Adventure , noisy action , humor and tragedy in revolutionary Mexico

Rating: 7/10 (20 December 2006)

This Zapata Western is set in revolutionary Mexico , 1913 . Revolution time with the fall of Madero and ruling General Huertas against guerrillas led by Pancho Villa . It's a story about friendship between an illiterate named Juan (Rod Steiger) and an Irish cynic , a foreigner specialist in dynamite named Sean Malloy (James Coburn) . They team up to steal the bank of Mesa Verde and liberate political inmates . Both of them , are opposite characters , the peasant Steiger is simple-minded , hot-tempered , foul-mouthed , rough , ragged , short stature , while the Irish terrorist and explosives' expert James Coburn is sceptic , mild-mannered , elegant, high stature and he's trying to forget his bitter past . Both actors seem to enjoy immensely themselves . They are two heroes similar to Quijote (Sean Malloy) and Sancho Panza (Juan) . The picture contains action , explosions , train crashing , Leone's trademark humor and lots of fun . There are moments with comedy but also tragedy like is reflected on the shooting execution , massacres and the heroic sacrifice on the railway . It's his more personal film , more politics , more sensible and human touch although also has more flaws than former movies as the ¨trilogy of dollars¨ : ¨For a fistful of dollars¨ , ¨For a fistful of dollars more¨ and ¨The good , the bad and the ugly¨ .
There're some Irish flashbacks filmed in slow-moving , resulting to be a little embarrassing with certain remembrance to ¨Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid¨ though substituting the palling Burt Barachach music for the moody and striking Ennio Morricone score . At the beginning , Leone only wished the film production but the conflicts with the initial director Peter Bognadovich made Leone took the direction after thinking his best friend Tonino Valeri (My name in nobody). Most part scenes that the main actors didn't take part were shot by Giancarlo Santi , Albert Martino and Antonio Margheriti for the special effects . It's filmed in Dino Laurentiis studios and in Spanish locations as Almeria , Railway Station , Guadix : church and cathedral , desert of Tabernas and Sierra Alhamilla where is made the blowing up a bridge in the spectacular scene which the demolition's Irish expert facing off an enemy convoy plenty of soldiers . Besides , there appears usual Leone secondary actors , some almost extras , as Aldo Sambrell , Benito Stefanelli and Conrado San Martin , among others . This tortilla Western is colorfully photographed by Giuseppe Ruzzolini and well directed by the master Sergio Leone .