Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

bensonmum2 The hangman is summoned to take care of a band of bank robbers lead by Dee Bishop (Dean Martin). But the real hangman never makes it. Instead, Dee's brother Mace (James Stewart) takes his place. Just as the robbers are about to have their necks snapped, Dee uses Mace's gun to make a daring escape. With a posse hot on their heels, the gang heads for Mexico. Along the way, they pick up a hostage, Maria Stoner (Raquel Welch). Maria just happens to be the widow of one of the men killed in the bank holdup. They've got a good lead on the dogged sheriff, but once they enter Mexico, they're in bandolero country. They'll have to elude,not only the sheriff, but the local bandits if they're to escape.As is obvious from the rating I've given Bandolero!, I enjoy this movie. It's not perfect - far from it in fact - but it's got a lot going for it that really works on me. First, the opening 45 minutes with the robbery, hanging, and escape moves at a really nice pace. It's a nice way to get things kicked off. Second, the acting is stellar and a real key to my overall enjoyment. Stewart gives a surprisingly touching performance that I wasn't expecting in a movie like Bandolero! Martin plays it straight and comes off looking like a real actor. Welch isn't great, but goes a long way to redeeming herself in the film's finale. The supporting cast is top notch with Will Geer, Denver Pyle, Andrew Prine, Guy Raymond, and George Kennedy. Kennedy, in particular, is worth mentioning. He plays against type and imbibes his Sheriff July Johnson with unexpected vulnerability.Third, i got a real kick out of Jerry Goldsmith's score. Seemingly inappropriate at times, it reminded me a bit of something you'd hear from Morricone in an Italian Western - not an American made Western. There are other touches here and there, like some really impressive scenery, but I won't go into detail. The biggest complaint i have is with the plotting and pacing after the initial escape. Once in Mexico, the film settles into a predictable pattern - ride, camp, attempted rape, Dean Martin saves the day - repeat. Still, the overall film is entertaining enough for me to rate a 7/10.

Chris Is it possible that a western with a cast of Jimmy Stewart, Dean Martin, George Kennedy and Raquel Welch can be any bad? Yes, if the Director is Andrew V. McLaglen. I'm a bit jealous about this guy and how he managed it to work with all these great actors in his career. Most of his movies are mediocre or bad. I can only call one or two really good.My main critic about Bandolero is that this movie is shameless boring with a lot of meaningless talking and Horse riding without any action or suspense. The movie looks fine cause of the all time great cinematographer William H. Clothier. Shame on Hollywood this man never got the Academy Award! The music score of Jerry Goldsmith isn't bad either.Jimmy Stewart and Dean Martin are looking very old in this one. Both have some terrible make up in their faces. Both are playing brothers and they are less believable as the casting of the Sons of Katie Elder. No doubt Mrs. Welch is a Stunner but who was responsible for her over styled hair? As usual good old George Kennedy is underused. A last question: Why Mexican Bandits (Bandoleros) are attacking with an Indian Cry? I love westerns but I'm not a fan of this one.

doug-balch This is an underrated Western that gets no critical respect. This is because the director Andrew McLaglen came from a TV background and took orders from Duke in a series of late Wayne Westerns. However, he also did some above average work, including both Shenandoah and Bandolero. This scored a 6 out of 10 in my IMDb rating, which is very good and tallied 15 points in my ranking system, a very good score.Here's what I thought was good about this movie: The co-leads, Dean Martin and James Stewart are great in this. James Stewart is just a wonderful comedic actor. It's a shame Anthony Mann didn't have a sense of humor. He underused Stewart in his 1950's Westerns. In addition to Stewart's wonderful part at the beginning as a fake hangman, there are a number of back and forths between he and Martin later in the movie that are as good as the dialog between Stewart and Widmark in "Two Rode Together".George Kennedy is another very underrated actor and like Dean Martin, he's an underrated comedic actor. Kennedy really fills up the screen like few actors can.I admit I've had a life long crush on Raquel Welch. She looks great in this and her character has quite a bit of depth. I bought the romantic subplot between her and Martin. Hostage/captor thing, you know.McLaglen does a nice job of keeping the story moving. They don't get stuck in Val Verde.There are extended location shoots in Glen Canyon in Utah that are absolutely stunning.Excellent use of Civil War and Mexican themes.Good music scoreAs mentioned, good use of comic relief throughout.There were a number of things that kept this movie from being better: There was basically no heavy. The Mexican bandidos were almost completely undeveloped. This severely undercut the dramatic tension in the story, especially since there was so much humor. At some point, humor can cease to be counterpoint to relieve dramatic tension and a movie becomes a comedy. This almost happens to Bandalero and is one reason why it's not taken seriously by critics.The night camp studio sets were very artificial looking.The ending felt abrupt and contrived.The body count in the final shoot 'em up scene was unnecessarily high. The bandidos are pretty ridiculously stereotyped. Maybe that's why they didn't shoot in Mexico. They wouldn't let them.More on the final shootout, McLaglen commits the cardinal sin of having the stupid brown skinned bandidos ride around endlessly out in the open, making themselves perfect targets, while the white people pick them off from well protected hiding spots. Of course, 20 bandidos ride in, 40 are killed, and 20 ride out. They run like rabbits when their "jefe" is killed. All implausible and ridiculousFinally, exactly what happened to the real hangman? Stewart must have killed him. Inconsistent with his character.

kwindrum I don't think this is a typical western at all. For the first half-hour it keeps viewers in the dark about situations and at points its twists seem more like those of a film noir. It also has an odd shift in tone. The first 1/3 is pretty light and it gets progressively grimmer and darker as the characters head south into Mexico. I think the key to its excellence is that there is a moral drama going on here between James Stewart and Dean Martin and they are both excellent and very moving. The fact that they are two of my favorite actors obviously has something to do with my opinion. In particular, Dean is much better then his reputation would suggest. The film has a very exciting climax, good supporting cast, some good dialog and is nicely shot, in Panavision, by western specialist William Clothier and has a Morricone-inspired score by the great Jerry Goldsmith.