Ein Fressen für die Geier

It was a different kind of western with a surprising ending. Clint Eastwood and Shirley McClaine had great chemistry and gave great performances; especially Clint Eastwood. It was fun to watch with a good story line. Very entertaining!

When the French army took control of the country we call Mexico, they counted on one factor to help them subdue the population, . . . fear! The use of Fear, through, intimation, torture, and outright execution worked, but not in the way they thought it would. The French brutality had an effect alright, it had the disastrous consequence of cementing the people, their friends and hundreds of mercenaries into an avenging force. Although there are many stories of the revolution, several stand out as movie classics. The Professionals, is one favorite, another is, "Two Mules for Sister Sara." In this story we have an American mercenary (Clint Eastwood) named Hogan who has bitter memories of the Civil War and decides to try for a quick Gold fortune in Mexico. He agrees to help Mexican Col. Beltran (Manuel Fabregas) take the French Garrison in exchange for half the treasury. Along the way, Hogan is joined by a traveling Catholic Nun, named Sister Sara (Shirley MacLaine) who has more secrets than just fear of being captured by the French. Innicially captured by three whiskey drinking rouges who strip, humiliate and threaten the beautiful Nun, she becomes a surprising and necessary ally. In their wondering, they save each other's life until the end, when Hogan is completely shocked with Sister Sara as she reveals her most guarded secret. I loved the movie, especially it's memorable and haunting theme at the beginning of the film. Superb! ****

Clint and Shirley have great chemistry together. The movie is light on action and works as a lighthearted comedy. The music by Ennio Morricone is cool . The movie is really funny in some places like the talk about the ass. The dialogue is often witty. There is no unnecessary violence. The movie has moments when it gets little serious , but not too serious . The plot is not quite predictable as one could suspect. The final battle is quite exciting.

Despite what IMDb tells you this is not really a war movie. It is set during war , but it's western. It's one of Eastwood weaker westerns , but still a good and enjoyable movie. I give it 7/10.

P.S. For those who don't understood the title - Eastwood is stubborn as mule , get it ? It's a joke.

Don Siegel's "Two Mules For Sister Sara" starring Clint Eastwood and Shirley MacLaine is certainly not one of the brilliant Westerns with Eastwood, but it is a very well directed, greatly acted and very amusing little Western comedy with good wit that highly entertains. Eastwood, who is cool as always, and the lovable MacLaine match perfectly, and the plot has some nice twists (although it should be said that some of the 'twists' are not really too surprising).

After gunsling Hogan (Eastwood) saves a nun named Sara (MacLaine) from a bunch of guys who wanted to rape her in the middle of the desert by shooting them, he now has to take care of her, which annoys him. It's a time of revolution against the French in Mexico, and while Hogan, who is interested in quick money, will fight for whichever side pays well (which happens to be the revolutionaries), his new traveling companion Sara is very obviously an idealistic supporter of the revolutionary Juaristas...

As mentioned above, "Two Mules For Sister Sara" can in no way come up to the brilliance of Eastwood movies such as Leone's Dollar Trilogy (few movies can) or Eastwood's very own "High Plains Drifter" of 1973. Nevertheless, it is a good little western with a lot of charm and wit, which provides an exciting story, action and great entertainment as well as many good laughs. Clint Eastwood has always been the epitome of coolness, especially in his Westerns, and MacLaine is great in her role of the feisty sister Sara. Overall, "Two Mules For Sister Sara" is a highly entertaining Western Comedy, that will not leave anybody bored. Recommended! 7/10

To tell you the truth, I expected 'Two Mules for Sister Sara' to be a mediocre movie, only trying to take advantage of Eastwood's success with Sergio Leone's film. However, it came to become one of my favourite westerns, even though I've seen a handful of them.

Despite its naivety, the film has a good screenplay. Eastwood played well, but MacLaine offered without a doubt the best performance. The music, composed by Ennio Morricone, was magnificent.

The movie was perhaps too talky for a western, giving us some memorable quotes though. Also, many goofs were present, including the dynamite usage, downgrading the overall result.

I definitely recommend 'Two Mules for Sister Sara' to Eastwood and western fans. From my point of view, it surely isn't a masterpiece, but it is good work, long forgotten.