The Revengers

As others here and elsewhere have noted, "The Revengers" is an obvious attempt to emulate "The Wild Bunch" and "The Dirty Dozen", from its casting William Holden and Ernest Borgnine, to the idea of hiring criminals to go on a dangerous mission. Though as derivative this movie is, it could all the same been a lot of fun in the right hands, but the movie ends up being kind of flat. One of the biggest problems with the movie is the direction by Daniel Mann. The movie is lacking grit and the necessary hard edge a revenge western really needs. Even the times when the bullets start to fly, the action mostly has a been there, done that feeling. (Though the climatic sequence does have some excitement.) But there are problems with the script as well. It doesn't script that many action moments, for one thing (it takes almost half the movie before the first true action scene comes.) The story also plods along with a lot of filler, such as the whole unnecessary sequence with Susan Hayward. While the movie never gets to the point of being boring, it is definitely lacking sufficient punch to entertain more than just die hard western fans. It's no surprise that it was a box office disappointment, though the then declining popularity of the western genre as a whole probably played a part as well.

Mediocre Western with a relentless revenger , William Holden , post-¨Wild Bunch¨. The rancher named John Benedict (William Holden) goes back his ranch when he meets his family has been slaughtered by a gang of marauding Comancheros and his farm is devastated . Holden is decided to take a group of prisoners and strike a blow against the Comancheros bandits . He goes to a Territorial Prison where he gets a gang of misfit thieves, and other mean convicts . As he assembles a band of outlaws prisoners to act as his posse as they chase the bunch responsible for the deaths of his loved ones . The misfit group is formed by lawless of various countries as a French (Roger Hanin), German (Reinhard Kolldehoff), Mexican (Jorge Hoyos) , a mestizo (Jorge Luke) , an ex-slave ( Woody Strode ) and of course the Yankees (played by William Holden and Ernest Borgnine ), but the men came too late and stayed too long . After that , they go across Mexican territory , being led by Benedict and his ragtag team . At the ending the Wild Bunch makes a violent stand against Indians who besiege a northern fort.

This average Western packs lots of action, shootouts, and explosive violence . Taut excitement throughout, beautifully photographed and with spectacular bloodletting but lousy realized with flaws and gaps . William Holden is good as peaceful rancher who turns apart , becoming two-fisted avenger. As Holden is nice as the older gunfighters with their own ethic codes . Furthermore, fine secondaries as Arthur Hunnicutt , Woody Strode , an excessive acting of Ernest Borgnine and Susan Hayward in her last film gives one of the best performances as spinster who falls in love with Holden in some silly love scenes . The story is exactly like ¨The magnificent seven ride ¡ by George McCowan¨ in which the starring, Lee Van Cleef-a Holden lookalike role, after massacred his family enlists convicts in ¨Dirty dozen¨ style with customary outlaws band formed by an eclectic group ; adding brief touches Spaghetti Western with usual theme as 'Vengeance' as leitmotif . The film gets action Western, exciting go riding , shoot outs, it's entertaining , although nothing new but displays a bad pace . The movie contains some moment of grisly violence and even touching on the relationships between the inmates . Colorful cinematography filmed in Mexico by Gabriel Torres Estudios Churubusco Azteca, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico (studio) and on location in Lagunas de Zempoala, Morelos, Parral, Chihuahua, Torreón, Coahuíla,Tres Marias, Morelos,Viesca, Coahuíla. Atmospheric musical score fitting to action Wesstern by Pino Calvi. The motion picture is regularly directed by Daniel Mann , an expert on dramas as ¨Come back little Seba , Rose Tattoo , Last hungry man ¨, but no in Western genre. Recently restored and reissued with perfect remastering is agreeable seeing for spectacular Mexican outdoors. Rating : 5, 5 , passable.

The Revengers is directed by Daniel Mann and written by Wendell Mayes and Steven W. Carabatsos. It stars William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Woody Strode, Roger Hanin, Reinhard Kolldehoff, Jorge Luke, Jorge Martínez de Hoyos, Susan Hayward and Arthur Hunnicutt. A De Luxe Color/Panavision production, music is by Pino Calvi and cinematography by Gabriel Torres.

Colorado rancher John Benedict (Holden) hires six chain-gang convicts to find the white comancheros who led an Indian raid that massacred his family and friends.

It is pretty much a Western Dirty Half Dozen, with Holden getting to play the Lee Marvin role and Borgnine, stripped of the weight he was carrying when The Dirty Dozen was made in 1967, getting the chance to be one of the crims on a mission instead of the cameo role of General Worden in Robert Aldrich's macho magnificence.

Nicely filmed out of various Mexican locations, film is essentially dealing with a man so hell bent on revenge he comes to resemble the criminals he now rides with. But even crims have codes and ethics as well! Director Daniel Mann never really gets to grips with the character dynamics, leaving hanging the themes of surrogate fatherhood and slave stoicism, while an interim part of the play that sees Hayward nurse Holden back to health actually bogs down the picture, coming off as an excuse to pitch the two great actors together again.

Oh the performances of the cast are enjoyable, especially Borgnine who is having fun as a sly old grizzler, and Holden is as stoic and sternly professional as always, but nothing ever advances beyond being a bunch of blokes traversing the landscapes in readiness for a siege. Is the anticipated siege worth the wait? Actually yes it is, and it goes some way to explaining why the film hasn't fallen into the trough of stinky waters never to be used to quench the Western lovers thirst. But then! Something happens to make you think the Production Code was back in boorish operation. Pah! I imagine Peckinpah and Aldrich shed a frustrated tear at this point... 6/10

Elements of "The Revengers" are very familiar, though the overall package is reasonably original and engaging.

The story begins with the writer telegraphing what will soon happen. After all, John Benedict (William Holden) is deliriously happy as he returns home to his family on their ranch. You just KNOW something bad will soon happen...and it does. While John is at another part of the property, bandits arrive and massacre his wife, his four kids and a friend. Soon John vows to spend his remaining days looking for the scum who murdered these innocent souls...and it soon becomes an obsession, like Gregory Peck's character in "The Bravados".

To get revenge, however, Benedict cannot go off half-cocked. After all, a gang of bandits and renegade Indians did this, and it's not like he alone can take on these thugs. So, much like "The Professionals", Benedict goes to round up expert killers to help in his quest...and settles on prisoners ("The Dirty Dozen"). But it won't be easy...these men ARE killers and sociopaths! What's next? See the film.

There are a few minor problems with the film, such as how quickly and easily the hired killers seem to reform and buy in to Benedict's quest. Also, the kill ratio seems to be about 100:1 in the film....as he and his men seem more like Terminators due to their abilities to defeat other hardened criminals with apparent ease! But still, it is entertaining and well done....and you get a chance to see Susan Hayward in her final film, as cancer would claim her only a bit after doing this movie.

A homesteader's family are wiped out by a renegade Injun party and he vows his revenge

" Wow Theo . That sounds like so many other dire generic Westerns . Tell us why you gave it seven out of ten "

Easily explained . It's an old fashioned premise done in the New Hollywood style . Hollywood had done way with the dichotomy of good and bad and decided to paint everything in grey . Some people have mentioned both THE WILD BUNCH and THE DIRTY DOZEN in their comments and you can see some very obvious parallels as the protagonist hires some cut throat prisoners as a posse and you're left with a feeling this might simply backfire on him

Another aspect is the rather bloodthirsty element . New Hollywood had torn up the Hays Code rulebook and consigned it to history a few years earlier and THE WILD BUNCH was responsible for this more than any other film and whilst it doesn't have the same directorial style as Peckinpah would have brought to the movie it's enjoyably mean enough to appeal to audience members who aren't keen on the genre