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A star-studded cult classic Western movie is on TV tonight

Published 16:53 26 Jun 2025 BST

Updated 19:39 27 Jun 2025 BST

Stephen Porzio
A star-studded cult classic Western movie is on TV tonight

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The Western film has four massive stars and was made by the director of the James Bond entries Dr. No, From Russia with Love and Thunderball.

Our TV movie pick for tonight (Thursday, 26 June) is Red Sun, the 1971 cult classic spaghetti Western with an all-star cast.

Set in the 1870s in the Old West, the film revolves around two bandits: Link (Charles Bronson, The Dirty Dozen) and Gauche (Alain Delon, Le Samouraï). The pair rob a train which is transporting a Japanese delegation holding a special ceremonial sword for the US President.

Amidst the heist, however, Gauche double-crosses Link and leaves him for dead. Nursed back to health, Link is then ordered by the Japanese to team up with Kuroda (Toshirô Mifune, Seven Samurai), one of their guards.

Kuroda has a week to recover the sword or face death.

"Hoping to find out from Gauche where the gang buried their spoils before Kuroda can kill him, Link tries to escape from the samurai," the plot synopsis adds.

Billed as the first 'East meets West' Western, Red Sun was directed by Terence Young (who helmed three of the Sean Connery-led Bond films) and co-stars Ursula Andress (Dr. No) as Gauche's girlfriend.

And thanks to the movie's unique mix of gunslingers and samurai and its cast full of legendary actors, the Western has become an object of fascination in film circles.

Indeed, company StudioCanal recently re-released Red Sun on DVD and Blu-ray under its 'Cult Classics' banner.

Red Sun is airing on TV tonight on the channel Legend at 10.55pm. The movie is also streaming on Prime Video and Plex.

Here are the other movies airing on TV tonight:

The Green Mile - Film4 - 9pm

Tom Hanks stars in this supernatural drama epic based on a Stephen King story.

Happy Gilmore - Comedy Central - 9pm

Adam Sandler’s classic sports comedy which is getting a Netflix sequel on 25 July.

Posse - Legend - 9pm

Another '70s Western, this time directed by and starring Kirk Douglas (Spartacus).

Non-Stop - RTÉ2 - 9.30pm

An air marshal with a dark past (Liam Neeson) must root out a killer on board a flight in this fun if preposterous thriller.

Jaws - ITV4 - 9.50pm

"You're gonna need a bigger boat!"

Persuasion - BBC Four - 10.20pm

The 1995 version of the Jane Austen romance novel starring Amanda Root and Ciarán Hinds.

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