Vamos a matar, compañeros

Plot synopsis:
During the Mexican Revolution, a peasant named El Vasco (Milian) starts a revolt in his town by killing the army colonel in charge. Rebel leader and self-appointed General Mongo (Bódalo) soon arrives on the scene and hires El Vasco to his revolutionary gang. However, Mongo is more interested in gaining fortune for himself than for his country. Yodlaf Peterson (Nero), a Swedish mercenary arrives in Mexico to sell guns to General Mongo. The safe containing the money is locked and only Professor Xantos (Rey) knows the combination. Xantos is the leader of a student counter-revolution that opposes violence, and is held in a prison by the United States army, after he tried to find funding from the US and did not agree to give the monopoly of his country's entire oil wealth in return.
El Vasco dislikes the suit-wearing Peterson and calls him a "penguin", but at the suggestion of General Mongo, the two reluctantly join forces and set out to capture Xantos. Their task is made harder by the American army and a wooden-armed American named John (Palance), who wants to exact revenge on Peterson, his former business partner. Peterson had left John to die after he was crucified, and his pet hawk had to peck his right hand off to save him. In order to maximize their personal gain and to support Xantos' rebel fighters, El Vasco and Peterson have to doublecross Mongo. They receive help from Lola (Berben), the leader of Xantos' rebel group, who El Vasco falls for, and her group of young revolutionaries.

Tags: western, violence, sadist, flashback

Review:
This Western-Comedy film was directed by Sergio Corbucci, the number #2 Italian director of all time for Spaghetti Westerns, after of course Sergio Leone, for the entire Spaghetti Western genre, which is saying a lot because there were hundreds of films in that genre alone!
The all star cast in the film are Jack Palance, Franco Nero and Thomas Milian.
It's a true masterpiece and arguably Corbucci's finest.Sergio Leone will always be the name everyone associates with spaghetti westerns but Sergio Corbucci's contribution to the genre deserves great recognition.
People usually always mention Django and The Great Silence when talking about Corbucci's westerns but Companeros is perhaps his best work.
Like most Corbucci westerns there is a political undertone to the film and the plot revolves around the Mexican revolution (similar to A Professional Gun which Corbucci directed 2 years earlier).
Che Guevara look-a-like Thomas Milian is superb as the comical revolutionary Vasco and Corbucci regular Franco Nero is excellent as his ultra-cool Swedish mercenary partner.
Spaghetti heavyweights Franco Nero and Tomas Milian join forces in fantastic Mexican revolution escapade.
With a dream cast of Franco Nero (as Swedish mercenary Yod Peterson aka "penguin") and Tomas Milian (Mexican rebel Vasco), a soundtrack by Ennio Morricone and Sergio Corbucci at the Directors helm, this film was always likely to deliver.
As the adventure really heats up, they're paths will soon cross with the American army, General Mongo, Xantos' followers and, of course, John and Marsha.The first third of the film is perhaps a little slow and episodic, but does successfully reveal the characters of Peterson and Vasco to the viewer (with fantastic character play by Nero and Milian respectively).
Quite possibly one of the greatest villains of all the Spaghetti Westerns I have seen.Music is provided by Morricone, and as always the score is a perfect accompaniment to the action - both memorable and rousing.
In times of revolution in Mexico, the ignorant Vasco (Tomas Milian) is promoted by the corrupt General Mongo (Francisco Bódalo) to lead his men in the invasion to San Bernardino.
The twosome is chased by the followers of Xantos led by the beautiful Lola (Iris Berben) that want to convince the duo to join the revolution; and by the mercenary John (Jack Palance) that lost one of his hands in a betrayal of Yolaf to save his life and uses his smart hawk Marsha to get Xantos to deal with Mongo."Vamos a Matar, Compañeros" is a funny spaghetti-western of Sergio Corbutti that has a story very similar to Sergio Leone's "Duck, You Sucker" of 1971 and plays with "Blood for a Silver Dollar".
Franco Nero, Tomas Milian and Jack Palance are hilarious, and I laughed a lot with the scene when Marsha becomes a toasted barbecue.
Starred by the best actors that a movie of this genre may have: Franco Nero, Tomas Milian, Jack Palance, Fernando Rey. Music by the master Morricone, one of his best compositions.
Weapons dealer Peterson (Franco Nero) directs to do a sale to Guerilla commanded by general Mongo (Jose Bodalo), but the money is locked in a bank safe, and the combination is only known by commie Professor Xantos (Fernando Rey), a prisoner of the Americans in Fort Yuma , beyond Rio Grande.
However a former business partner of Petersen named John (Jack Palance ), a slant-eyed mercenary with an artificial hand and a hawk pet has other ambitious plans.It's an exciting western with breathtaking showdown between the protagonists Nero and Milian and the enemies Palance and Bodalo.
This film belongs to the numerous group that are set during the Mexican revolution, called ¨Zapata Western¨ , like are the Italians: ¨ Duck you sucker, The mercenary ,Tetepa, What am I doing in middle of the revolution¨ and the Americans : ¨The wild bunch and The professionals¨.
A whimsically breezy surface makes way for a bang-up, ball-breaking and noisy spaghetti western by the talented Sergio Corbucci (the man also behind "The Great Silence" and "The Mercenary").
It's gusty political sub-text (on the treatment of the poor and use of violence to get your point across) can get a bit wishy-washy and preachy, however it definitely makes up for it in other areas like the chewy script with its constant wit and surprises.Over-the-top entertainment equals a totally baroque and enjoyable Corbucci spaghetti western..
A Spaghetti Western set in the Mexican Revolution about a foreign mercenary played by Franco Nero who makes an uneasy alliance with a Mexican bandito who unwittingly becomes a revolutionary while simultaneously falling in love with a freedom-fighter chick who is really hot, all while being tracked by an eccentric villain played by Jack Palance...directed by Sergio Corbucci, with a score by Ennio Morricone and a few machine gun massacres and at least one scene where someone is buried up to his neck while horses are about to trample on his head.
That is the case for Sergio Corbucci's Companeros.It is essentially a remake or a reimagining of Corbucci's The Mercenary, using much of the same cast, and swapping Tony Musante as the Mexican revolutionary for the great Thomas Milian.
As they make their way back to Mexico, a semi-insane Jack Palance with a wooden hand (do I sense a small Son of Frankenstein tribute here?) and a hawk will hunt them down and the two companeros will slowly begin to take to the more noble attitude of the professor.Here Corbucci goes for a more Leone-esquire approach, leaving the dark and brooding nature of his previous westerns (like Django and The Great Silence) behind.
The story takes us from the Mexican revolution to the Fort Yuma prison to the Rio Grande to a spectacular showdown in the end, with comedic touches, wild shootouts, explosions, a typically great Morricone score and excellent performances and cinematography.
Above all, this is A grade entertainment like only the Italians can deliver.Sergio Corbucci is not considered only second to Leone in the spaghetti western realm for no reason.
The Swede (Franco Nero) agrees to sell guns to guerrilla general Gen. Mongo but first they have to break into a safe in order for him to get paid and only the professor (Fernando Rey) knows the combination.
It turns out the professor is being held by the Americans in Texas and the Swede and El Vasco (Tomas Milian), Mongo's right hand man, has to accompany him north to free him.
The psychotic John like to smoke a lot of dope and has a pet falcon named Marsha (?) who lands on John's prosthetic hand after every scouting mission.This is one of Corbucci's better westerns in spite of the ridiculous political overtones he gives it.
There's also a fairly interesting 15 minute interview with Franco Nero, Tomas Milian and Ennio Morricone where they recount their experiences while they were involved in this film.
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.
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.
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.
Companeros is smartly scripted filled with subtle witty humour, it has blistering action especially one of the most suspenseful and entertaining shoot-out scenes I've ever seen for a film and the story is exciting, tense and fun-filled with a truly sensational and quite emotional ending.The cast is a talented one and Companeros in no way wastes the actors.
While he is a scene-stealer, Franco Nero and Tomas Milian do wonderfully in the lead roles too, in performances filled with charisma and likability, and work like dynamite together in a film where their chemistry ties it together.
Franco Nero exudes his trademark cool in the role of Swedish arms dealer Yodlaf Peterson, who comes to Mexico during the time of the Mexican revolution.
He butts heads with volatile revolutionary El Vasco (Tomas Milian), while arranging a deal with El Vascos' boss General Mongo (Jose Bodalo) to travel to Texas to abduct Mongos' nemesis, the peace-minded political leader Professor Xantos (Fernando Rey).
Xantos, a marijuana-smoking maniacal gunslinger named John (Jack Palance) relentlessly tracks them down."Companeros" is a beautifully shot widescreen Spaghetti Western done by Sergio Corbucci, who did very fine work in this genre and deserves to be just as well known as the other Sergio.
Teaming with Nero again after the classic "Django" and the 1968 film "The Mercenary" ("Companeros" is said to be a companion piece to the latter film), Corbucci tells an intelligent, politically loaded, and compelling tale of men who start questioning their own methodologies and learn what is really important to them.
The antagonistic relationship between Yodlaf and El Vasco generates some good laughs and makes for fine screen entertainment.Nero and Milian do have very nice chemistry; the latter gives a truly excellent performance.
COMPANEROS (4 outta 5 stars) Terrific spaghetti western/buddy movie co-starring Franco Nero and Tomas Milian at their best!
"Vamos A Matar, Compañeros" is another terrific and indescribably entertaining Spaghetti-western from the talented hands and brains of Sergio Corbucci ("Django", "The Great Silence").
This film amazingly pairs two of the coolest and most brilliant contemporary Italian acting icons in the genre (Franco Nero & Tomas Milian); it has the catchiest Ennio Morricone score imaginable, a sublime albeit unobtrusive "Viva the Revolution" atmosphere, delightfully insane villains and a pleasing amount of exhilarating & violent shootouts.
OK, if you don't like spaghetti/schnitzel westerns, but if one has ever even mildly entertained you then you'll love this.Great acting, wonderful casting, incredible humor- and the best part is that it isn't trying to be funny, it just can't help it!
I have been thinking since watching films like "One Man's Hero" that 1910 along the Texas-Mexico border is the best time and place for the genre and this one really proves the rule.More gritty than "Fistful of Dollars", better cast than "Once Upon a Time in the West" and it leaves you feeling better than "Shane".
A Swedish arms dealer and a Mexican peon team up to rescue the intellectual leader of the Revolutionary cause, while taking part in numerous misadventures along the way."Compañeros" is one of Sergio Corbucci's best-known westerns, as well as one of the best-known spaghetti westerns altogether.
The film has been compared to "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", as it intertwines the paths of several characters in the middle of a conflict, but takes place during the Mexican Revolution instead of the American Civil War.As well as being a solid spaghetti western, this also happens to be a good showcase for Jack Palance.
Italian actor Franco Nero gained some new fame recently thanks to the release of Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained", based on Sergio Corbucci's 1966 spaghetti western starring Nero as a gunfighter.
Corbucci's "Vamos a matar, compañeros" (simply called "Companeros" in English) casts Nero as a Swedish mercenary who comes to revolutionary Mexico to sell guns to a general, only then finds himself having to rescue a professor, with peasant El Vasco (Tomás Milián) accompanying him.
Companeros is one of the most popular Spaghetti Westerns, directed by Sergio Corbucci who was responsible for popular genre movies like Django, The Mercenary and The Great Silence.
The starring roles belong to Italian actor Franco Nero of Django and The Day of the Owl fame and Cuban American actor Tomas Milian who appeared in The Ugly Ones and The Big Gundown.
The film is often compared to Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly as both movies focus on two lonesome outlaws who are trying to make money in the middle of a conflict.
Sergio Leone's film takes place during the American Civil War while Companeros is a so-called Zapata Western which takes places during the Mexican Revolution.
While Sergio Leone's film features distinguishable cinematography, a memorable soundtrack and multiple tense build-ups, Sergio Corbucci's movie focuses less on cinematography, features a very good but not excellent score by Ennio Morricone and has a more fluid pace instead of multiple climaxes.On the positive side, Companeros convinces with charismatic characters in form of a chaotic rebel leader played by Tomas Milian who teams up with a womanizing tongue-in-cheek Swedish arms dealer portrayed by Franco Nero.
The conclusion feels somewhat random and one would have liked to witness a final showdown.In the end, fans of Spaghetti Westerns like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly should definitely give this film a try.
Effective picaresque Western with Franco Nero, Tomas Milian and Jack Palance.
RELEASED IN 1970 and directed by Sergio Corbucci, "Companeros" chronicles events during the Mexican Revolution in the 1910s when a Swedish arms supplier (Franco Nero) and a Mexican radical (Tomas Milian) agree to an uneasy alliance in order to rescue the highbrow leader of the counter-revolution, Prof.
As such, "Companeros" is similar to "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" with Nero basically in the Eastwood role, Milian in the Wallach part and Palance in the Van Cleef role (generally speaking).
Here Yodlaf Peterson (Nero) and Vasco (Milian) are the two picaros with Palance as the wooden-handed foil.While you can't beat Morricone's iconic score to "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," I actually prefer this Western because it has better characters, a better story, WOMEN and superior mindfood.
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.
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.
There is even a pot smoking Jack Palance character doing a pretty good imitation of the crazed "Indio" from "For a Few Dollars More" The only originality is Ennio Morricone's choral score, which will stay with you long after this very average "spaghetti western" is long forgotten.
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....
Maybe I haven't seen enough non-Leone Spaghetti Westerns, but I sure as hell am gonna have to start now, beginning with as much of this Corbucci guy's stuff as I can get my hands on.
It starred Franco Nero and one of the baddies was played by Jack Palance.
It's in line with Corbucci's prediliction for downbeat endings that this good man should come to his end, although Peterson's sudden galvanisation into radicalism at the close of the film removes from it the pessimism which distinguished The Big Silence.There are good things to Companeros of course: the opening sequence in particular - the first half of the framing device (apparently, and unaccountably, missing from the shorter American version), as Lola runs towards the inevitable face-off between Peterson and Vasco; the sly quote' from Corbucci's own Django as Vasco drags a coffin towards Peterson in the graveyard; some of the sly verbal jokes; the crisp cinematography which makes excellent use of the  widescreen framing, or Morricone's splendid score, both manic and celebratory (ideal for the revolutionary context), and so on.
and always assisted by the great Bruno Nicolai, an accomplished composer in his own right.Franco Nero is wonderful, as always, as The Swede, Jack Palance is charisma-plus as John, Tomas Milian is rough-edged and likable despite his total lack of morals as El Vasco.
Franco Nero & Tomas Milian team up to rescue pacifist revolutionary Fernando Rey from US custody and run afoul of crazed Jack Palance as well as loony general José Bódalo.
Franco Nero and Tomas Milian make for a delightful team in this hugely enjoyable tongue-in-cheek Western.
Suave Swedish arms dealer Yodlaf Peterson (smoothly played with charisma to spare by Franco Nero) and crude bandit El Vasco (a wonderfully scruffy portrayal by Tomas Milian) can't really stand each other, but join forces anyway to nab a kindly professor (the always excellent Fernando Rey) who holds the key to a fortune in gold.