Instant Favorite.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

In 1968, Sergio Carbucci directed "The Mercenary" (also called "A Hired Gun"). It starred Franco Nero and one of the baddies was played by Jack Palance. And, the story was about an amoral European who comes to Mexico during the civil war to make his fortune--regardless of who he helps. Now, Carbucci does something radically different! Instead, it stars Franco Nero as an amoral European trying to sell arms to folks during the Mexican civil war--and one of the baddies trying to stop him is, gasp, Jack Palance!! Huh?! In other words, Crabucci pretty much made the same film all over again--with a few minor cast changes (such as Tomas Milian cast instead of Tony Musante) and the addition of the Professor character (Fernando Rey). And, like the other film, the plot has a bit of comedy, there's TONS of killing and the film has a decidedly populist bent. Because the film is essentially a re-tread and the music is a bit too repetitive and annoying, I really can't recommend this film unless you are such a huge fan of Italian westerns that you must catch 'em all (sort of like Pokemon, huh?). As for me, I wish I hadn't bothered. I probably should have just watched "The Mercenary" twice...as it was a bit better and more original.

Sergio Corbucci's Vamos a Matar, Compañeros is a Spaghetti Western about a Swedish weapons dealer and a shady mercenary who must smuggle an idealistic professor into Mexico in the midst of a revolution. The movie tries for the epic status of Sergio Leone's The Good, The Bad and The Ugly but falls short by a mile. Where Leone managed to create a poignant, albeit hyper-stylized image of the Old West, Corbucci comes close only in style and fails everywhere else.Compañeros has some of the makings of a classic: a promising (though unoriginal) premise, a fantastic bad guy played by Jack Palance, a stunning supporting actress, and an excellent score by Enio Morricone. The scenery and costume design are also outstanding. But the story is underdeveloped, disjointed and at times ridiculous. Too many flaws get in the way of what could have been a great movie: the overdone moments of unfunny comic relief, the uninspired performances, and the confused political message make for an ultimately superficial caricature of the epic Western.Given its potential, it's a shame that this movie turned out how it did. There's a reason this movie was forgotten, while Leone's films are still talked about.

Django writer-director Sergio Corbucci returns with this off the wall violent and quirky comedic R-rated Western that revives an all star eccentric cast of Franco Nero, Tomas Milian, Jack Palance and Fernando Rey in a typically political spaghetti gun-fest. Ennio Morricone's score is on a whole other level as usual, and is too epic to be confined to this tale of mere mortal drunken bandidos and a cracker ass gringo. A melodramatic italo-story of political and personal loyalties during the Mexican revolution, counterbalanced with the comedic "odd ball" pairing of Yodlaf Peterson (Nero), a cool and clam Swedish arms dealer, and the emotional and impetuous El Vasco (Milian), a wild Mexican revolutionary. Long story short, the two need to go on a journey to find the only man who who knows how to open an impenetrable safe full of gold back down in Mexico, the Prof. Xantos (Rey); but it's not a pleasure tour, as he is being held captive in an American garrison, and all the while the two are being hunted by a 'marijuana-crazed' Jack Palance. The movie is full of ridiculously fun machine gun fights and and a large dose of good humored violence, and each characters personality is so exaggerated there is a clashing of egos in almost every scene in the film which makes for a memorable two hours. Recommended for anybody else like me who lives for these types of free-spirited dual- crossed-bandoleers stories where the fate of the sun drenched universe is decided by those with the biggest sombrero and tequila induced machismo. viva la muerte, pinche...

I had been disappointed by this tongue-in-cheek Spaghetti Western and a second look has only re-inforced that opinion! By this time, the genre was well on its way out and had started to lampoon itself; as such, it's enjoyable if needlessly inflated and given that it's also one of the most political examples of the genre, the two styles don't sit very well together! Besides, the three stars seem to be attempting to outdo each other with their hammy portrayals: Franco Nero is even further away here from the stoic gunslinger of DJANGO (1966) than he was in A PROFESSIONAL GUN (1968), of which film COMPANEROS is a semi-remake!; it was interesting to watch the evolution of Tomas Milian's acting style through the course of five Spaghetti Westerns I watched this past week, but his performance here is certainly the least convincing (even if his foul-mouthed peasant/revolutionary is still a pleasant characterization); however, it's Jack Palance (in a relatively brief role) who steals the show with his dope-smoking and revenge-seeking mercenary, fitted with a wooden hand and having as his constant companion a hawk (which meets with a sticky end at the hands of our antagonistic heroes!).The cast also features Fernando Rey as an old peace-loving Professor and a prospective political candidate, with a group of naïve students (led by the lovely Iris Berben) as followers; Eduardo Fajardo appears briefly at the beginning as a ruthless Colonel dispatched by Milian, turning the latter from an unassuming shoe-shine boy to a lieutenant of the bandit horde led by 'General' Mongo (Jose' Bodalo); and Karin Schubert as a lisping and bespectacled madam who helps Nero and Milian liberate Rey from the Army fort where he's being kept prisoner. The action set-pieces deliver the goods and, as ever, Ennio Morricone's rousing score is tops; it's only that the film pales in comparison to Corbucci's earlier work and, as I said, the stars are merely content to send-up their respective image...