La poursuite sauvage

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.

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

Rancher John Benedict's wife and four children are killed one day by Comanche Indians.He needs to revenge for their deaths.He gathers up a posse formed of six prisoners.Their job is to find a man named Tarp, who led the slaughter.The Revengers (1972) is directed by Daniel Mann.There's a great ensemble in this movie.The legendary William Holden plays John Benedict.A legend is also Ernest Borgnine, a living legend, I might add.He plays Hoop.Today this man celebrates his 95th birthday.That's quite an achievement.And he's done about 200 movies in his career.And he's still not thinking of retirement.Way to go, Ernie! The terrific Woody Strode portrays Job.Roger Hanin plays the part of Quiberon.Susan Hayward returned from her voluntary retirement to play Elizabeth Reilly.Arthur Hunnicutt is Free State.Warren Vanders plays Tarp.Larry Pennell is Arny.James Daughton is Morgan.Holden's late son, Scott Holden, plays Lieutenant.I'd say as a western this is underrated.It may not reach the level of The Wild Bunch, but there still are some likable qualities in this movie.It's a manly movie, but those moments between Bill Holden and Susan Hayward are filled with sweetness and tenderness.And those manly scenes also work, the bloody battle scenes.Watch this movie and have your own opinion of it.But I liked it pretty much.

Indians led by a renegade kill William Holden's family, so he rides from Colorado to Mexico to pick out violent prisoners to lead in a vengeful raid.

This western remake of THE DIRTY DOZEN has some fine performers in its ranks, including Ernest Borgnine (who overacts), Woody Strode, Arthur Hunnicutt and, in her final film role, Susan Hayward sporting an Irish accent. There's a nice bit of writing, involving points that the earlier, better known movie often slides over: here, the violent criminals are not team players. The ending may look like they ran out of money for the production, or as if Holden wanted to get back to drinking in Africa, but it's decently set-up, and there are plenty of explosions.

Cinematographer Gabriel Torres shoots springtime Mexico in a style that suggests the Hudson Valley school of painting as it evolved in the second half of the 20th Century.

At first glance this would seem to be just another violent western of the same class as "The Wild Bunch". Look more deeply into the characters and you will find several interesting changes over the course of the movie. Each character shows a human and sometimes frail side that belies the hard person that they have become.