Em Liberdade para Matar

The plot of this movie may seem familiar to Western devotees and so it should because it is essentially the same as that deployed by Brando in his sole directorial credit One Eyed Jacks ,namely an ex jailbird bent on revenge on a former associate ,now a man of wealth and substance ,who he feels has double crossed him .Where the movies part company is that Brando used the plot as the vehicle for a grim almost Jacobean revenge tragedy ,this movie takes a lighter ,friskier tone Peppard plays the wronged man ,one Harker Fleet ,who seeks to get back at his former associate in crime ,Timothy Nolan -well played by John Vernon.They are rivals for the favours of Diane Muldaur and also vie with each other in striving to rob an elderly Chinese man of his gold Andrew V McLaglen -who along with Burt Kennedy was virtually the only man directing Westerns on a regular basis in the USA during the seventies-keeps things moving briskly and the action is vigorous and well paced .Good performances and a tongue in cheek script help maintain interest and the result is a diverting second tier Western that many people will enjoy

This is a great old 1970s western with everything you'd want in one of these films. Great actors/acting, really well done action scenes, a good story/writing, and even some great jokes. A win.

It could've been a solid 10/10 if the story was a bit deeper with like 2.5 to 2 hours runtime.

Great actors, decent budget and a very clever storyline with plots and mindgames.

George Peppard is a train robber by profession. After his last, failed robbery, he wound up in prison. Now he's out and looking for vengeance on his former partners, especially John Vernon, who speaks with an Irish accent.

This looks like a TV movie writ large, and that's probably the effect of having Andrew Maclaglen direct. He was the look-alike son of Victor Maclaglen. After working as an assistant director on action films, he started directing TV, including a lot of westerns like HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL and GUNSMOKE. He started directing action movies. They were mostly westerns, but there was always something cartoon-like about his films. He directed his last movie in 1991. He died in 2014, aged 94.

It is astonishing to me that, in the world of the modern Western, no one studio has been willing to give this movie a release on home video or DVD. Astonishing, and disappointing, for it truly is a jewel, and features some fine action sequences and performances.

In the film, George Peppard plays Harker Fleet, a dashing blonde haired Cowboy who was apparently served a stint in prison while his former comrade Timothy Nolan (played by John Vernon) got away both with their last big score, along with his woman (played by Diana Muldaur). Upon his release, Harker is determined to even the score, and sets about his task by aiding a local Chinese commune that is being preyed upon by Nolan and his henchmen.

One fantastic action sequences has Harker slipping out to a barn, knocking out a handsome henchman, tying him up, and using the same rope to pull himself up so that he can listen in to a meeting between Nolan and his associates. Another has Harker knocking around Nolan's chief henchman Jim Gant at a party, while the Chinese infiltrate Nolan's compound and recover a prisoner who was being held for ransom.

This was what classic Westerns were all about- men dealing with the bad guys not only with their guns, but also with their brains, and at times, with their fists. It is this intermingling of Harker's brains, braun, and skill with a six-shooter that makes this a very worthwhile film.

Notwithstanding what I felt was a very sloppy and annoying performance by Diana Muldaur (in the film she seems so obnoxious and stodgy that you expect she was in part responsible for betraying Harker in the first place), this is a fantastic film, and I give it very high praise!