In times of revolution in Mexico, the ignorant Vasco is promoted by the corrupt General Mongo to lead his men in the invasion to San Bernardino. Meanwhile the arms trader Yolaf "Swedish" Peterson arrives in the village to deal with Mongo; however the money to buy the weapons is locked in a bank safe. The only man that knows the combination to open the safe that was not murdered by Mongo's men is the pacifist Professor Xantos that is prisoner in Fort Yuma in the United States. Swedish offers to release Xantos but the suspicious Mongo asks Vasco to go with Yolaf. The twosome is chased by the followers of Xantos led by the beautiful Lola that want to convince the duo to join the revolution; and by the mercenary John 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. 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. 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. Meanwhile, the pair are relentlessly pursued by loopy pot-smoking madman John (Jack Palance in peak wacky villainous form), a total nutter sporting a fake hand and a pet hawk with an old score to settle with Peterson. And, to further complicate matters, there's a revolution on the verge of happening in Mexico.<br/><br/>Director Sergio Corbucci relates the immensely entertaining story at a quick pace, maintains an engaging lighthearted tone throughout, makes fine use of the dusty desert locations, and stages the thrilling action with considerable rip-roaring aplomb. The winningly easy'n'breezy chemistry between Nero and Milian keeps the picture humming throughout. The sly script by Corbucci and Massimo De Rita not only provides a wealth of spot-on sidesplitting impudent humor, but also makes valid points about the necessity for violence in a revolution and the dangers of idealism overriding rationality. Moreover, it's acted with zest by a lively cast, with especially spirited contributions from Iris Berben as fiery revolutionary Lola, Jose Bodalo as the treacherous General Mongo, and Karin Schubert as sassy saloon gal Zaira. Ennio Morricone's rousing and flavorful score hits the stirring spot. Alejandro Ulloa's crisp widescreen cinematography gives the picture a handsome shimmering look. A super fun film. In Mexico, during the revolution,the arms dealer Yodlaf "Swedish" Peterson is going to sell most of his weapons to the corrupt General Mongo. But there is a problem : The money Mongo is going to use to pay Yodlaf is locked in a bank safe almost impossible to break. Since Mongo and his men killed most men of the Village that could know the combination, the only man that is alive that knows the combination to open the safe is professor Santos,prisoner of the Americans in Fort Yuma.<br/><br/>Yodlaf agrees to bring Santos to Mongo, but he needs to go with Vasco to this mission, since Mongo suspects of the Swedish.<br/><br/>Besides most of the problems Vasco and Yodlaf need to deal with in their way to US, they even need to face Yodlaf's former business partner and now hater, John 'The Wooden Hand' and his Hawk, Marshall.<br/><br/>I watched "Vamos a Matar, Compañeros" because of my father's recommendation. I am not a western expert, so I cannot compare it to other movies of this genre, but I can say that this movie is very 'watchable' even for people who are not very familiar with the Spaghetti Western genre. I liked the character of Yodlaf Peterson, mostly because of his courage and his bad-ass -but-polite -gentleman actions. The clothes and the cinematography of this movie are also very good, as well some of the lines. I need to highlight two moments: First, when Yodlaf gives a dollar coin to Vasco, and the Second one when they transform Marshall (the hawk) into a barbecue! Priceless!
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371 weeks ago