The Spikes Gang

After escape home , three young man friends (Gary Grimes , Charles Martin Smith , Ron Howard) form a strong alliance , a dynamic trio combining raw untamed youth . Later on , they meet an old man named Spikes (Lee Marvin) with the experience only a master gunfighter can offer . As three boys wanted to be like their hero and they got their wish . They create his own band and carry out a great number of bank robberies and murders and soon they were worth a fortune . They are become as outlaws with a price on their heads . But they are trapped in Mexico , and while awaiting a trial they are released on bail by the bandit Spikes . The three young men accompanied by the veteran crook on the raid bank again , in which two of them are severely wounded . Then , the lawmen form a posse and engage to hunt down the gang.

This exciting film packs Western action , rider-pursuits , thrills, emotion , shootouts and results to be quite entertaining . Besides , it contains good feeling , such as friendship , faithfulness and companionship although it was betrayed by one of them at the end . The young players who wear extremely low holsters are phenomenal , they will have too much successes in their future , especially Ron Howard (American Graffiti) with a successful career as a nice director (Beautiful mind , Cinderella man , Da Vinci Code) , Charles Martin Smith as a prestigious secondary (Starman, Untouchables) , and Gary Grimes (Summer of 42, Class of 44) as a Western starring in similar role as a naive cowboy (Cahill US Marshal , CulpepperCattle) , though he is nowadays retreated . And , of course , the great Lee Marvin , he gives a terrific acting as a tough gunslinger . Furthermore , there also appears two notorious secondary actors from numerous Westerns : Noah Beery Jr and Arthur Hunnicut . Robert Beatty , despite being credited as The Sheriff , is nowhere to be seen . And some Spanish secondary actors , usual in Pasta/Chorizo Western , such as : Ricardo Palacios , Adolfo Thous and Rafael Albaicín . The film was shot in Tabernas , Almeria (Spain) , a location where was filmed hundreds of Spaghetti/Paella Westerns during the 60s and 70s . The motion picture was well directed by Richard Fleischer . The movie will appeal to Lee Marvin fans and twilight Western enthusiasts.

The Spikes Gang is a very good western that shows what probably happened to a good many youngsters who struck out on their own in the expanding west. It is one of three westerns that Gary Grimes starred in that gave a darker and truer view of life in the old west for teenager. The others are The Culpepper Cattle Co., 1972 and Cahill, U.S. Marshall, 1973.

Lee Marvin plays a wounded bank robber, (Spikes) on the run from a posse, whom three teens find (Grimes, Ron Howard and Charles Martin Smith) and nurse back to health. The three youths, small community and under the heavy hand of discipline, become enthralled with Spikes and soon strike out on their own soon after he departs.

After a series of misadventures, the youngsters meet up with Spikes again, who, against his better judgment, takes them under his wing.

The Spikes Gang is a fast paced movie and seems to play upon the anonymity of three teenagers, ill-prepared for a brutal and unforgiving way of life. The one drawback to the pace is that it does not give a good sense for the passage of time, but is effective in emphasizing the few sparks in mundane lives.

As part of the Grimes Western trilogy, one can get a good look at an overly romanticized part of history.

Lee Marvin has played the role of crusty gunslinger many times, and he does not disappoint here. The story of three farm boys throwing in with the wily bank robber is both believable and different. The film is never dull, with Marvin spewing forth quotable lines throughout. This is not some sugar coated view of their desperate situation as hunted men, but rather a realistic look at the downside of breaking the law. Of course the boys elicit sympathy, even though they are killers, no different than their mentor. "The Spikes Gang" is one of those movies that far exceeds expectations, is worth seeking out, and not easily forgotten. - MERK

A gem of a movie.Very realistic and exciting.A good combination of an established actor (Marvin) combined with up & coming actors (Grimes,Smith & Howard).It portrays the american west in a realistic manner (like most westerns from the late 60's & early 70's)

Three farm boys -- Gary Grimes, Ron Howard, and Charles Martin Smith -- find injured bank robber Lee Martin. They take care of him, and lie to their family and the posse pursuing him. When he offers to pay them, they turn him down. Then, on their own, they decide to rob a bank. They find themselves pursued to the Mexican border. South of the line, they find Marvin, who offers to take them on in his line of work.

Richard Fleischer's movie is set in a landscape of occasional falling-down builds in empty landscape and people of unforgiving morality and seemingly good-natured outlaws. In many ways, it's the flip side of Mark Rydell's THE COWBOYS, teaching a much harder and less palatable lesson in how to live in a harsh world. With Arthur Hunnicut and Noah Beery Jr.