Still one of the best movies ever made --The Professionals is a continuous fusillade of memorable lines, including several immortal quotes. This is a tough-guy movie for thinking tough guys, with an amazing cast of screen icons.
Most of the men were WWII vets. Lee Marvin was a decorated hero. Woody Strode was a decathlete and football star. The stunts are all real and believable in scale, with Burt Lancaster performing many of his own.
Maurice Jarre's score is definitive of its genre. Conrad Hall's cinematography is smart and dynamic, making great use of breathtaking locations. But it is the tough guy ethic in the treatise that makes it work. I haven't read Frank O'Rourke's novel, but Richard Brook's screenplay is worth returning to again and again. Like a favorite book, it continues to gain resonance.
The Professionals is a stunningly-photographed high adventure and lyrical tragedy. Not everybody gets this film, but it remains a masterpiece.
Most of the men were WWII vets. Lee Marvin was a decorated hero. Woody Strode was a decathlete and football star. The stunts are all real and believable in scale, with Burt Lancaster performing many of his own.
Maurice Jarre's score is definitive of its genre. Conrad Hall's cinematography is smart and dynamic, making great use of breathtaking locations. But it is the tough guy ethic in the treatise that makes it work. I haven't read Frank O'Rourke's novel, but Richard Brook's screenplay is worth returning to again and again. Like a favorite book, it continues to gain resonance.
The Professionals is a stunningly-photographed high adventure and lyrical tragedy. Not everybody gets this film, but it remains a masterpiece.