*** This review may contain spoilers ***
This is a highly lacking western that strays from any common sense. It begins with an absurd and contrived "attack" on William Holden's ranch. He sets off to Mexico where he picks up the most venomous and unlikeable convicts, mostly foreigners, for the big "Revenge". Why they would help him is unknowable. They are indecisive, swerving between following him and shooting him and leaving him for dead, which makes little sense.
Next they bust him out of the same prison they were in.
William Holden, and everyone else for that matter, have no redeeming qualities that make the viewer side with them at all. They are riffraff and murderous, lecherous and loathsome.
One pointless action scene has Kiowa or Comanche Indians attacking an armed regiment of U. S. Cavalry in broad daylight. William Holden and his bunch put sticks of TNT in the ground and by some means, are able to "shoot" them to explode. Most Indians are killed off (about 100) and only one of William Holden's bunch is shot dead. Why Kiowa or Comanche Indians would attack in such a manner is susceptible, because they would wait until dark.
A lot of "horse tripping" (Horse tripping is the practice of roping the front or hind legs of a galloping horse) is to be found here, most likely breaking a lot of horse legs. It is hard to watch, especially if you are an old movie stunt man like me.
By the weak ending, William Holden doesn't follow up on his big "Revenge", so the whole film is entirely pointless.
The only commendable quality of the film is the scenery, which is beautiful. Filmed around Mexico, there's an old abandoned mining town with a rope-stayed foot/horse suspension bridge. The town is "Puente de Ojuela" in the Chihuahuan Desert, of eastern Durango, Mexico.
This is a highly lacking western that strays from any common sense. It begins with an absurd and contrived "attack" on William Holden's ranch. He sets off to Mexico where he picks up the most venomous and unlikeable convicts, mostly foreigners, for the big "Revenge". Why they would help him is unknowable. They are indecisive, swerving between following him and shooting him and leaving him for dead, which makes little sense.
Next they bust him out of the same prison they were in.
William Holden, and everyone else for that matter, have no redeeming qualities that make the viewer side with them at all. They are riffraff and murderous, lecherous and loathsome.
One pointless action scene has Kiowa or Comanche Indians attacking an armed regiment of U. S. Cavalry in broad daylight. William Holden and his bunch put sticks of TNT in the ground and by some means, are able to "shoot" them to explode. Most Indians are killed off (about 100) and only one of William Holden's bunch is shot dead. Why Kiowa or Comanche Indians would attack in such a manner is susceptible, because they would wait until dark.
A lot of "horse tripping" (Horse tripping is the practice of roping the front or hind legs of a galloping horse) is to be found here, most likely breaking a lot of horse legs. It is hard to watch, especially if you are an old movie stunt man like me.
By the weak ending, William Holden doesn't follow up on his big "Revenge", so the whole film is entirely pointless.
The only commendable quality of the film is the scenery, which is beautiful. Filmed around Mexico, there's an old abandoned mining town with a rope-stayed foot/horse suspension bridge. The town is "Puente de Ojuela" in the Chihuahuan Desert, of eastern Durango, Mexico.