La banda J. & S. - Cronaca criminale del Far West

This latter-day Spaghetti Western boasts a good cast (Tomas Milian, Susan George, Telly Savalas, Laura Betti, Eduardo Fajardo, Rosanna Yanni and Herbert Fux) and is enjoyable while it's on...but the misogynist traits of Milian's character in particular and the general unpleasantness of it all leaves a bad taste in the viewer's mouth. In essence, this is a vulgarization of the Bonnie and Clyde myth in Western garb with Jed (Milian) an illiterate brute with Robin Hood pretensions and Sonny (George, just off Peckinpah's STRAW DOGS [1971]) is almost always on the point of being raped by all and sundry. Among the gallery of grotesques that cross their path are blinded lawman Savalas, whorehouse madam Betti and sex-starved aristocrat Yanni. Ennio Morricone provides the typically eclectic music score but I wouldn't say it's one of his more memorable works.

Woody Allen's "What's Up Tiger Lilly?" was his comic interpretation of a Japanese kung fu film. I realize that Allen had nothing to do with "Sonny and Jed", however the four letter word laced dialog is at times funnier than "Tiger Lilly". Somehow this overlooked curiosity has remained in "spaghetti" obscurity despite the presence of Thomas Milan, Susan George, and Telly Savales. Although this is definitely a parody of the Sergio Leone classics, including a fine Enio Morrocone score, it could come as quite a shock to the "Trinity" crowd, especially in the almost constant use of the "F'" word. There really is no story, just a series of episodes with Milan and George playing a western variation on "Bonnie and Clyde". - MERK

I've been thinking about watching this movie for almost 20 years, but always put off because of the general bad reviews I always read about it. I gotta say these reviews belong to the time the movie was originally released, 1972. They all agree that the movie is silly and that Corbucci made it with the left hand. So far from the truth. Watched today, J&S is a master spaghetti-western, totally on the average of the best Corbucci. Besides the very good Tomas Milian's performance, the witty dialogues, the fabulous cast (Susan George, Telly Savalas, Laura Betti), the charming winter-time Almeria desert locations, the fast pace of the narration and the excellent Morricone's score, J$S stands out for the memorable Jed and Sonny characters and for the love Corbucci shows, once more, for the losers, the marginals and the misfits. There's no clue Corbucci made it just to be on the track of then box-office Spaghetti-western hits like, e.g., Trinità. J&S is a genuine tale about two people trying to survive and keep their freedom in a world which didn't give them any chance. References to Bonnie & Clyde? Not so many. More simply, Corbucci and his writers face the theme of the criminal couple on the run, and do it with an original (and witty) point of view. Which here seems to be the dichotomy nature vs. society. And if you think Corbucci is chauvinist in the way he describes the relationship between Jed and Sonny (at the beginning Jed treats his woman literally like a dog), wait until the ironic end of the movie to express your judgement. Definitely, Corbucci knew what he was doing.

An Italian-Spanish co-production full of action , exaggerated characters, shootouts and lots of violence . The Cuban Thomas Milian, as usual, puts faces, grimaces, crying and overacting, but plays splendidly ; furthermore enjoyable appearance by Susan George , post ¨Straw dogs¨ . The picture tells the lurid criminal story of a famous delinquents couple, detailing a mythologized biography in ¨Bonny and Clyde ¨ style . In the time of the wild west, Jed (top notch Tomas Milian) recently out of jail meets Sonny (gorgeous Susan George), both become bank robbers. The antiheroes go across the American Midwest and South robbing banks , stores and people , embarking in a criminal rampage. They form a criminal gang, without accomplices only for money, for pleasure, for revenge ; they don't care why , rob , kill or how . An obstinate sheriff later blind ( Telly Savalas ) pursues the thieves , and lets nothing detain in his trail of catching them.

This Western is inferior than previous Corbucci's entries but displays stirring adventures, shootouts, riding pursuits and is pretty amusing. It's an exciting western with breathtaking confronting between the two protagonists and the enemy Telly Savallas dressed in long fur coat and his hoodlums. In spite of some moment is boring I think it turns out to be a good Spaghetti Western . Tomas Milian is fine, he plays similarly his role in ¨Cuchillo¨, as he ravages the screen, he jumps, bounds and leaps, hit and run , but also receives violent punches and hits . Telly Savalas as a cruelly baddie role is terrific, subsequently he would play various spaghetti (Pancho Villa ,A reason to live a reason to die, Land raiders, A town hell) . Furthermore, appears usual secondaries Italian/Spanish Western in brief acting as Alvaro De Luna, Dan Van Husen , Rafael Albaicin , Victor Israel , and of course Eduardo Fajardo , Sergio Corbucci's ordinary. The film blends violence, a love story , tension, high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing a shootout or stunt every few minutes. There are many fine technicians and nice production design with excellent scenario of barren outdoors, dirty landscapes under a glimmer sun and a fine set on the Almeria landscape. The musician Ennio Morricone, composes a nice soundtrack and well conducted ; it's full of strange sounds in ¨My name is nobody ¨ wake . Striking cinematography by Luis Cuadrado and Alejandro Ulloa with negative well processed . Outdoor sequences filmed at Colmenar, Madrid and of course Almeria, Spain.

Sergio Corbucci's direction is well crafted , here he's quite cynical and humorous and inclined toward violence and too much action, and contains broad comedy supported on the character played by Tomas Milian . Sergio made several Spaghetti classics: ¨ Django¨, ¨The great silence¨, ¨Hellbenders¨, ¨The specialist¨ , and Zapata Western as ¨The Mercenary¨, ¨The Compañeros¨ and ¨What am I doing in middle of the revolution¨ . In addition Sergio directed other inferior S.W. as ,¨Johnny Oro¨, ¨The white the yellow an the black¨ and ¨Minnesota Clay¨.

Guns and violence are pretty synonymous with the Spaghetti Western genre; and while this film has all that stuff, the real reason Bandits is so good is not because of it; but because of the central characters and their relationship, and works so well mostly thanks to excellent performances from the beautiful Susan George and the immensely talented Tomas Milian. The film takes obvious influence from the famous story of Bonnie and Clyde, and indeed the most shocking thing about this film is the misogynistic nature of the lead male character. The story focuses on Jed; a good for nothing bandit who has little respect for anybody; friend or foe. His life is changed one day when he runs into a wannabe bandit by the name of Sonny, who he later finds out (much to his annoyance) is a female. They get split up after a robbery goes wrong, but fate soon brings the pair back together and they soon win themselves a reputation and have a price put on their head, leading the determined Sheriff Franciscus to chase the pair; stopping at nothing to bring them to justice.

Bandits has two central plots; we have the idea of the pair being wanted and chased by mercenaries, and also the relationship between them. It's the latter plot that is by far the most interesting and the one that director Sergio Corbucci is most keen to focus on. He ensures that both of his central characters are extremely well fleshed out and this benefits the film immensely as the audience is really made to care for them. This genre is not well known for well put together characters, so that makes this film all the more surprising. Tomas Milian is undoubtedly the film's biggest standout and I would have no qualms putting him right near the top of an all time greatest actors list. He leads the film amazingly well and we're never left in any doubt as to who the star of the show is. He gets good support from Susan George in one of her best roles and Telly Savalas who is effective as the lawman. It all boils down to a conclusion that brings closure to both of the main plots and while Sergio Corbucci will always be better remembered for Django and The Grand Silence; this is still an excellent Spaghetti Western and not one to miss!