I'm not sure about the definition of spaghetti western, but I know that 100 Rifles was filmed in Spain and has a lot of violent action in it.Burt Reynolds is Yaqui Joe, whose mother was a Yaqui and whose father was from Alabama (which explains his accent). He's stolen $6000 from a bank in Arizona to buy rifles for the Yaquis.
Raquel Welch is Sarita, the beautiful revolutionary who's to receive the rifles.
Jim Brown is Lydecker, the lawman who's chased Yaqui Joe into Mexico and is intent on bringing him and the money back.
Fernando Lamas is General Verdugo, who's intent on wiping out the Yaquis.
Eric Braeden is the German "adviser," and Dan O'Herlihy is the representative of the railroad that Vergugo needs.
I don't need to tell you anything about the plot. Just watch the trailer below. It tells you the whole movie in under 3 minutes, although it does leave out a few things, including the one thing that surprised me. At the time of its release, the movie created a bit of a sensation because of the love scenes between Welch and Brown. I don't think Welch's shower scene bothered anybody. It's in the trailer.
Reynolds is pretty good as Yaqui Joe. This was before his days of stardom. Brown isn't a great actor, but he has presence. So does Welch. Fernando Lamas is a hoot, and O'Herlihy is very good. There's plenty of action, lots of explosions, and some nice scenery. Jerry Goldsmith's score is good, too.
5 comments:
I saw this movie many years ago and I'd certainly like to watch it again. I recall watching quite a few Burt Reynolds films in the eighties.
This one is on my "to watch" list. One of my favorite euro westerns, also with Raquel Welch, is Hannie Caulder:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068675/
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Hannie-Caulder-Blu-ray/22901/
This is based on a fine western novel "The Californio" written by Robert MacLeod. MacLeod wrote just a handful of westerns but they all are excellent. He threw in accurate historical information in his fictional western stories. A very underrated author. The novel is way better than the movie. 100 Rifles just follows the basic plot that is in the novel. But it does have that scene with Raquel Welch taking that shower under the water tank.
Burt Reynolds is an underrated actor. His early career showed a lot of potential. Then he got caught up in Stardom and that ruined him.
(1) My favorite part of the trailer was the firing-of-the-cannon-at-the-men-on-horseback scene. The cannonball lands (hitting nothing) and horses 20 feet away fall over.
(2) In the remake, the Raquel Welch character would not be wearing a shirt while taking her shower.
(3) Based on the trailer & the comments, I'm more likely to read the book than watch the movie.
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