This film sprays more testosterone on the screen
than a herd of male elephants in the mating season. In reality, that is the
point of the film. It has a plot that practically doesn't exist, but the
three male actors have such star power that you really don't care. You came
for their chemistry, their one-upping each other, betraying one another,
their machismo, their coolness. Nothing else matters. Though this is directed
by Terence Young (the first three Bond films) and has an international cast
of genre superstars, it still gives off the vibe of a bare-bones Spaghetti
Western from the opening scene of the train robbery. And that is in fact
what it is. A French - Italian production, it was shot in Spain with primarily
a crew of Europeans and secondary roles mainly Spanish and Italian.
The plot takes a sentence to relate. Alain
Delon and Charles Bronson rob a train, but Delon betrays Bronson, leaving
him for dead and Bronson spends the rest of the film looking for him. With
two important add-ons. A samurai on the train goes along with Bronson and
they stop off at a bordello to pick up Delon's favorite prostitute. The samurai
is played by Toshiro Mifune who towers above everyone else in presence. Majestic
against the rugged landscapes. And the prostitute is Ursula Andress, as likely
to find in a Mexican bordello as clean sheets and a two for one sale. Young
had made a star of Andress in Dr. No, but gets her topless here.
After the robbery, Delon disappears till
near the end of the film. Andress doesn't appear till about halfway through,
but is more than welcome. So, it is basically Bronson and Mifune wandering
the empty Western country on foot and horseback. Mifune was a bodyguard to
the Japanese Ambassador on the train. His fellow bodyguard is killed by Delon
and a ceremonial sword stolen. The Ambassador gives Mifune one week to bring
back the sword or it is seppuku time. It turns into a traditional Buddy film
as Bronson tries to ditch Mifune and Mifune refuses to be dissuaded. Often
in comical scenes. It is some lovely picturesque rocky mountainous country,
but very little happens till the final fifteen minutes when it all comes
to a boil. Bronson is charming, Andress is statuesque, Delon handsome, but
Mifune sword in hand in his Japanese dress waiting for the Native American
attack is what you will remember.
