Duel at Diablo, a 1966 Western starring James Garner and Sidney Poitier, is now streaming on Prime Video — and Quentin Tarantino has already weighed in. Not with praise. In the novelisation of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, his character Rick Dalton dismisses the film as a ‘pretty mediocre movie’ despite its pedigree. The remark isn’t just casual. It’s one of the few times Tarantino has publicly critiqued a Western from that era, even as he’s built a career around them. His affection for Sergio Leone and Corbucci is well-documented, but this one? He didn’t like it. The film, directed by Ralph Nelson, was released the same year as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Tarantino’s all-time favourite. Which adds an extra layer of irony. It’s not just about taste. The film’s themes of race relations, graphic violence, and its deliberate borrowing of spaghetti Western aesthetics were rare in American cinema of the time. That mix might have influenced Tarantino’s own work, especially Django Unchained, where racial tension and stylised brutality are central. Yet he still calls it mediocre. The New York Times called it ‘raw and ugly’ upon release. The New York Daily News described it as a ‘better than the average disaster’. Reviews back then were mixed, and they haven’t warmed up since. Now, decades later, it’s getting a second chance, not because it’s been rediscovered, but because it’s been added to Prime Video’s library. The film’s narrative weaves together stories of revenge and forbidden love, with two stars whose careers would go on to define mid-century American cinema. But the moment it’s available to stream, the conversation shifts: not whether it’s good, but whether Tarantino’s verdict holds weight. Fans can now judge for themselves. And yes, the poster is still dramatic. Dust flying, guns drawn, two men standing at the edge of a desert showdown. One man’s forgotten Western is another’s cult curiosity. The question isn’t whether it’s great. It’s whether anyone will actually watch it.