Compañeros (1970)
aka Vamos a Matar, Compañeros
Studio: Blue Underground
Theatrical Release: December 18th, 1970
DVD Release: July 24th, 2007
Rating: UnRated
Directed by Sergio Corbucci
Review by Craig Sorensen
Three heavy hitters of the Spaghetti Western genre combine forces for the fun Compañeros. Full of ridiculous twists and characters, political commentary and brutal violence, Compañeros brings together everything that I enjoy about the genre in a great package. The cast here does help a lot as well. Not only do you get the first pairing of two of the genre’s biggest stars in Franco Nero and Tomas Milian, you also get the great Fernando Rey and the scene stealing Jack Palance playing what has now become my favorite western villain ever.
It is a time of unrest in Mexico. Various revolutionary groups are fighting against the corrupt government and General Diaz. Tomas Milian (Don’t Torture a Duckling) plays El Vasco, who in a fit of blind rage kills Diaz with his own sword and creates a void which is immediately filled by the bandit General Mongo. Shortly thereafter, Yodlaf Peterson, known as ‘The Swede’ (Franco Nero of The Visitor) shows up with a train car full of explosives and weapons looking to make a deal with Mongo. While there they discover a large safe. It seems that the only person who has the combination is revolutionary leader Professor Xantos (Fernando Rey of The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie) who is being held prisoner in Texas. So the Swede and Vasco team up to break him out of prison and transport him back over the border. While on the way they run into bounty hunter John (Jack Palance of Alone in the Dark) and his band of mercenaries who have been hired to kill Xantos by wealthy American oil tycoons. It all sounds much more complicated than it plays out so don’t worry.
Like a lot of westerns coming out of Italy during this time, Compañeros is a complicated mix of absurdist humor and stark violence. A lot of the time this mix doesn’t really gel. Here though it works. This probably has to do with the all star cast and director. Nero and Milian were both rightfully stars of the genre on their own and together they have the charisma to pull off some of the films zanier moments (Milian literally slips on a banana peel at one point). And they seem to have a rapport that works well with their characters. Fernando Rey almost seems typecast as the Professor but he’s so good in the role that I can’t really complain. The standout though is Jack Palance. He really goes all out crazy here. So to begin with, he’s speaking in a weird Irish accent and always wears a cape. He also carries with him a falcon named Marsha which he uses to ferret out his foes. Jack also sports a prosthetic hand which he lost in an earlier altercation with Nero’s Swede character. And to top it all off, he’s constantly smoking joints. Part of his payment to kill Xantos is a leather pouch full of pot. If that isn’t the most crazy, over the top villain in a spaghetti western please let me know in the comments because I’ve never seen anything better. I was enjoying the film a lot before his character showed up but that just pushed Compañeros into my all time favorite westerns, along with another Corbucci favorite, Il Grande Silenzio. I think I’ve gone on record for my love of Sergio Corbucci’s films before and here he certainly doesn’t disappoint here.
I believe that Blue Underground’s DVD of Compañeros is a direct port of the old Anchor Bay release. If you have that version you can probably skip this I suppose. If you don’t then what the fuck are you waiting for? The film is presented in it’s original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and is anamorphic. Colors look very good. Flesh tones look natural and reds like Mongo’s garish jacket and all the spilled blood pop off the screen. There’s very little damage at all, except for one long vertical scratch near the middle of the film. It’s not too distracting though and the film is in very good shape otherwise. You also get two audio options, Italian or English dubs, both in mono. They both sound fine. One thing to consider though, this is an uncut print so some portions of the film only have the Italian soundtrack (they were never dubbed into English). It’s not as jarring as it sounds if you prefer the English dub but you might be better off just sticking to the Italian version. Extras include a short featurette “In the Company of Compañeros” made up of interviews with Nero, Milian and composer Ennio Morricone (wish there was more with him honestly). You also get the original theatrical trailer and talent bios.
Studio: Blue Underground
Theatrical Release: December 18th, 1970
DVD Release: July 24th, 2007
Rating: UnRated
Directed by Sergio Corbucci
Review by Craig Sorensen
Three heavy hitters of the Spaghetti Western genre combine forces for the fun Compañeros. Full of ridiculous twists and characters, political commentary and brutal violence, Compañeros brings together everything that I enjoy about the genre in a great package. The cast here does help a lot as well. Not only do you get the first pairing of two of the genre’s biggest stars in Franco Nero and Tomas Milian, you also get the great Fernando Rey and the scene stealing Jack Palance playing what has now become my favorite western villain ever.
It is a time of unrest in Mexico. Various revolutionary groups are fighting against the corrupt government and General Diaz. Tomas Milian (Don’t Torture a Duckling) plays El Vasco, who in a fit of blind rage kills Diaz with his own sword and creates a void which is immediately filled by the bandit General Mongo. Shortly thereafter, Yodlaf Peterson, known as ‘The Swede’ (Franco Nero of The Visitor) shows up with a train car full of explosives and weapons looking to make a deal with Mongo. While there they discover a large safe. It seems that the only person who has the combination is revolutionary leader Professor Xantos (Fernando Rey of The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie) who is being held prisoner in Texas. So the Swede and Vasco team up to break him out of prison and transport him back over the border. While on the way they run into bounty hunter John (Jack Palance of Alone in the Dark) and his band of mercenaries who have been hired to kill Xantos by wealthy American oil tycoons. It all sounds much more complicated than it plays out so don’t worry.
Like a lot of westerns coming out of Italy during this time, Compañeros is a complicated mix of absurdist humor and stark violence. A lot of the time this mix doesn’t really gel. Here though it works. This probably has to do with the all star cast and director. Nero and Milian were both rightfully stars of the genre on their own and together they have the charisma to pull off some of the films zanier moments (Milian literally slips on a banana peel at one point). And they seem to have a rapport that works well with their characters. Fernando Rey almost seems typecast as the Professor but he’s so good in the role that I can’t really complain. The standout though is Jack Palance. He really goes all out crazy here. So to begin with, he’s speaking in a weird Irish accent and always wears a cape. He also carries with him a falcon named Marsha which he uses to ferret out his foes. Jack also sports a prosthetic hand which he lost in an earlier altercation with Nero’s Swede character. And to top it all off, he’s constantly smoking joints. Part of his payment to kill Xantos is a leather pouch full of pot. If that isn’t the most crazy, over the top villain in a spaghetti western please let me know in the comments because I’ve never seen anything better. I was enjoying the film a lot before his character showed up but that just pushed Compañeros into my all time favorite westerns, along with another Corbucci favorite, Il Grande Silenzio. I think I’ve gone on record for my love of Sergio Corbucci’s films before and here he certainly doesn’t disappoint here.
I believe that Blue Underground’s DVD of Compañeros is a direct port of the old Anchor Bay release. If you have that version you can probably skip this I suppose. If you don’t then what the fuck are you waiting for? The film is presented in it’s original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and is anamorphic. Colors look very good. Flesh tones look natural and reds like Mongo’s garish jacket and all the spilled blood pop off the screen. There’s very little damage at all, except for one long vertical scratch near the middle of the film. It’s not too distracting though and the film is in very good shape otherwise. You also get two audio options, Italian or English dubs, both in mono. They both sound fine. One thing to consider though, this is an uncut print so some portions of the film only have the Italian soundtrack (they were never dubbed into English). It’s not as jarring as it sounds if you prefer the English dub but you might be better off just sticking to the Italian version. Extras include a short featurette “In the Company of Compañeros” made up of interviews with Nero, Milian and composer Ennio Morricone (wish there was more with him honestly). You also get the original theatrical trailer and talent bios.
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