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Badmovies.org Forum  |  Movies  |  Bad Movies  |  100 Rifles (1969) « previous next »
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Author Topic: 100 Rifles (1969)  (Read 2391 times)
Neville
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« on: August 29, 2006, 05:56:56 PM »

Note: I have little appreciation for all American westerns post-1960, Peckinpah and Eastwood excluded, and this is not the film that will make me change my mind.

"100 Rifles" is a rare animal. Basically it's a "Zapata western", a late western set during the Mexican revolution. Main difference, this one is completely American made. Instead of the likes of Gian Maria Volonté, Franco Nero or Tomás Milian we have Jim Brown (!), Burt Reynolds (!!) and Raquel Welch (!!!!!!!!!), instead of Morricone we have Jerry Goldsmith, and instead of Corbucci or Sollima there's Tom Gries.

Problem is, as it happenend later with "El Condor" (1970), the political message or the peculiarities of a foreign point of view on the genre are lost, and instead we are left with a barely working formula. Sure there's lots of action, but it doesn't make much sense, sure the production values are much higher, but the whole thing is much less exhilarating than it should.

I'll be the first to admit that the cast does better than I expected. Brown is as wooden as always, but he's somehow likeable, and Burt Reynolds is quite restrained in a role (he's the Mexican revolutionary) in which he could have gotten away with hamming it up. Fernando Lamas is also pretty good as the main villain, but his vharacter is one-note. Raquel Welch is by far the weakest link here, overacting when she has to be emotional and sleepwalking in the scenes she's required to flash her skin. Bad news are none of them is charismatic enough to carry the film on their shoulders, something that becomes more critical as the film progresses.

Director Tom Gries is also short on the charisma department. His camerawork makes a good use of the lavish (for a Zapata western, that is) production design, but is otherwise devoid of aim or imagination, and after a strong start the film soon starts to drag, something in which the long running time (almost two hours) also has its share of guilt.

"100 Rifles" is not a bad film, let me say that loud and clear. Those who don't like Spaguetti westerns for their quirkyness or simply look for a lightweight entertainment won't be disappointed, but for serious western viewers it just falls short.




Insert your own Speedy Gonzalez joke here.
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Yaddo 42
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« Reply #1 on: August 30, 2006, 05:53:26 AM »

You know despite trying every so often, I have never seen this entire film in one sitting. I feel that I've seen it since I've seen the various parts in partial viewings. But could never stick with it in one go. It's bad when I can't sit through a Raquel Welch (in her prime) film.

Have you seen the Robert Mitchum/Victor Buono/Frank Langella/Rita Hayworth film, "The Wrath of God" from 1971? It's American produced (an MGM release when the studio was floundering badly), and is a psuedo-Zapata western set in a fictional Central American country just south of Mexico. The politics are slight, but the religion angle is very strong, Mitchum's character is a priest (hiding the fact he was defrocked and excommunicated by corrupt church officials in bed with the oppressive government). Not a great film, or even a great western, and more than a little cliched, but I have a soft spot for it.

My Speedy Gonzalez joke: Aye run so fast, my toupee falls off. So now Aye wear thees hat!

Pointless Smoky and the Bandit joke: Come on Snowman! We gotta get this shipment of tequila back to Bg Enos and the little midget before the federales know we crossed the border! Where's Frog? Frog?
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Neville
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« Reply #2 on: August 30, 2006, 05:58:54 AM »

Anything with Mitchum is worth watching, I'll keep my eyes open just in case it pops up on TV.
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Shadowphile
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« Reply #3 on: September 01, 2006, 03:54:17 PM »

I've been trying to think of the name of that movie for a while.  As I recall, Mitchum's character has a gun concealed inside his Bible and a switchblade cross...
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Scott
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« Reply #4 on: September 02, 2006, 08:03:39 PM »

Robert Mitchum did a couple South of the border type Westerns. One was an average Western called BANDIDO (1956) and the other is a good one in my opinion called VILLA RIDES (1968).

Yaddo I'll put WRATH OF GOD on my list. Don't think I've seen that one. Looks good.
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Yaddo 42
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« Reply #5 on: September 05, 2006, 04:34:30 AM »

Mitchum kept a derringer inside a bible when he was the "preacher" out to avenge his brother in the Dean Martin western "Five Card Stud". Can't remember if he kept one there in this film, I haven't seen it since the last time I caught it one groggy morning on Turner South on the early morning movie, before the channel was sold to evil Uncle Rupert Murdoch. But that sounds in line with the character, I do remember the switchblade cross (especially for the WTF effect it had on me when I first saw it while I was still a practicing Catholic) and his case containing a pair of Tommy Guns and various pistols and grenades, IIRC. Kind of the big brother of Brendan Fraser's trademark Bag O' Guns in the Mummy films.

Guess I should look for a DVD for it. Scott, I think you'd like it, if only as a guilty pleasure. Also I remember mentioning this in a thread way back about Mitchum and south of the border films, did you ever see "His Kind of Woman"? It's a film noir/crime thriller with a pulpy plot and comedic touches starring Mitchum, Jane Russell, VIncent Price, Raymond Burr, and Jim Backus. Very fun, with Price stealing every scene he's in as a self-absorbed, egotistical matinee idol wanting to be a real man of action for once.
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BoyScoutKevin
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« Reply #6 on: September 07, 2006, 11:27:16 AM »

"His Kind of Woman" is a great movie.

But what I'll always remember about it, is on an episode of "The Mod Squad," during a rainstorm, Peggy Lipton falls alseep watching an old Vincent Price film on television. When she wakes up for a moment, who is that pounding on her screendorr, who else--but Vincent Price, which she can get no one to believe. Being a fan of Vincent Price, I always wondered what that film was. It was only years later, when I saw "His Kind of Woman," did I realize that was the film she had been watching on television.
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Scott
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« Reply #7 on: September 07, 2006, 02:34:58 PM »

No Yaddo. Never heard of HIS KIND OF WOMAN, but I will look into it
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Scott
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« Reply #8 on: September 07, 2006, 06:20:54 PM »



Burt Reynolds, Jim Brown, and Rachael Welsh.
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