Beanbioca
As Good As It Gets
Matylda Swan
It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.
Kinley
This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
Spikeopath
Un esercito di 5 uomini (The Five Man Army) is directed by Don Taylor and written by Marc Richards and Dario Argento. It stars Peter Graves, James Daly, Bud Spencer, Nino Castelnuovo, Tetsurô Tanba and Claudio Gora. Music is scored by Ennio Morricone and cinematography is by Enzo Barboni.It's 1914, the Mexican Revolution, and five bandits of fortune plan to rob a train load of gold from the army...Out of MGM and filmed in Metrocolor, Don Taylor's film is a delicious bowl of Spaghetti. All that you would want from a film titled The Five Man Army is delivered here, as our group of tough bastardos follow firmly in the splendid men on a mission footprints laid by Magnificent Seven and Dirty Dozen et al.As per formula, this is a group of odds and sods brought together in the hope they can actually come together to achieve their goal. Each man has skills, be it dynamite, knives, guns, sling-shot or being a Samurai warrior, these dudes are bad-ass and not to be messed with.Led by The Dutchman (Graves), who is a sort of John 'Hannibal' Smith prototype, this group get into all sorts of scrapes, where peril and excitement is never far away, the makers seizing every opportunity for a chase sequence, a fight of some sort, a prison breakout, even some sexy smoulder in amongst the machismo.It all builds to a final third involving the actual train heist. Superbly staged and with thought in the writing, it's a thrilling sequence of events as the small army go about taking over a train packed with soldiers and enough weaponry to obliterate a small country. Then there's a grand finale, even taking time out for a kick in the tale.Locations are neatly photographed by Barboni, the dusty sands and rock formations a perfect setting for the blood sweat and tears. Morricone offers up another tremendous Spaghetti score. Typical compositions mix with shrill strings and disconcerting woodwinds, while the keen of ear will notice an early arrangement that will form the score for John Carpenter's The Thing (1982).There's the usual mix of good and bad in the acting department, and as is often the way in Spag Westerns some scenes have corners cut to hurry up the narrative, but this delivers on the title's promise. Great fun. 8/10
lost-in-limbo
You want familiar, familiar spaghetti western… look no further than "The Five Man Army". Its real lack of originality is made up by its sense of adventure and entertainment as five comrades come together to hatch up a plan to steal a railway shipment of gold from a merciless general. There's nothing mean-spirited, or violent as even when the twist makes its way in. It's rather goodwill in approach and the script does offer up the clues to where all this scheming its heading to. Some interesting names do show-up on this project. Director Don Taylor, co-writer Dario Argento, actors Peter Graves (charismatically getting by with his suave style) and Bud Spencer (being his brute self)… then there's Ennio Morricone who provides once again a characteristically fruitful signature western score that went hand-to-hand with on-screen action and nice scenic scope. You could say there's nothing particularly rousing or even memorable about this (outside the music score), however the pace is streamlined, the genre staples are well orchestrated, dialogue never distracts, characters while safe are agreeable and there's an intense moment or so in a typical, but well done spaghetti western.
The_Void
Five Man Army may not be as epic or as groundbreaking as other Spaghetti Western films, but it's a lot of fun to watch and overall, provides a good slice of western action. My main reason for tracking down and seeing this film is due to the fact that it was co-scripted by Italian horror maestro and one of the men behind Sergio Leone's masterpiece 'Once Upon a Time in the West', Dario Argento. Argento worked on scripts for a number of Spaghetti westerns, and while this is only the second that I've seen (Leone's masterwork being the other one), it's the one that gets mentioned second most often, which leads to believe that it's one of his best. The plot centres on a man named 'The Dutchman', who hatches a plot to rob a train of $500,000 worth of gold. He can't do it on his own, however, and so recruits the services of four men with expertise in different areas. They all have something to prove, and the $1000 he's offering for their help gives them the initiative to try and prove it. The film then follows the makeshift 'Five Man Army', as they steal the gold.The film begins with a man going round asking the prospective members of the army to join the foolhardy scheme. This sort of plot device is common in the movie, as it's all rather simply told. However, if you ask me this is a good thing as some films like this tend to get a bit too complicated, and it can take something away from the enjoyment of watching. There's plenty else to enjoy too, as Argento and his fellow scriptwriter have managed to create a varied assortment of characters that play well off one another and, of course, there's all the explosions and shootouts that Spaghetti Western fans have come to expect. It does have to be said that there's not as much violence in this film as there is in similar movies, as much of the movie focuses on the train robbery at the end, which is pulled off with very little bloodshed. The acting is decent enough also, with veteran actor Peter Graves heading up a good versatile cast, which fit into their roles well. Ennio Morricone provides another good western score, and overall, this film is always going to be a target for fans of Argento's work. I won't recommend going into the film with high expectations, but it's a fun viewing and I enjoyed it.
iaido
Bland MGM Spaghetti Western knock off/imitation directed by Don `Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Damien: The Omen 2' Taylor. One of Dario Argento's first writing credits and one that he probably doesn't put on his resume. It even has Ennio Morricone scoring the film, but amusingly, essentially just rewriting his Leone themes and altering the instrumentation a little. In other words, its not the highest caliber of a production. Its a true Spaghetti Western in the same way that a Stouffer's frozen lasagna is traditional Italian food.Basically, its about a motley group of men thrown together under the pretense of robbing a train car full of gold dust from an evil Mexican general and giving the gold to some revolutionaries. The men are, a Bluto-like strongman, a grizzled dynamite expert (who when we first meet him is a suave card shark, but for the rest of the film he looks like a hobo, like they abandoned his original characterization), a Samurai (who is so tan he looks more South American), a young Jim Morrison looking acrobat, and `The Dutchman' Peter Graves. Now, when Peter Graves is the driving force, the `cool factor' to a film, is there any doubt it will be lackluster? The tone is very lighthearted and the plot dumb enough that you would think it was made for children, that is, until a few soldiers are slashed by the samurai and the Bluto guy snaps a few necks. Some truly horrible moments include Peter Graves faking a Mexican accent, the crew sneaking underneath the train in full view of over half a dozen soldiers, the cross stereotype of the Latino general insulting the Asian samurai, the crew stupidly fearing the trains cannon (which is so huge it couldn't be used at close range, and would only be good if fired at someone directly behind the train and three miles away), and finally, an extended piece at the end when the action is completely halted for an extended 2-3 min sequence of the samurai running across fields like he was on the intro to Little House on the Prairie.Ultimately forgettable, and rock stupid, but a fun watch, nonetheless.
