Pretty good, but not first rank (spoilers)

Rating: Null/10 (25 September 2004)

Juan (Rod Steiger), a Mexican bandito, shanghais expatriate (and former IRA member) Sean (James Coburn), an explosives expert, into knocking off the Mesa Verde bank. Before he knows it, though, Steiger has gotten himself enmeshed in the Mexican Revolution.
I recently saw the restored version on the big screen, and it's certainly the version to see, as previous American versions had cut this movie all to shreds. I bow to no one in my admiration for Leone, a favorite director of mine who directed my all-time favorite movie, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY, but this, while pretty good, is not first rank.
Part of the problem is that the early broad comedy jars, and jars pretty badly, with the later very somber seriousness. Not only that, the other part of the problem is that the comedy really isn't very funny -- Steiger isn't Wallach, who could make the broad Italian-style clownish humor of Tuco appealing. His Juan does a good crack at it, but it seems really forced to me, like Steiger's heart really wasn't in it.
Things pick up in a big way once we hit Mesa Verde. While not an action-fest, there are several nice set pieces, and Leone does really good work pulling out the tension of the various explosions. (The explosions, particularly the final one, are exquisitely staged.) There are several haunting images in the second half -- soldiers gunning down innocents in trenches, Coburn watching a firing squad in the rain, Steiger ripping off his crucifix after finding his family slaughtered.
The story, once we get past the cornpone, is also pretty good. Leone is pretty obviously anti-war, but the movie steadfastly refuses to take sides in the conflict. Ultimately what matters to Sean and Juan are personal solutions, personal motives. The war simply surrounds them (a theme introduced in GOOD, BAD, AND UGLY.)
Steiger is better playing reluctant hero than comic clown; I think he's basically miscast here (and I like Steiger). Coburn is very good as Sean: he comes from the same laconic line as Blondie in GOOD, but this is a sad, damaged man who's laconic more as a defensive mechanism than anything else.
If you're going to see it, see the restored version.