That was an excellent one.

Load of rubbish!!

Am I Missing Something?

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

Does every reviewer notice Burt's shiny new teeth ? They do seem to be part of the plot, which is otherwise in need of some cleaning up. Not that this matters, because the action is fairly entertaining anyway, in a shallow kind of way. Not too long. Amusing incidents. Lots of wild shooting, and inventive direction. Interesting pyramidal Mexican scenery. The main female lead is not great, however, and there is not enough of young Buchinsky, although he does play his harmonica. I thought the ending was definitely original, and a surprise, as Burt suddenly seems to turn against the type he's been playing. Perhaps it's because Gary had saved his life, and I guess he owed him. Perhaps his gun was just empty. Why did he replace it in its holster ? I couldn't figure it out. Had he aimed to miss ? What was Gary thinking when he chucked Burt's gun ?

In a time when Westerns were dominated by John Wayne and his moralistic, conservative and boring characters, the Western genre was rarely not boring. I always thought it was thanks to the Italian ('Spaghetti') Westerns that this all changed, but it actually began earlier.'Vera Cruz' is a rare non-moralistic American western; instead of the goody two-shoes Wayne rip-offs, it is filled with morally ambiguous characters. Ben Trane (Gary Cooper), a former Confederate soldier, and Joe Erin (Burt Lancaster), an outlaw, are just two of many who go to Mexico to fight in their revolution; but rather than helping the rebels free their country, they strike a deal with Emperor Maximilian to escort a countess all the way to Vera Cruz. That is what made the Italian Westerns so good. The characters are fighting not for an idealistic protection of 'freedom' or whatever John Wayne would have used to justify it, but for pure gold and money. They fight for themselves, and themselves ONLY, no matter if their side is 'right' or 'wrong'. They are not above double-crossing others, even their 'friends', to help themselves.And believe me, there is a lot of double-crossing going around here.The casting is very good; Lancaster tends to be irritating with the way he keeps smiling and showing his teeth all the time, but acts well and Cooper is terrific as always. The supporting cast, with includes a equally terrific Cesar Romero and the then-unknowns Charles Bronson and Ernest Borgnine, is very good. The actors all actually look their part, another characteristic Italian westerns got from here.Unlike them, though, 'Vera Cruz' is not slow. It does not take its time to bask in the excellent scenery (which is as good as those of some Sergio Leone's films, for example), and moves toward the action every time its possible. For its time, it's surprisingly violent and realistically so; again, not like Wayne's westerns.An excellent western that influenced the Italian ones from the decade after, 'Vera Cruz' is exactly what American westerns should have been. It still needed a bit more polishing, something Sergio Leone and his contemporaries did masterfully, but it is still one of the best westerns I've ever seen.

"Apache" director Robert Aldrich's "Vera Cruz" is interesting not only as an incomparable example of a western—one that Sergio Leone claims inspired him—but also for the headaches that it created for both Mexican officials as well as Hollywood filmmakers who went south of the border searching for atmospheric locations. Unlike previous westerns, Aldrich and co-scenarists Roland Kibbee and James Webb, working from a Borden Chase story, made one of the earliest soldier-of-fortune oaters with heroes who display proficiency with firearms of any kind and can hit well-nigh impossible targets. Interestingly, Gary Cooper plays the sainted good guy hero, while leering Burt Lancaster portrays the lusty anti-hero. These two drifters form an uneasy alliance against both the Mexicans and the French. Unfortunately, the depiction of Mexicans was so racist that Hispanic audiences rioted in the theaters. Reportedly, some spectators tore their chairs out of the floor and hurled him contemptuously at the screen. Mexican officials changed their way of dealing with American filmmakers after the "Vera Cruz." A censor was assigned to films thereafter and they sought to stress the innate dignity and superiority of Mexicans over everybody else. "Vera Cruz" opens with the following written prologue: "As the American Civil War ended, another war was just beginning. The Mexican people were struggling to rid themselves of their foreign emperor—Maximilian. Into this fight rode a handful of Americans—ex-soldiers, adventurers, criminals—all bent on gain. They drifted South in small groups. And some came alone." Former Confederate colonel Ben Trane (Gary Cooper of "High Noon") enters Mexico, but his horse goes lame. He reins up at a cantina and admires two horses. The owner of one of the horses, Joe Erin (Burt Lancaster of "Brute Force"), walks outside about the time that Ben is appraising the horses. Joe sells him the other horse for $100 in gold. No sooner have they hit the trail than a column of mounted Austrian lancers pursues them. Ben displays his incomparable marksmanship at full gallop and shoots the gun out of a soldier's fist. Ben doesn't understand all this hostility until Joe informs him that the soldiers are chasing them because Ben is riding the commander's horse. The lancers dismount and fire a volley at Ben. He plunges his horse before the bullets strike him. Erroneously, Joe believes Ben is kaput and loots his horse. When Ben tries to loot the old colonel, the wily Southerner surprises him with a six-gun in the stomach. Ben appropriates Joe's horse and leaves him afoot. Not long afterward, they encounter each other again in the same Mexican town, and Joe convinces Ben to join them to fight in the revolution. Ben explains, "I lost everything but my shirt in the civil war." Together, they ride with Joe's men to a rendezvous with the Emperor Maximillian's envoy, Marquis Henri de Labordere (Caesar Romero of "The Cisco Kid and the Lady"), and everybody gets a surprise when a revolutionary Juarista general, Ramirez (Morris Ankrum of "The Saracen Blade), arrives to make his own offer. Ramirez orders his soldiers to show themselves, and the walls surrounding the area where Ben, Joe, and the others are bristle with armed Mexican natives. This showdown scene is a lot like the finale in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." Joe exploits the moment when Ben spots a group of children. Ben suggests they get the children to safety, and Joe orders Donnegan (Ernst Borgnine of "The Dirty Dozen") and Pittsburgh (Charles Bronson of "The Magnificent Seven") to get the kids into the church. Joe uses the welfare of the children to compel Ramirez and his army to withdraw. Labordere tells Ben and Joe they can ride with them to Mexico City to discuss terms with the Emperor.In Mexico City, Ben and Joe show off their skills with both rifles and six-gun. The imperialist Emperor Maximillian (George Macready of "Coroner Creek) and Labordere enlist them to act as an escort for Countess Marie Duvarre (Denise Darcel of "Tarzan and the Slave Girl") for her trip to Vera Cruz. Maximillian and Labordere have no intention of paying them. During the journey on the first day, Ben and Joe both notice the deep wheel ruts that the carriage hauling the countess makes at a river crossing. Later, after they have put up for the evening, Ben and Joe discover a concealed compartment in the floor of the coach that yields a small fortune in gold. "Each of one of those six boxes contains a half-million dollars in gold," Countess Duvarre informs them after she finds them in the stable with the wagon. She explains that the gold will be used to hire mercenaries. It is important to notice that the anti-heroic Lancaster hero has changed out of his black shirt into a white shirt when they embark on escort duty. Symbolically, this means that Joe is showing a little goodness. Later, when he betrays Ben, and they shoot it out with predictable results, Joe is dressed in solid black from head to toe. Anyway, the three of them plot to steal the gold and share it. Meanwhile, the Juaristas are shadowing their every move. Eventually, a pretty Juarista, Nina (Sara Montiel of "Run of the Arrow"), makes friends with Ben. Ben decides that he must switch sides and convinces Joe to make the change.Lancaster's own company, Hecht-Lancaster Productions, produced "Vera Cruz" on a $1.7 million budget. Despite uniformly negative reviews, "Vera Cruz" coined more than $11 million worldwide. The amorality of the characters, especially Lancaster's lascivious villain, along with the surfeit of violence, makes this abrasive western a prototype for Spaghetti westerns. It is amazing that some of the violence survived the Production Code Administration censors, particularly when Joe kills a helpless lancer with his own lance. Cooper and a charismatic Lancaster make a strong pair of heroes who cannot trust each other. Aldrich directed flawlessly, and this lively 94-minute, Technicolor western never wastes a second.

"As the American Civil War ended, another war was just beginning. The Mexican people were struggling to rid themselves of their foreign Emperor--Maximilian. Into this fight rode a handful of Americans--ex soldiers, adventurers, criminals--all bent on gain. They drifted South in small groups-- AND SOME CAME ALONE" Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster head the cast as two polar opposite American adventurers who get involved with Maximilian's royal house and Juarez's revolutionaries in 1860s Mexico. Cooper plays Benjamin Trane, basically a good man, tho one tainted by much cynicism, and Lancaster plays Joe Erin, gunman and an untrustworthy crook. Vera Cruz was the first release in SuperScope (beautifully shot by Ernest Laszlo on location in Mexico) and with director Robert Aldrich at the helm, the film brilliantly captures the violence and danger that was brought about during Mexico's revolutionary period. Adapted by Roland Kibbee and James R. Webb from a Borden Chase story, Vera Cruz very much feels like (is) a precursor to Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch and Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns of the 60s. With its blend of comedy and outright action, the film is essentially a buddy buddy Western with a cynical amoral kicker. It's a blend that may not be to everyone's tastes, but with Lancaster (grinning for all he is worth) and Cooper (laconic supreme) in the leads the film rises above its oddity status. The professionalism on show, both from the obvious big stature of its stars and Aldrich's astute choreography of the action sequences, ensures this is a polished piece. There's much machismo of course, one only has to see that Charles Bronson, Ernest Borgnine and Jack Elam are in the support gallery of thugs to know this fact, but it should be noted that the picture is interested in showing a fair reflection of the Mexican conflict. The Mexican government of the time were outraged at the film, but on reflection now it's evident the film doesn't take sides. That to my mind has to be applauded. Some problems exist, notably some of the dialogue is a touch too corn based now. While as the main female character, Denise Darcel is out of her depth. One could think that she is maybe swamped by all the testosterone around her, but when you notice that Sara Montiel is coping fine in a secondary role, it shows Darcel to be limited. Vera Cruz held its own on release, neither busting the box office nor sinking without a trace. It would take over ten years before the true value of the film would start to be noticed. With that, it now shows to be very influential within the genre. Explosive, important and darn good fun, that's a mixture you just can't ignore. 8/10