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Post by pimpinainteasy on Dec 12, 2018 5:36:19 GMT
THE PROFESSIONALS (1966) - solid action western. CLAUDIA CARDINALE used as a sex object. the LEE MARVIN-BURT LANCASTER duo is great. im surprised ROBERT RYAN agreed to play second fiddle. it is a really good men on a mission film with some damn good action scenes set to the background of grand rocky vistas. directed by RICHARD BROOKS who made IN COLD BLOOD.
(7/10)
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Post by movielover on Dec 12, 2018 5:38:40 GMT
7/10 for me as well.
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Dec 12, 2018 6:38:19 GMT
THE PROFESSIONALS (1966) - solid action western. CLAUDIA CARDINALE used as a sex object. the LEE MARVIN-BURT LANCASTER duo is great. im surprised ROBERT RYAN agreed to play second fiddle. it is a really good men on a mission film with some damn good action scenes set to the background of grand rocky vistas. directed by RICHARD BROOKS who made IN COLD BLOOD. (7/10) Fricking love it, a default movie when I need reminding how great and fun Westerns can be > 4 soldiers of fortune, one kidnapped wife, one explosive mission.
The Professionals comes out of Columbia Pictures and it is based around the novel "A Mule for the Marquesa" written by Frank O'Rourke. Written and directed by Richard Brooks it stars Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Woody Strode, Jack Palance and Claudia Cardinale. A Panavision and Technicolor presentation it features cinematography by Conrad L. Hall and Maurice Jarre scores the music.
One of the stand out Oaters from the 1960s that is often forgotten in light of what was to come from Sam Peckinpah three years later. Though far more light hearted than "Bloody Sam's Magnum Opus" that was The Wild Bunch, Richard Brook's film has many similarities. Themes of friendship, loyalty, disillusionment and of course the changing of the Old West all get dealt a hand here, with Brooks and his team upping the action stakes in a ball of explosions, gun fights and verbal jousting. Hell! The film is even a touch risqué, with nudity, sex and a wife in distress that is not as saintly as one would expect.
Set in 1917 on the Mexican-Texas border, just after the Mexican revolution, The Professionals' only real problem is the thin story. However, Brooks is not interested in going too deep with his plot, he's more concerned with playing it for thrills and back slapping camaraderie. Which works magnificently due to the impressive cast that has assembled for the movie.
Marvin plays it restrained as Henry 'Rico' Fardan, the weary leader of the group sent into Mexico to "rescue" Claudia Cardinale's (sultry but some fluctuating accent issues) Mrs. Maria Grant from the clutches of Palance's (excellent) Bandido supreme, Jesus Raza. Lancaster is a whirlwind of testosterone as explosives expert Bill Dolworth, while Ryan and Strode are smooth background characters as the conscientious Hans Ehrengard & muscular tracker and bowman, Jake Sharp, respectively. The only complaint about the characters comes with Ralph Bellamy's Joe Grant, the apparently fraught husband who sets the men off on their mission. He's in the beginning and the end of the pic, but it's just not enough screen time to really grasp his make up and thus the character is rendered as underdeveloped.
Hall's photography is exceptional as he shoots on location at Death Valley, Lake Mead and the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. The browns are smooth on the eye and the capturing of the odd rock formations a real treat. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his work, as was Brooks in the Best Direction and Best Screenplay categories. The shoot actually suffered some serious problems such as dust storms and flash floods, thus causing severe delays. But the end result was worth it for the film was a success at the box office. The public promptly lapped it up, yes it's a bit close to the knuckle sometimes, but there's never a dull moment in it. It's basically a ripper of a good time. 8/10 |
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Post by pimpinainteasy on Dec 12, 2018 7:04:38 GMT
yes, JACK PALANCE was really badass.
btw, it looked like BURT LANCASTER did a lot of his own stunts.
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Post by telegonus on Dec 12, 2018 7:44:05 GMT
First rate western all the way, and with a dream cast. No real complaints, though this one hit, and hit fairly big, just as the spaghetti westerns were gearing up, and it's gettin' darn close to the end of the trail for old school oaters, of which The Professionals is a very good example. It's colorful and well paced, not so "electrifying" as others of the same period, going back to Gunfight At The OK Corral and The Big Country, totally different kinds of westerns
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Post by wmcclain on Dec 12, 2018 14:25:45 GMT
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Post by politicidal on Dec 12, 2018 16:50:55 GMT
Always really enjoyed this one. Simply an entertaining western with a lovably sardonic sense of humor.
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Post by taylorfirst1 on Dec 12, 2018 17:59:16 GMT
Great Western, great cast pure entertainment!
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Post by teleadm on Dec 12, 2018 19:16:30 GMT
Enjoyable A-Western with a great cast of actors I like. I hide this in case I might tell too much of the plot outcome: I also liked the twist that the kidnapped isn't that keen on being rescued. |
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on Dec 12, 2018 19:52:46 GMT
I didn't like it. Saw it shortly after Once Upon A Time in the West which didn't help.
It has some similarities to the Big Gundown but the tycoon in the Big Gundown puts up more of a fight at the end. Why did Bellamy have all those armed men if they didn't do anything?
One IMDB review for it is titled "The Mild Bunch."
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Post by The Herald Erjen on Dec 12, 2018 20:09:34 GMT
Very good movie. The last lines spoken between Lee Marvin and Ralph Bellamy were perfect, I thought.
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Dec 13, 2018 0:15:49 GMT
One IMDB review for it is titled "The Mild Bunch." With The Wild Bunch being 3 years later it's an unfair comparison, The Professionals should be viewed as a pre TWB release since Bloody Sam's pic changed the landscape considerably. The Professionals is purposely lighter in tone, which explains why it was so popular at the box office that year - broader appeal. That review just smacks of someone going into The Professionals and expecting a heavy duty Oater and not getting what they expected. Blimey, if I judged all Westerns against TWB I would be left with just that film in my Western collection!
I really think The Big Gundown is a great film, it's to me one of the rare times when a Spag Western actually justifies the praise in Spag fan circles.
If you don't kill me right now, it'll be the last mistake you make.
La resa dei conti (The Big Gundown) is directed by Sergio Sollima and written by Sollima and Sergio Donati. It stars Lee Van Cleef, Tomas Milian, Walter Barnes and Gerard Herter. Music is by Ennio Morricone and cinematography by Carlo Calini.
Superior Spaghetti Western with shades of Zapata for good measure, The Big Gundown finds Van Cleef as bounty hunter - cum - unofficial lawman Jonathan Corbett, whose reputation for bringing in the criminals, dead or alive, has caught the attention of business baron Brockston (Barnes). With an interest in getting into politics, Corbett is sold on Brockston's offer of political help if he will do a job for him. The job is to hunt down a Mexican rogue by the name of Cuchillo (Milian) who is alleged to have raped and murdered a 12 year old girl. Tracking Cuchillo across the land, the Mexican proves to be a slippery customer, and more importantly, Corbett begins to doubt the veracity of the charges against him.
Adios Amigo.
What do you need for a great Italo Western? A leading man with screen presence supreme? Check! Rogue antagonist able to overact opposite the leading man whilst still exuding charm personified? Check! Scorching vistas? Check! A musical score so in tune with the story it's a character all by itself? Check! And violence? Check! Sollima's movie has it all.
Much of the film is about the manhunt and how the two men involved develop a relationship. Cuchillo claims he's being set up and seems to have friends in every town featured in the play. Corbett is a dandy with a gun, but he's not perfect, he can be outsmarted and get caught cold. There's good thought gone into the screenplay in this respect, not putting the anti-hero up as an infallible superman.
Then there's the side-bar narrative strands that show Sollima's political bent, even though this is hardly a heavily politico piece. From class struggles and racism, to asides on the justice system and the fat cats who operate around the system, Sollima does enjoy dangling such carrots. With zippy set pieces fuelled by brooding machismo that is in turn enhanced by the top work from Carlini and Morricone (it's one of Moricone's best scores, real dynamite), this is grade "A" Spaghetti and well worth feasting on. 9/10 |
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Post by petrolino on Dec 14, 2018 14:14:31 GMT
Terrific film.
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🎄😷🎄 on Mar 27, 2019 17:44:48 GMT
I loved this movie, great fun! Marvin and Lancaster are fun to watch together.  |
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