(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“At the behest of Mexican revolutionaries, a mercenary enlists an acrobat, a strongman, a dynamiter and a swordsman to help him rob an army train carrying $500,000 in gold.”
Now, with that kind of synopsis, one might go into The 5-Man Army expecting a bit more of these characters, am I right?
Hear me out.
Essentially, the premise gives away the Golden Goose here by making it perfectly clear that – instead of a conventional Western – audiences are promised something a bit extra. You don’t draw together a small band of ‘specialists’ of this type without having some very, very, very specific requirements for their particular sets of skills; and that’s where you’d be disappointed with the outcome. Although one could easily see the need for a strongman in any conceivable plot and perhaps even a dynamiter, how specifically are an acrobat and a Samurai swordsman going to figure into the whole affair?
This is where Army fails to muster anything special. Naturally, the strongman – Mesito (played Bud Spencer) – and the munitions fellow – Augustus (James Daly) – do have shoes to fill in the resulting caper; but they’re still rather pale by comparison to the promise of the premise. What the mastermind Dutchman (Peter Graves) assembles as his crack special ops team resembles just about anything else that’s come down in like-minded cinema, leaving not much room for Luis (Nino Castelnuovo) and Samurai (Tetsurō Tanba) for add much flavor to the action. Furthermore, the fact that the actual caper itself never really shows until after the midpoint and at the start of the second act, there’s never any real doubt that the plan will come together even though most of the elements were never quite spelled out clearly enough for audiences to anticipate what was coming.
Now, an argument could be made that concealing some of the Dutchman’s game plan was a necessity, the kind which is crafted to keep audiences glued to their screens with what’s happening in real time. While that’s true, directors Don Taylor and Italo Zingarelli – Zingarelli being attached mostly for funding and tax issues, from what I’ve read – don’t stage the high stakes with any sense of urgency with the sole exception of sequence involving the Samurai falling off and needing to get back aboard the train. However, that vignette is laughable largely because it’s not handled with any measure of believability: the swordsman gets back on only since the heist required five men, not because screenwriters Marc Richards and Dario Argento found any compelling much less original means to make it happen.
As for the cast?
Well, Graves is largely wasted in a role that could’ve cast anyone as the lead. Spencer attacks with great aplomb just about every scene he’s in, suitably demonstrating that he’s a soul with a healthy appetite for life. Castelnuovo plays the upstart convincingly, but it might’ve been nice to give the character a bit more backstory than just being an acrobat. As the munitions man, Daly really is the one teammate whose involvement seems critical; and the actor capably delivers with what little gravitas a rather flat script requires. Tanba – as the mysterious man from the East – also could’ve been elevated with some more interesting background: while his skills with a blade are theatrically cool, there’s more to be said for the way the only true outsider in all of this might’ve encountered some discrimination and how he might’ve overcome it.
Sigh.
Let’s just accept that characterization – or any character development – was also firmly locked away as was the half-million in gold. Come the big finish, a late-breaking twist with the Dutchman’s motivations becoming suspect really goes nowhere: though it leaves room for a bit of tension – along with modest action when the enemy soldiers finally reach the gang’s hideout – everyone inevitably joins hands with the rebels in the closing moments. Were these hired hands really going to accept nothing in exchange for putting their lives at risk? I’m young enough to remember when authentic Spaghetti Westerns were a bit more diabolical than what gets rendered here.
On the plus side, however, I’ll have to concede that it looks very much like the principal actors did a great deal of their own stunt work on the seminal train ride of the second half. A great deal of the cinematography was accomplished with faces shown, and – from what I could tell – these men were made of different stuff, hanging and crawling and running across and from moving train cars much of the time. Granted, not a great deal of it looked all that treacherous; and yet the fact that it was all captured with modest stunt intervention always speaks volumes with this reviewer. While I’m sure no one was ever at risk, there’s still a shot or two which suggests they were ready to roll when Taylor called for action.
The 5-Man Army (1969) was produced by Tiger Film. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been handled by the Warner Archive Collection. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I can still assure readers that the provided sights and sounds are quite good throughout: if anything, some of the cinematography could’ve been improved by making some of this less than squeaky-clean. It lacks so much grain and character that I wondered at one point if it was a television production, meaning that it never feels gritty the way so many other Westerns of the era do. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? Well, the best they could muster was the theatrical trailer.
Alas … only Mildly Recommended.
In all honestly, I was chiefly drawn to The 5-Man Army (1969) owed to Argento’s association to it (as screenwriter); and – on that front – I’ll admit to some disappointment. While I certainly didn’t expect the level of colorful violence the auteur eventually became known for, I was still a bit curious what breadcrumbs might’ve been dropped along the way, signaling the voice that would eventually emerge on the big screen. Sadly, there really was nothing of any substance, and Army is more of a kinda/sorta heist flick than it is an authentic Western. While I’ve read some suggesting that it’s a solid Spaghetti Western, I’d only agree that it fits the mold conventionally but still fails to offer up anything deserving of praise or memory.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Warner Archive (via Allied Vaughn) provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of The 5-Man Army (1969) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“At the behest of Mexican revolutionaries, a mercenary enlists an acrobat, a strongman, a dynamiter and a swordsman to help him rob an army train carrying $500,000 in gold.”
Now, with that kind of synopsis, one might go into The 5-Man Army expecting a bit more of these characters, am I right?
Hear me out.
Essentially, the premise gives away the Golden Goose here by making it perfectly clear that – instead of a conventional Western – audiences are promised something a bit extra. You don’t draw together a small band of ‘specialists’ of this type without having some very, very, very specific requirements for their particular sets of skills; and that’s where you’d be disappointed with the outcome. Although one could easily see the need for a strongman in any conceivable plot and perhaps even a dynamiter, how specifically are an acrobat and a Samurai swordsman going to figure into the whole affair?
This is where Army fails to muster anything special. Naturally, the strongman – Mesito (played Bud Spencer) – and the munitions fellow – Augustus (James Daly) – do have shoes to fill in the resulting caper; but they’re still rather pale by comparison to the promise of the premise. What the mastermind Dutchman (Peter Graves) assembles as his crack special ops team resembles just about anything else that’s come down in like-minded cinema, leaving not much room for Luis (Nino Castelnuovo) and Samurai (Tetsurō Tanba) for add much flavor to the action. Furthermore, the fact that the actual caper itself never really shows until after the midpoint and at the start of the second act, there’s never any real doubt that the plan will come together even though most of the elements were never quite spelled out clearly enough for audiences to anticipate what was coming.
Now, an argument could be made that concealing some of the Dutchman’s game plan was a necessity, the kind which is crafted to keep audiences glued to their screens with what’s happening in real time. While that’s true, directors Don Taylor and Italo Zingarelli – Zingarelli being attached mostly for funding and tax issues, from what I’ve read – don’t stage the high stakes with any sense of urgency with the sole exception of sequence involving the Samurai falling off and needing to get back aboard the train. However, that vignette is laughable largely because it’s not handled with any measure of believability: the swordsman gets back on only since the heist required five men, not because screenwriters Marc Richards and Dario Argento found any compelling much less original means to make it happen.
As for the cast?
Well, Graves is largely wasted in a role that could’ve cast anyone as the lead. Spencer attacks with great aplomb just about every scene he’s in, suitably demonstrating that he’s a soul with a healthy appetite for life. Castelnuovo plays the upstart convincingly, but it might’ve been nice to give the character a bit more backstory than just being an acrobat. As the munitions man, Daly really is the one teammate whose involvement seems critical; and the actor capably delivers with what little gravitas a rather flat script requires. Tanba – as the mysterious man from the East – also could’ve been elevated with some more interesting background: while his skills with a blade are theatrically cool, there’s more to be said for the way the only true outsider in all of this might’ve encountered some discrimination and how he might’ve overcome it.
Sigh.
Let’s just accept that characterization – or any character development – was also firmly locked away as was the half-million in gold. Come the big finish, a late-breaking twist with the Dutchman’s motivations becoming suspect really goes nowhere: though it leaves room for a bit of tension – along with modest action when the enemy soldiers finally reach the gang’s hideout – everyone inevitably joins hands with the rebels in the closing moments. Were these hired hands really going to accept nothing in exchange for putting their lives at risk? I’m young enough to remember when authentic Spaghetti Westerns were a bit more diabolical than what gets rendered here.
On the plus side, however, I’ll have to concede that it looks very much like the principal actors did a great deal of their own stunt work on the seminal train ride of the second half. A great deal of the cinematography was accomplished with faces shown, and – from what I could tell – these men were made of different stuff, hanging and crawling and running across and from moving train cars much of the time. Granted, not a great deal of it looked all that treacherous; and yet the fact that it was all captured with modest stunt intervention always speaks volumes with this reviewer. While I’m sure no one was ever at risk, there’s still a shot or two which suggests they were ready to roll when Taylor called for action.
The 5-Man Army (1969) was produced by Tiger Film. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been handled by the Warner Archive Collection. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I can still assure readers that the provided sights and sounds are quite good throughout: if anything, some of the cinematography could’ve been improved by making some of this less than squeaky-clean. It lacks so much grain and character that I wondered at one point if it was a television production, meaning that it never feels gritty the way so many other Westerns of the era do. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? Well, the best they could muster was the theatrical trailer.
Alas … only Mildly Recommended.
In all honestly, I was chiefly drawn to The 5-Man Army (1969) owed to Argento’s association to it (as screenwriter); and – on that front – I’ll admit to some disappointment. While I certainly didn’t expect the level of colorful violence the auteur eventually became known for, I was still a bit curious what breadcrumbs might’ve been dropped along the way, signaling the voice that would eventually emerge on the big screen. Sadly, there really was nothing of any substance, and Army is more of a kinda/sorta heist flick than it is an authentic Western. While I’ve read some suggesting that it’s a solid Spaghetti Western, I’d only agree that it fits the mold conventionally but still fails to offer up anything deserving of praise or memory.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Warner Archive (via Allied Vaughn) provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of The 5-Man Army (1969) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
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