Thursday, January 28, 2021

Villa Rides (1968)

An action packed tale of the Mexican revolutionary war hero Pancho Villa (Yul Brynner) and his efforts to defeat the enemy and his villainous rival general Huerta (Herbert Lom). Aviator and gun runner Arnold (Robert Mitchum) is captured by Villa's forces which include the rather wonderfully sinister Fierro (Charles Bronson) who likes to shoot prisoners as a hobby.

Arnold is enrolled in Villa's army and uses his plane to help turn the tide against the enemy. However, Huerta's jealousy at Villa's success brings everything to a head. Villa is sent to Mexico City and Arnold back to the US to face theft charges...

An uneven film which includes a lot more fighting than less exciting things like characterisation, historical accuracy and plot line. Brynner's, Bronson's and Lom's characters are fairly one-dimensional but if the film is approached in the right way then it is a lot of fun and the battle scenes are spectacular. Also interesting to see Brynner play a character with hair.