Run, Man, Run (1968)
aka Corri Uomo Corri
Studio: Blue Underground
Theatrical Release: August 29th, 1968
DVD Release: April 27th, 2004
Rating: UnRated
Directed by Sergio Sollima
Review by Craig Sorensen
Tomas Milian is back for more adventures as Cuchillo in Run, Man Run. And while I wouldn’t say this film is as good as The Big Gundown (the character’s first appearance) it’s still a fun, heady mix of slapstick comedy, stark violence and political allegory.
Tomas Milian (of course) plays Cuchillo, a Mexican thief with a natural talent for throwing knives. After spending the night in jail with the revolutionary poet Ramirez (José Torres of Any Gun Can Play) the two soon break out (with a fake knife made out of bread) under the promise that Ramirez will give Cuchillo 100 bucks once they’re safe. Evidently Ramirez knows the location of 3 million dollars worth of gold set aside for the Mexican revolution. Of course, once they’re out Ramirez is killed. Before dying he’s able to tell Cuchillo the location of the gold. Now Cuchillo is on the run with a motley crew of lowlifes and government agents on his tail. Along for the chase is his girlfriend Delores (Chelo Alonso of The Good, The Bad and the Ugly), sheriff turned bounty hunter Cassidy (Donald O’Brian of Doctor Butcher M.D.), a pair of French spies, Riza the bandit leader (Nello Pazzafini of Yor, Hunter from the Future) and a Salvation Army volunteer (Linda Veras of Sexy Gang).
Run, Man, Run is a strange mix of comedy and ham-fisted political commentary. The film doesn’t seem to hold governments, organized religion or even revolutionaries in very high regard. The governments either subjugate the people (the Mexican government) or dabble in subterfuge (French spies) within the political system to achieve their goals. Organized religion (The Salvation Army) is made up of bossy hypocrites who will drop their morals at the first whiff of money. And the revolutionaries are all too petrified with fear to act on any of their intentions. All of this sounds very heavy handed but, like the best of director Sergio Sollima’s work (The aforementioned The Big Gundown and Revolver), it’s wrapped up in a nice genre package that helps the medicine go down. Run, Man, Run is a film that can be enjoyed on multiple levels. If you want to look for all the political commentary, it’s there. If you just want to see a western where lots of people get shot or stabbed, well then you probably won’t be disappointed either.
Blue Underground’s DVD presentation is, as always, fantastic. The print used here is in very good shape. You get the film in it’s original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and the disc is anamorphic. This is probably as good as the film is going to look on DVD (hint). You get two choices, English or Italian dubs, both in mono. In this case I’d say that the English dub sounds the better of the two. The Italian track sounds a little muffled. You also get English subtitles for the Italian track. You also get an alternate Italian title sequence and the original theatrical trailer. Also included is a short featurette, Run, Man, Run: 35 Years Running, comprised of interviews with the director and Tomas Milian. By far the best and most substantial extra here is a vintage ‘60s documentary called Westerns Italian Style. It’s made up of lots of behind the scenes footage of not only Run, Man, Run but the fantastic The Great Silence, One Dollar Too Many (Starring John Saxon) and a bit from Once Upon A Time in the West. You also get interviews with Enzo Castellari, Sergio Corbucci, Sergio Sollima and various actors including Chuck Conners. Really it’s worth picking the disc up for this feature alone.
Studio: Blue Underground
Theatrical Release: August 29th, 1968
DVD Release: April 27th, 2004
Rating: UnRated
Directed by Sergio Sollima
Review by Craig Sorensen
Tomas Milian is back for more adventures as Cuchillo in Run, Man Run. And while I wouldn’t say this film is as good as The Big Gundown (the character’s first appearance) it’s still a fun, heady mix of slapstick comedy, stark violence and political allegory.
Tomas Milian (of course) plays Cuchillo, a Mexican thief with a natural talent for throwing knives. After spending the night in jail with the revolutionary poet Ramirez (José Torres of Any Gun Can Play) the two soon break out (with a fake knife made out of bread) under the promise that Ramirez will give Cuchillo 100 bucks once they’re safe. Evidently Ramirez knows the location of 3 million dollars worth of gold set aside for the Mexican revolution. Of course, once they’re out Ramirez is killed. Before dying he’s able to tell Cuchillo the location of the gold. Now Cuchillo is on the run with a motley crew of lowlifes and government agents on his tail. Along for the chase is his girlfriend Delores (Chelo Alonso of The Good, The Bad and the Ugly), sheriff turned bounty hunter Cassidy (Donald O’Brian of Doctor Butcher M.D.), a pair of French spies, Riza the bandit leader (Nello Pazzafini of Yor, Hunter from the Future) and a Salvation Army volunteer (Linda Veras of Sexy Gang).
Run, Man, Run is a strange mix of comedy and ham-fisted political commentary. The film doesn’t seem to hold governments, organized religion or even revolutionaries in very high regard. The governments either subjugate the people (the Mexican government) or dabble in subterfuge (French spies) within the political system to achieve their goals. Organized religion (The Salvation Army) is made up of bossy hypocrites who will drop their morals at the first whiff of money. And the revolutionaries are all too petrified with fear to act on any of their intentions. All of this sounds very heavy handed but, like the best of director Sergio Sollima’s work (The aforementioned The Big Gundown and Revolver), it’s wrapped up in a nice genre package that helps the medicine go down. Run, Man, Run is a film that can be enjoyed on multiple levels. If you want to look for all the political commentary, it’s there. If you just want to see a western where lots of people get shot or stabbed, well then you probably won’t be disappointed either.
Blue Underground’s DVD presentation is, as always, fantastic. The print used here is in very good shape. You get the film in it’s original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and the disc is anamorphic. This is probably as good as the film is going to look on DVD (hint). You get two choices, English or Italian dubs, both in mono. In this case I’d say that the English dub sounds the better of the two. The Italian track sounds a little muffled. You also get English subtitles for the Italian track. You also get an alternate Italian title sequence and the original theatrical trailer. Also included is a short featurette, Run, Man, Run: 35 Years Running, comprised of interviews with the director and Tomas Milian. By far the best and most substantial extra here is a vintage ‘60s documentary called Westerns Italian Style. It’s made up of lots of behind the scenes footage of not only Run, Man, Run but the fantastic The Great Silence, One Dollar Too Many (Starring John Saxon) and a bit from Once Upon A Time in the West. You also get interviews with Enzo Castellari, Sergio Corbucci, Sergio Sollima and various actors including Chuck Conners. Really it’s worth picking the disc up for this feature alone.
[Rating: 4]
Post a Comment