CinemaSerf
29 May 2023
Another wonderfully ground-breaking western from Sergio Leone with a memorable score from Ennio Morricone - this time with Rod Steiger as a bit of a low life bandit who encounters James Coburn - a IRA explosives expert on the run from the British. The story is told in tandem timelines as we discover just what brought Coburn to revolutionary Mexico in the first place and the current scenario as he and Steiger gradually develop their relationship from potential bank robbers to something way more sophisticated and inter-reliant. Along the way we've got plenty of humour, action - explosives galore - with some fine photography of the locale. At times, it can be a little too unnecessarily violent - particularly once they become more involved in the revolution; but Steiger and Coburn are great.