The Five Man Army (1970)

Please don't spend money on this.

hyped garbage

An unexpected masterpiece

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

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

The Mexican emissary and former acrobat Luis Dominguez (Nino Castelnuovo) comes to America to summon the outlaw Mesito (Bud Spencer) that is working in a farm; the gambler and expert in dynamite Capt. Nicolas Augustus (James Daly); and the mute Japanese Samurai (Tetsuro Tamba) that has a great skill with knives under the call of their acquaintance Dutchman (Peter Graves) from Mexico with the promise of a reward of one thousand dollar for each one. When the five men reunite, Dutchman explains that there is a big, fat, juice train transporting five hundred thousand dollar for the Dictator General Huerta and the leader of the revolutionary forces proposed them to rob the train to support the peasants and the revolution. However, the plan seems to be impossible to be accomplished since the train is protected by an army, but the five men decide to rob the gold and double-cross the revolutionaries. But some of them have hidden intentions… "Un Esercito di Cinque Uomini" is a "spaguetti" western at best. The story, with screenplay of Dario Argento, is full of action and betrayals developed in a fast pace and with a great camera work. The result is a funny and entertaining movie, with situations resolved in the most impossible way. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Exército de 5 Homens" ("Five Man Army")

One of the many spaghetti westerns apparently filmed in English, "Un esercito di cinque uomini" (called "The Five Man Army" in English) is nothing really special but worth seeing. Peter Graves plays Dutchman, an American outlaw leading four other men to capture some gold to donate to the Mexican Revolution. This movie really has the feeling of a spaghetti western, what with Ennio Morricone's music and all. The scenery - rolling desert hills - is almost a character itself. Some people may wonder how many movies there can be about people battling corrupt generals, but that misses the point. The point here is to get enthralled, and I'm sure that you will. Overall, the whole movie gives one a really energetic feeling. Pretty interesting, and a neat start for Dario Argento.Watching Peter Graves, I half expected him to blurt out one of his lines from "Airplane!". Maybe that's just me, but he gives me that feeling.

The Five Man Army is a Spaghetti Western made toward the end of the cycle financed by MGM and Directed by American Don Taylor.The visuals are strong and pacing is adequate with an interesting blend of Italian and American Actors with one Samurai character thrown in. While this film does not have the style of a Sergio Leone Production it does have two very strong elements of his , the screenplay by Dario Argento and the sixth character in the army Ennio Morricone's brilliant score. These themes have haunted me for thirty years since I first saw this film at a drive-in. It is as strong as The Good The Bad and The Ugly. Perhaps not as diverse as Once upon a Time in the West where every Character has their own theme, but every bit as powerful. It is ultimately the score that carries this film, as the acting is pretty stiff. The Screenplay is typical of Argento light on dialogue with a twist at the end, of course this is early in his career. If you like your Spaghetti al dente only you may not care for this film. But if you are like me, a fan of this lost genre you may savor every bite of this Delicious side dish. Makes a great double bill with "My Name is Nobody".