Pluskylang Great Film overall

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Scott LeBrun "The Professionals" is classic cinema in terms of the "gathering together men for a mission" plot. In this case, a quartet of guys who specialize in weapons (Lee Marvin as Fardan), horses (Robert Ryan as Ehrengard), tracking (Woody Strode as Jake), and explosives (Burt Lancaster as Dolworth), are assembled by millionaire J.W. Grant (Ralph Bellamy). Grant wants the men to rescue his hot young wife Maria (Claudia Cardinale) from Mexican bandit Jesus Raza (Jack Palance). Fardan and Dolworth know Raza from their days of fighting in the Mexican revolution, and can't believe this is the same guy they once knew. As it turns out, they don't know the true story.Adapted by director Richard Brooks from the novel "A Mule for the Marquesa" by Frank O'Rourke, this is wonderfully made in every aspect. The script, which touches upon ideas of compassion, selflessness vs. selfishness, morality, and duplicity, has some choice dialogue. Marvin, Ryan, Strode, and Lancaster make a *great* team, their personalities nicely contrasting along the way. Each man gets a very brief but effective introduction during the opening credits sequence, and each of them is engaging in his own subtle way. Lancaster is source for a fair amount of humour - he ends up in his underwear not once but twice - while Strode is a true "strong yet silent" type. Cardinale is delightfully spirited as the victim. Bellamy, Joe De Santis as Ortega, Jorge Martinez de Hoyos as the likable goat keeper Padilla, and Marie Gomez as the fiery revolutionary Chiquita are all similarly superb.Rousing music by Maurice Jarre, lovely photography by Conrad Hall, and excellent extensive use of very rural locations all size up as heavy assets. This is a fairly long film at just under two hours, but a lot of care and detail goes into the rescue mission, and it's fun to watch this team at work, doing what they do best. At first, it would seem that the Raza character is painfully under written, but the more scenes with him that we see towards the end, the more we understand him.Superior entertainment, with a particularly satisfying wrap-up.Nine out of 10.

TheLittleSongbird A great amount of talent on display in The Professionals and mostly very well used. It is a shame that Robert Ryan's role is so underwritten and he looked as lost as he did in a somewhat atypical role(this is the same Robert Ryan who made an unforgettable villain in Claggart in 1962's Billy Budd). For my liking too the film ends a little too tidily with some of the scripting a tad confused. But The Professionals is superbly made with sweeping photography that makes expansive use of the colourfully exotic locations and a lusciously evocative score from none other than Maurice Jarre, cannot get enough of the spine chilling opening sequence. The script crackles with wit and tension and is remarkably quotable(it was nominated for a Oscar and in my opinion was deserving of the nomination), the action is rousingly staged and the story, apart from a couple of plodding moments in the middle, is a vast majority of the time gripping. It was great also to see characters that were likable as well as flawed rather than resorting too much to one-dimensional stereotypes. The Professionals is expertly directed- some of the best direction of any Western not from John Ford, Sam Pekinpah or Sergio Leone names on them. And expertly acted as well, with Burt Lancaster on blisteringly funny form and Jack Palance as a slightly hammy but entertainingly menacing villain standing out, their scene on the rocks being an acting highlight. Lee Marvin gives a brooding performance without ever being one-note- every inch the figure of authority- and Claudia Cardinale looks gorgeous and involved. Ralph Bellamy is also excellent, his character's development is sketchy but he does somehow manage to make him interesting and compelling. All in all, a fine film that is sadly somewhat under-seen, the word professional for this near-classic is very apt. 8/10 Bethany Cox

HardToFindMovies I really wanted to enjoy The Professionals and I gave this film every opportunity to entertain...but in the end I was not satisfied. This picture is 117 minutes but it seems more like 3.5 hours as the scenes move slowly (except for the gun battles) and the dialogue is stilted and stale. There is a scene in the middle of the picture where Mexican bandit Jack Palance attacks a train filled with Mexican soldiers and a ridiculous blood bath occurs. The scene is shot and acted so casually that the picture briefly dips into farce. Palance walks down a line of sitting prisoners and shots each in the back in such a comical fashion that I actually burst out laughing. This film tries hard to depict light hearted gun battles for some unknown reason. The director Richard Brooks wants us to believe that The Professionals are all people of solid morals even though dozens of people are killed. The premise of the film is 4 tough guys go to Mexico to save Cardinale who is supposedly the kidnapped bride of the much older and always excellent Ralph Bellamy, many people end up dieing before the so-called surprise moral ending. The ending of the film is given away half way through the picture so the ending is not really exciting to anyone who has been paying attention. This acting of this film is made up of Burt Lancaster quickly becoming the lead character and doing his usual routine as the smiling bandit with a heart of gold. Lee Marvin is his usual rough edged character riffing one liners and heavy stares throughout the picture but this is not one of his best works-he seems to sleepwalk through much of the film. Robert Ryan plays a good guy in this picture and as always is understated and excellent and Woody Strode also does good work despite his underwritten character. Claudia Cardinale definitely gives it her all as the constantly enraged Mexican beauty (she pulls it off even though she is actually Italian). Claudia is quite good looking and it is fun to watch her chew-the-scenery with her heavy acting. Overall I give this picture a 5 out of 10 due to its weak script and poor editing...it was shot beautifully and had strong actors but it just doesn't come together and has many slow points. I had hoped for a classic but ended up watching an overlong average Western.

DKosty123 Veteran Actor Ralph Bellamy who is best know for portraying FDR is cast here in a different role as a rich Texan whose wife (lovely Claudia Cardinale) has been kidnapped and taken over the border to Mexico. Jack Palance heads up the bad kidnappers.Joe Grant (Bellamy) hires Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan and Woody Strode to get her back. The odds seemed stacked against them and the bad crew has a lot of guns and men while they are just 4.In a way this might be considerer a relative to several other westerns made in the 1960's. The script though is original material which won an Oscar for best script. Marvin is near the top of his game here and Lancaster is solid.Cardinale is good in her role and the script has a bit of the twist at the end which might surprise you. A very good western.