You get two revolutions for the price of one.

Rating: 8/10 (9 November 2016)

My first spaghetti western is a classic, one that seems long by looking at the running time, but grabs you immediately and does not let go. A Mexican bandit hooks up with an Irish revolutionary and gets more than he bargained for as he ends up becoming a hero to his own people reluctantly, not even wanting to be. At first glance, Rod Steiger seems an odd choice to play the Mexican, but he is not only convincing, but extremely funny and likable even playing a rather disreputable character. Teamed with James Coburn, he's fiery, while Coburn is passionate but subtle as the Irish revolutionary who shows him more than a thing or two about carrying a fistful of dynamite.
The film starts off with Steiger as a passenger in the carriage heading over the Mexican wilderness, and the sudden arrival of Steiger's familia, presented in a way that is fast, furious and funny! Yes, it's violent and cruel, ending up with surviving naked men and one scantily clothed woman heading back in the wilderness with the open wagon suddenly tossing them over, a symbolism of the ghastly poor getting it over on the cruel and idle rich. But then along comes Coburn as a man on his own mission, telling Steiger and the gang, "Duck, you sucker", blowing things up in the cleverest of ways.
If other spaghetti westerns are as entertaining as this, I'm about to go on a spree, especially those directed by Sergio Leone. I'm glad that Clint Eastwood is not in this one, having pretty much been a part of the beginning of the genre, but not right for any of the roles here. Steiger and Coburn are as different as can be, but they play off of each other nicely. This is an exciting adventure and buddy film that brings two culturally different men together to share common ideals that may seem foreign to the common man not into fighting a revolution, but remaining potent and stirring nearly 50 years later.