Tag: tomas milian

Run Man Run

Run Man Run a.k.a. Corri uomo corri is a 1968 movie directed by Sergio Sollima.

WHAT HAPPENS?

Several groups of distinct personalities are pursuing stolen Revolutionary gold.

ONE LINE REVIEW

Run Man Run is a fun, adventurous Euro Western that showcases Tomas Milian’s physical and comic skills.

THE ACTORS

Milian revisits Cuchillo, his carefree, knife-throwing thief who originated in The Big Gundown. Too good-hearted to be considered a real anti-hero, Milian’s character is perfectly described by Chelo Alonso’s eternally frustrated Dolores: “Just look what I have to do to marry this tramp.” Milian plays up Cuchillo’s comic nature mainly through his expressive, rubbery face. However, he maintains the dangerous edge of a bandit with his precise and deadly knife attacks.

Alonso is terrific as Dolores, whose mission to marry Cuchillo is heightened when she learns of his connection to the stolen treasure. She is hilariously animated as his long-suffering love. Milian’s Cuchillo can only offer her a bounty of excuses: “If I leave you, it’s only to love you more when I come back.” Linda Veras is equally impressive as the domineering, self-righteous Penny – a Salvation Army “soldier” who schemes with her father to obtain the lost treasure.

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Face to Face

Face to Face is a 1967 movie directed by Sergio Sollima.

Face to Face tells the story of a history professor who joins a famous outlaw’s gang before assuming leadership. The two characters, Tomas Milian’s Bennet and Gian Maria Volonte’s Brad Fletcher offer distinct personalities but essentially switch roles as the movie progresses. Milian’s usual quirky charm is noticeably absent as his Bennet is brooding and conflicted. Volonte is terrific as Fletcher, whose early speeches about the philosophy of power manifest into vicious actions. Sollima’s action sequences are excellent but the movie suffers from laboring scenes and odd pacing.

THE BEST – The Action

Sollima is grossly underrated as an action director – both in terms of European Westerns and movies in general. His scenes are compact, stylish and violent. Milian’s sullen character is rescued by these scenes – he’s an efficient, brutal killer. Volonte’s weak, bookish character is transformed by similar scenes.

THE WORST – The Professor’s Miraculous Recovery

Early in the movie, Fletcher suffers from lung disease and carries an ashen, crippled appearance. Yet, as the movie progresses and Fletcher transforms into a violent bandit, his color improves and his health is essentially forgotten.

FOX FORCE FIVE RATING – 3.75/5

The concept and lead actors of Face to Face are incredible but somehow the vision isn’t realized. Sollima’s action sequences are highlights but the movie suffers from slow pacing.

The Big Gundown

The Big Gundown is a 1966 movie directed by Sergio Sollima.

WHAT HAPPENS?

A lawman pursues a peasant wanted for the murder of a young girl.

ONE LINE REVIEW

The Big Gundown is a raw, stylish Euro Western featuring two terrific acting performances.

THE ACTORS

Lee Van Cleef and Tomas Milian respectively star as unofficial lawman John Corbett and infamous bandit Cuchillo. Each actor gives what is probably their greatest Euro Western performance – which given their lengthy filmographies, is an impressive statement.

Van Cleef presents his usual stoic, sardonic toughness. He’s grim and measured but retains a maniacal edge. Yet he distinguishes himself in this role by showing decidedly human traits. Power broker Brokston will reward Corbett with a Senator position if he captures Cuchillo. Throughout the pursuit, Van Cleef’s character is continually tricked and needs help to accomplish his mission.

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The Tough Ones

The Tough Ones is a 1976 movie directed by Umberto Lenzi.

The Tough Ones, aka Roma a Mano Armata tells the story of Inspector Tanzi, a detective disillusioned with a legal system that is exploited by criminals. He pursues various members of a crime syndicate to exact justice.

Lenzi delivers a quintessential Poliziotteschi movie. Maurizio Merli plays the hard-boiled detective fed up with the system. Giampiero Albertini is Caputo, the loyal partner who meets a tragic fate. Arthur Kennedy is the crusty, bureaucratic Commissioner trying to reign in his maverick employee.

The Tough Ones is standard fare for the genre – but when the qualifications are erratic car chases, violent shootouts, killer clothes and endless sermons lifted from Dirty Harry, the movie delivers on all accounts.

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Four of the Apocalypse

Four of the Apocalypse is a 1975 Western directed by Lucio Fulci.

Four of the Apocalypse tells the story of four petty criminals who find themselves on the run in the Utah desert. They are pursued by a savage outlaw before ultimately gaining retribution.

Here’s my quick review: this movie is a glorious, bloody mess.

Not much that happens in Four of the Apocalypse makes sense. The lead actor, Fabio Testi, is completely miscast in the desert. There is little reason for a pregnant prostitute, a drunk and a man obsessed with spirits to join together – nor is it clear why the crazed Chaco is following them.

Yet, the brilliance of European Westerns is that they are sloppy, weird, violent and take ridiculous chances. Fulci delivers a post-modern Western bathed in both blood and 70’s soft rock.

There’s a melodramatic quality to Four of the Apocalypse that’s more fitting of a TV mini-series. The washed out closeups and mawkish dialogue between Testi’s Stubby and Lynne Frederick’s Bunny is both sweet and horrendous. Testi is fine as a leading man – although he’s awkward in an action role. However, Frederick is given an atrocious role and plays down to its limitations.

The rest of the cast includes veteran character actor Michael J. Pollard as the drunken Clem and Harry Baird as the kind, unstable Bud. Pollard is solid in what is a one-note role. He’s built to be an accessory in Westerns. Baird is given the most unique character – he’s obsessed with communicating with the dead. However, he plays Bud with the simplicity of a developmentally stunted child.

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Companeros

Companeros is a 1970 Italian Western directed by Sergio Corbucci and starring Franco Nero.

Companeros tells the story of Yodlaf Peterson, a Swedish arms dealer who forms a shaky alliance with El Vasco, the leader of a Mexican revolutionary group. They aim to protect Professor Xantos, the intellectual head of a student resistance group, from military leader General Mongo and mercenary John, the Wooden Hand.

Companeros is a fun, stylish Italian Western that essentially represents the greatest hits of Sergio Corbucci. It’s a vivid, cleanly shot movie that is equal parts violent and campy.

The characters follow the formula created in earlier Corbucci movies – Franco Nero is the suave foreign mercenary who reveals a soft heart, Tomas Milian is the hardened gunslinger turned revolutionary, Eduardo Fajardo plays a boisterous Mexican general and Jack Palance takes another turn as a warped but quirky villain. There’s also yet another female revolutionary who plays the love interest.

And of course, it just wouldn’t be a Corbucci movie if Nero doesn’t let a machine gun rip….

Nero basically plays his role from The Mercenary, only he swaps Polish roots for Swedish. He’s suave, self-assured and playfully stoic. Again, he arrives in town to sell weapons, then gets mixed up in a revolution. Along the way, his professional lone wolf persona gets assimilated into a buddy comedy. There’s a fun running joke between his character and Milan’s El Vasco regarding a silver coin.

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Django Kill, If You Live, Shoot!

Django Kill, If You Live, Shoot! is a 1967 Italian Western directed by Guilio Questi.

Tomas Milian’s Django is betrayed by his gang following a robbery and left for dead. He recovers and becomes entangled in a bloody battle for gold between corrupt townspeople and a homosexual gang. The movie is wildly unique for its genre, as it presents a surreal Old West landscape that is layered in contemporary references.

Django Kill features a conventional Western story: a mysterious stranger comes to town and finds himself in the middle of a battle between locals and outside forces. Gold and greed are at the heart of the issue and the hero encounters an emotionally wounded love interest.

The presentation beyond the story is what makes Django Kill a fascinating movie.

The lead character, Django, is cast throughout the movie in soft light – almost in a nod to his feminine facial features. His outfit of an unbuttoned leather vest, oversized medallion and headband is decidedly atypical for Western leading men. Similarly, his actions stray from the rugged determinism that defines the genre. He’s bold and physical, yet oddly passive – as highlighted during his capture by “the Muchachos”, an outlaw gang of homosexual cowboys.

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