the reissue of Dynamite Peter (I'm sure you have). Some shops still stock the version before it was restored. I say "Stick it on" Peter. You won't be sorry.