A dishonored Union Army officer leads a group of convicts to retake Fort Holman from the Confederate Army.
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Reviews
CinemaSerf
6
By CinemaSerf
This might have worked better had it not taken us forty-five minutes to get to the business end - there is just way too much explanatory preamble telling us why disgraced “Pembroke” (James Coburn) is determined to recapture a fortress he was compelled to surrender during the US Civil War. It’s now occupied by “Maj. Ward” (Telly Savalas) and a platoon of very heavily armed Confederate soldiers. What does “Pembroke” have? Well broke would seem to be operative word, as his tally of men would make the “Dirty Dozen” look like the Blues and Royals. One of his number, though, might just have the guile to help him pull it off. “Sampson” (Bud Spencer) isn’t exactly a law-obedient citizen, but he is the best the Yankee can find to help him lead his men to their hilltop New Mexican target. The last twenty minutes liven it up nicely, with plenty of pyrotechnics, Gattling gun activity and there’s even an early example of a burglar alarm - that does a lot more than beep if it goes off, but the rest of this is all pretty formulaic. On the production side, what really drags it down are the appalling standards of the continuity and the editing. We see the same things blown up, the same soldiers (who couldn’t hit a barn door with an Howitzer anyway) get killed over and over again and the man with the razor blade in the cutting room has clearly not had the time nor the inclination to see the film flow. Savalas barely features at all, Coburn isn’t anywhere near his understated best and it’s really only Spencer who looks like he is at all invested in this. Maybe just watch the last half hour?
