Reviews & Ratings for
Companeros More at IMDbPro »Vamos a matar, compañeros (original title)

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COMPANEROS (Sergio Corbucci, 1970) **1/2, 24 August 2006

Author: MARIO GAUCI (marrod@melita.com) from Naxxar, Malta

I had been disappointed by this tongue-in-cheek Spaghetti Western and a second look has only re-inforced that opinion! By this time, the genre was well on its way out and had started to lampoon itself; as such, it's enjoyable if needlessly inflated and given that it's also one of the most political examples of the genre, the two styles don't sit very well together!

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...

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