BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Monkeywess This is an astonishing documentary that will wring your heart while it bends your mind

Paynbob It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

TheLittleSongbird Not in any way is this meant to sound biased, because actually there are some truly great spaghetti westerns out there. Companeros may not be one of the absolute best of them, but to me it's among the most fun. It is a little of a slow-starter and a touch episodic at first and it's less than original, but when the rest of the film is so much fun and so well put together they don't seem to matter.Companeros is a brilliantly made film, with gorgeously evocative scenery and costumes and stylish cinematography that give off a dream-like quality and harsh realism. Sergio Corbucci's direction as to be expected is exemplary, it's technically faultless while never getting in the way of the storytelling. Ennio Morricone's music score will not disappoint any fans of his and is one of the film's best assets, it's not quite one of his all-time greats but it's haunting and stirring and the theme song is one of the catchiest theme songs for any film. Like almost all his work, it really gives the film soul. Companeros is smartly scripted filled with subtle witty humour, it has blistering action especially one of the most suspenseful and entertaining shoot-out scenes I've ever seen for a film and the story is exciting, tense and fun-filled with a truly sensational and quite emotional ending.The cast is a talented one and Companeros in no way wastes the actors. Particularly good is Jack Palance, here he has one of his most loathsome characters and Palance's performance is devilishly enjoyable, clearly looking like he was having a ball. While he is a scene-stealer, Franco Nero and Tomas Milian do wonderfully in the lead roles too, in performances filled with charisma and likability, and work like dynamite together in a film where their chemistry ties it together. Overall, a great film and a huge lot of fun to watch. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Woodyanders Suave Swedish arms dealer Yodlaf Peterson (smoothly played with charisma to spare by Franco Nero) and crude bandit El Vasco (a wonderfully scruffy portrayal by Tomas Milian) can't really stand each other, but join forces anyway to nab a kindly professor (the always excellent Fernando Rey) who holds the key to a fortune in gold. Meanwhile, the pair are relentlessly pursued by loopy pot-smoking madman John (Jack Palance in peak wacky villainous form), a total nutter sporting a fake hand and a pet hawk with an old score to settle with Peterson. And, to further complicate matters, there's a revolution on the verge of happening in Mexico.Director Sergio Corbucci relates the immensely entertaining story at a quick pace, maintains an engaging lighthearted tone throughout, makes fine use of the dusty desert locations, and stages the thrilling action with considerable rip-roaring aplomb. The winningly easy'n'breezy chemistry between Nero and Milian keeps the picture humming throughout. The sly script by Corbucci and Massimo De Rita not only provides a wealth of spot-on sidesplitting impudent humor, but also makes valid points about the necessity for violence in a revolution and the dangers of idealism overriding rationality. Moreover, it's acted with zest by a lively cast, with especially spirited contributions from Iris Berben as fiery revolutionary Lola, Jose Bodalo as the treacherous General Mongo, and Karin Schubert as sassy saloon gal Zaira. Ennio Morricone's rousing and flavorful score hits the stirring spot. Alejandro Ulloa's crisp widescreen cinematography gives the picture a handsome shimmering look. A super fun film.

Jessica Carvalho In Mexico, during the revolution,the arms dealer Yodlaf "Swedish" Peterson is going to sell most of his weapons to the corrupt General Mongo. But there is a problem : The money Mongo is going to use to pay Yodlaf is locked in a bank safe almost impossible to break. Since Mongo and his men killed most men of the Village that could know the combination, the only man that is alive that knows the combination to open the safe is professor Santos,prisoner of the Americans in Fort Yuma.Yodlaf agrees to bring Santos to Mongo, but he needs to go with Vasco to this mission, since Mongo suspects of the Swedish.Besides most of the problems Vasco and Yodlaf need to deal with in their way to US, they even need to face Yodlaf's former business partner and now hater, John 'The Wooden Hand' and his Hawk, Marshall.I watched "Vamos a Matar, Compañeros" because of my father's recommendation. I am not a western expert, so I cannot compare it to other movies of this genre, but I can say that this movie is very 'watchable' even for people who are not very familiar with the Spaghetti Western genre. I liked the character of Yodlaf Peterson, mostly because of his courage and his bad-ass -but-polite -gentleman actions. The clothes and the cinematography of this movie are also very good, as well some of the lines. I need to highlight two moments: First, when Yodlaf gives a dollar coin to Vasco, and the Second one when they transform Marshall (the hawk) into a barbecue! Priceless!

chaos-rampant By 1970 the initial gold rush of the spaghetti western was over and directors were seeking new ways to push the genre forward. Trinita opted for a satirical approach while Sabata brought James Bond sensibilities to the classic anti-hero. Others chose to use the Mexican revolution as the backdrop for the escapades of their heroes. That is the case for Sergio Corbucci's Companeros.It is essentially a remake or a reimagining of Corbucci's The Mercenary, using much of the same cast, and swapping Tony Musante as the Mexican revolutionary for the great Thomas Milian. Franco Nero plays once again the European (this time a Swede) and Jack Palance returns to the fold as the ruthless if not semi-insane baddie. All of them hit all the right notes and Nero and Milian's interactions are a joy to behold. The story opens with a duel between the two in a dusty Mexican village and the whole movie is a flashback that leads us to the events at the start of the movie, again as in The Mercenary two years earlier. Nero and Milian are employed by corrupt Mexican General Mongo to travel to the US and free the Mexican professor Xantos that is held captive in Fort Yuma. Xantos is the leader of another small group of student revolutionaries, but General Mongo wants him for more practical reasons. Xantos knows the code to a safe that is impossible to open and with the gold General Mongo hopes to finance the revolution against Porfirio Diaz. Or does he? Each one has his own personal agenda of course. As they make their way back to Mexico, a semi-insane Jack Palance with a wooden hand (do I sense a small Son of Frankenstein tribute here?) and a hawk will hunt them down and the two companeros will slowly begin to take to the more noble attitude of the professor.Here Corbucci goes for a more Leone-esquire approach, leaving the dark and brooding nature of his previous westerns (like Django and The Great Silence) behind. As Leone used to say, this is a "fairytale for grown ups". The story takes us from the Mexican revolution to the Fort Yuma prison to the Rio Grande to a spectacular showdown in the end, with comedic touches, wild shootouts, explosions, a typically great Morricone score and excellent performances and cinematography. This is more of an adventure spaghetti western in the Leone tradition. It's considerably light-hearted but fused with the same political undertones one could find in Sergio Sollima's work and brilliant pacing. Above all, this is A grade entertainment like only the Italians can deliver.Sergio Corbucci is not considered only second to Leone in the spaghetti western realm for no reason. His attention to detail, from the sets, camera angles, props, costumes and cinematography is impeccable and he manages to convey that iconic aspect of the west only the Europeans were able to capture. Don't miss it.