The Mercenary (1968)


I'm a big fan of those spaghetti westerns that were shot in Spain and Italy in the late 1960's.  The Mercenary is one of those films that is pretty fun to watch.  Franco Nero stars as Sergei ‘The Polish’ Kowalski  who gets involved in the Mexican revolution.  The film is written and directed by Sergio Corbucci who gave us films such as Django (1966) , Companeros (1970), and The Great Silence (1968) . 

The movie is one big flash back as our Franco Nero's character explains to us how he and his revolutionary friend meet played by Tony Musante.  Musante gives a hilarious performance in the film, and he and Franco make an interesting pair.    Sergio Corbucci
does a good job keeping the audience entertained.  It is not one of Corbucci's best films, but he has fun here, and the film shows it.    Eduardo Fajardo and the ever nasty Jack Palance play the two villains in the piece, and Palance seems to have a ball doing so. 

For a spaghetti western the film shows restraint on the violence.  Corbucci deliberately averts the camera from the horror and by doing so he heightens the violence in an impersonal and more chilling fashion.

Finally, it is impossible to discuss the merits of this film without mentioning the outstanding musical score delivered by Ennio Morricone.  Everyone know his music from "the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly", but Morricone does here an excellent job in marrying both the image and sound together.  

The Mercenary is a film that is fun and well produced.  It stands the test of time, and should be enjoyed by many who see it.

It's currently on Xfinity, and is listed in the free movie section.

Comments

Neil Sarver said…
I liked this one, too.

My only issue, such as it was one, was how much of a parallel to Corbucci's later Compañeros, which I love a lot. It did lead me to wonder how I would feel if I hadn't seen Compañeros first, but it's such a favorite of mine that I can't imagine I wouldn't always prefer it.

It is great fun, though!
9/27/2012 3:36 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009)

Image
When one has children, and they're home on winter break one needs to do something that the kids like to do. One solution was to take them to the movies. For entertainment for children this movie hits all the right buttons. For me it was a bit more slapstick then I cared for, but the kids loved it. The plot is lame, and the story is weak, but that's not the point in this movie. It's all about the site gags, and the funny situations our three main characters get into. Even I at times enjoyed the movie. Especially when I heard my two boys laugh at the antics on the screen. If you have little ones you can't miss with this. I even heard the wife laugh a couple of times at some jokes, so it does appeal to a wide variety of people. Even I wasn't immune to the sophomore jokes ad antics. It's fun for the family, and the kids will like it too. So I won't go into detail about the movie because there isn't much to say about the film. It's meant to be a distrac
Read more

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011)

Image
I know, I know.  Long time, but I'm back and the first movie I review is a kids film.  Having children of my own they have grown up with Alvin, Theodore and Simon, so when this film hit the theaters you know I had to go. This is the third.  Yes the third film in the series of the chipmunk movies.  Each one is cute and interesting, but they are defiantly geared to the children.  In this film Dave and the boys along with the chipettes go on cruise.   Yes you remember them from the second movie don't you?  Anyhow the chipmunks get shipwrecked on an island after disobeying Dave ( Jason Lee ).  Dave and Uncle Ian ( David Cross ) also get shipwrecked on an island, and need to find the chipmunks.  That is of course if this is the same island as where the chipmunks are, and if you're thinking it isn't then I have a bridge to sell to you in Brooklyn. The movie is a bit of slapstick, and moral lesson for the kids.  Sure we laugh when the chipmunks cause havoc on the cruis
Read more

Megan (2022)

Image
The film Megan is a sci-fi/horror film with a lot of dark humor, which makes the movie so interesting to watch.  I had to say this was not on my radar to see.  I thought maybe one day on cable or streaming, but my youngest wanted to see it and so I was game.  I'm glad I did see this and I was pleasantly surprised how good it was.  I should also say seeing this at he movies was a treat.  The direction, the cinematography, and the whole feel of the film gave me an appreciation of this film that I would not have gotten otherwise. To label this a horror film would be a mistake.  It has horror elements in it but it's science fiction more than anything else with a dash of horror.  I do like that the film takes the old Frankenstein myth and updates it to the digital era.  I think because of this the film is a better for it.  The graphic violence is played off screen which works.  If you're a gore hound you will be disappointed, but it does not subtract from the film plot.  In fact
Read more