KnotMissPriceless
Why so much hype?
Cleveronix
A different way of telling a story
Maidexpl
Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast
Kailansorac
Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.
ma-cortes
This is a Zapata western set early XX century on the overlong Mexican civil when happened the confrontation executed by Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata against Porfirio Diaz , and , later on , against Carránza and Obregón . A misfit group formed by a bandit priest (Robert Mitchum) , an IRA Irish young man (Ken Hutchinson) and a gunrunner (Victor Buono) , all of them are hired by a Mexican colonel (John Colicos) to kill De la Plata (Frank Langella) , a Mexican tyrant .The picture displays lots of action , battles , tongue-in-cheek , shootouts and a little bit of violence like the brutal killing a little boy . The casting is frankly well , Robert Mitchum (¨Night of the hunter¨ , ¨5 card stud¨ , ¨Bandido¨) is excellent in his usual facade of indifference and lazily acting as a greedy priest and wielding a Thomson machine-gun . Mitchum chewing up scenery in this peculiar role . The newcomer Ken Hutchinson provides added depth as an Irish terrorist with a bitter past ; however , this one being his most important role , as he went back England and only acting in TV movies . Frank Langella (¨Drácula¨) plays an elegant psycho killer who bears a deep hatred to Catholic Church . The famed secondary Victor Buono (¨What ever happened to Baby Jane¨ , ¨Hush , hush..sweet Charlotte¨) plays convincingly an avaricious gunrunner . Enjoyable performance by Rita Hayworth in his last completed film (her previous movies during her downfall were the Italian ones : ¨The bastards¨ and ¨The rover¨) , despite Alzheimer disease . In fact , she had difficulty remembering her lines and the crew believed it was because of alcohol abuse , but only later did they realize they were seeing the early stages of her Alzheimer's condition . Besides , there appears habitual secondaries who usually work in American productions shot in Mexico , such as : Gregory Sierra , Enrique Lucero and Chano Urueta . The motion picture was rightly directed by Ralph Nelson who made other good Westerns as ¨Soldier Blue¨ and ¨Duel at Diablo¨ . This offbeat Western will appeal to Robert Mitchum fans.
Bob-45
Ralph Nelson proved himself to be a great director shooting some really great productions in black and white ("Requiem for a Heavyweight, Lilies of the Field) but his color efforts are clumsy and "TV movie-like" ("Duel at Diablo," "Embryo" and this, "The Wrath of God." Nelson captures not of the epic sweep and poignance available in this material. One could only dream of what director Sergio Leone might have accomplished, even given the awkwardly structured, exposition-laden storyline. Fortunately, Nelson had a wonderful cast (Mitchum, Buono, Hayworth and, most notably, Ken Hutchinson and John Colicos) with which to work. Only Frank Langella seems to indulge in overacting, and he arrives more than 45 minutes after the beginning of the film (my "45 minute" rule: if a two hour movie is still introducing major characters after 45 minutes, the movie is usually a dog. Fortunately, Nelson handles the humor better than the drama and there is an abundance of it, albeit irreverent.The theme of "The Wrath of God" is "redemption through sacrifice." Mitchum did this better in "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison". Sam Peckinpah did it better with "The Wild Bunch". Richard Brooks did it better with "The Professionals". Heck, even Anthony Quin did it better in "Guns for San Sebastian," the movie this one most nearly resembles thematically. Still, there is much to enjoy in "The Wrath of God" to dismiss it entirely, even with the flat, disappointing ending. I give "The Wrath of God" a "5".
som1950
To some extent Ralph Nelson's "The Wrath of God" spoofs westerns, but like Nelson's "Lilies of the Field," under the comedy is, I think, a deeply felt belief in divine grace. Both movies focus on unlikely human materials having a vocation they fail to recognize and consciously resist. Herein, Robert Mitchum plays a con man masquerading as a priest and a Catholic martyr in the tradition of Thomas à Becket or Thomas More mistaken by many as a hedonist.In her last screen performance Rita Hayworth has preternaturally red hair (fire-engine red, not a color of any natural human hair), few lines, and is required to look devout (which she manages to do). As her flamboyantly traumatized and traumatizing son, Frank Langella gets to chew up the scenery, which he does with great relish (before "Dracula," after his memorable film debut in "Diary of a Mad Housewife" and Mel Brooks's adaptation of "The Twelve Chairs"). Ken Hutchinson does fine as the token normal guy who is embroiled in others' plots, including the romantic subplot that involves him with a mute Indian maiden (Paula Pritchett). In a Sidney Greenstreet-kind of role as a corpulent and corrupt gun-runner Victor Buono is suitably droll. Still, it is Mitchum's movie, and he is as compelling when he takes his priestly role seriously as when he plays the usual disengaged but competent existentialist who expects nothin' from nobody. <bt><br> A motley gang of foreign mercenaries getting involved in the confusions of the long-running Mexican revolution and taking a side against their financial interest recurred in a number of late-1960s and early-70s movies, including "The Wild Bunch", "The Professionals", and "A Fistful of Dynamite." The latter two use considerable humor within the genre of expatriates taking sides (which in Mexican settings of different eras includes "Vera Cruz", "Old Gringo", and "Bring Me the Head, of Alfredo García").
tpottera
Not everyone agrees that this a parody. I have read that the film turned out confusing because of problems on the set. Including, Rita Hayworth's Alzheimer's and an actor who had a part for the first six weeks of filming. He was severly injured and couldn't complete his part properly. Therefore the confusion. Everyone wanted to just forget the whole thing but they released it anyway. All wasn't lost however, I personally found it very unique and intriguing. And as a Mitchum fan a rare, wonderful find on the classic movie channel.