The Five Man Army

Warner Archive delivers a solid Action yarn posing as a Spaghetti Western in Director Don Taylor's 'THE FIVE MAN ARMY- aka 'UN ESERCITO DI CINQUE UOMINI'- 1969. Released over a decade ago by the Shaorma Digital label in a hazy transfer which is now discontinued and going for big bucks on the collectors market, you can be rest assured that this release is the real deal so you can save your money. Americano Peter Graves in between his 'MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE' series leads a band of men with special talents including James Daly, burly Bud Spencer right before his mega hit Director Enzo Barboni's 'THEY CALL ME TRINITY' aka 'LO CHIAMAVANO TRINITA'- 1970 of which Barboni does the wonderful photography in this film , Tesuro Tamba coming off his role of Tiger Tanaka in Director Lewis Gilbert's 'YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE'- 1967 , Nino Castelnuovo, and Claudio Gora. The film also has the great Piero Lulli, the beautiful Daniela Giordano and genre great Giacomo Rossi Stuart holding down the fort. The score seems to be a collaboration of Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai together which is magnificent and moves the film through its paces. With a script by future thriller director Dario Argento who scribed other Spaghetti's, it resembles a heist film in 'MAGNIFICENT SEVEN' clothing by having our five guys in nail-biting style steal $500,000 in gold from a Mexican train in route of rescuing Castelnuovo's revolutionary character. There seems to be a slight controversy in who the true director of this film was. Rumor has it that Director Taylor left for the US before the film was completed thereby having the films producer Italo Zingarelli finish it off. Zingarelli is also a psuedonymn for Guilio Questi who would also direct the controversial 'DJANGO KILL...IF YOU LIVE SHOOT' aka 'SE SEI VIVO SPARA'- 1967 and produce Barboni's 'TRINITY' series but the direction does not look like his style so I think the film belongs to Taylor. Regardless, its a great rip roaring adventure for all ages. Warner releases it as a DVD-R in a gorgeous 1.85 transfer with crisp sound looking like it was made yesterday. Its interesting to see that modern filmmakers such as Sylvester Stallone with his 'EXPENDABLES' series are still making movies like this so click the add to cart button and see how it was done in the late sixties. Highly Recommended.

a real good film which I rate as good as fistful of dollars as it also has a ennio morricone soundtrack. if you love spagetti westerns you will not be dissapointed. its adiamond in the rough for spagetti western lovers . its pricey but a must have for the spagetti western lovers.

The Western belongs to America. We invented it and we lost it to the Italians during the 60's and early 70's. The Italians loved Westerns and when they died here they re-imagined them there in Italy. So what did we Americans do? Our stars went to Italy to make Italian Westerns! This is a perfect example of this. Five Man Army uses Peter Grave and John Daily as the leads and have American director/actor Don Taylor directing. Enico Morricone wrote the music. However the music isn't top drawer Morricone.The film has a somewhat tv feel in the look of the film and in the story telling. One reviewer used Mission Impossible in his review and that is an accurate statement, because the story feels like a Misson Impossible TV show. Don't get me wrong this is a strong film and an enjoyable one too. The five men are likable and we care about them. The story has enough twists to make the robbery exciting. The action is another area that feels like a tv story. There isn't the blood shed that made Italian Westerns popular at the time.If you are an Italian Western fan like me this is a forgotten gem along with Hannie Caulder.

W western Mission: Impossible I once called this spaghetti western.Peter Graves is the Dutchman, a man with an assignment to steal a large shipment of gold from the Mexican government for the Revolution. It's on a train, well guarded with a troop on horseback every five miles along the route. A carload of soldiers, not to mention those in with gold.He chooses a team for their talents, all associates from his past: the strong man(Bud Spencer), the explosive expert(James Daly), a circus acrobat/sharpshooter(Nino Castuelnuov0), and the expert knifeman(Tetsuro Tanba).Watching them go through the plan is like warching a MI episode: right up to the double cross.Great film.

As good as I remember it.

"At least there is no pesky secretary to disavow of yuor actions":The Five Man Army is indeed a very well-written(by Dario Argento)&well-acted Mexican Revolution-era styled Spaghetti Western starring 2 American TV actors;PeterGraves as the Mastermind called "the Dutchman",in between seasons 3 & 4 as IMF Mastermind Jim Phelps on Mission:Impossible and James Daly ,who would go on to star as the senior doctor/surgeon opposite Chad Everett on the seriesMedical Center.Bud Spencer is cast in an actually believeable character role as Mesito,a Bluto-like strongman,who is not an entirely clownish character as in the Trinity films starring Terence Hill.This is a must own film forSpaghetti Western Aficionados.

- I'm a fan of westerns concerning the Mexican revolution made in the sixties, and the "Five man army" is one of them.- I saw this movie in the early seventies, and remenbered parts of it.- Predictable but good story, performed bij exellent actors like Peter Graves.- Good dialogs witch are not too long, and good action scenes (for me that is).- It's a movie that belongs in the past (end of the sixties) for people of my generation.- I don't think that the young generation of today will buy this item, because violent acts and the special effects of today are muchbetter and more realistic.

I pretty much had no idea what was going on in this movie. I was only in it for the Peter Graves. He looked great, as usual and also seemed like he was having a really good time filming this movie.

Bien

Buono

Happy with my purchase. As described and arrived as stated. 5 Star Experience.

This is a great little spaghetti western featuring Peter Graves and Bud Spencer .The highlight being a train heist with the actors actually doing a lot of their own stunt work! not a back-projection shot in sight ..The Picture Quality is ok (for an archive title that hasn't been restored for blu ray yet) and the music which drives the film along is by Ennio Morricone .

Adventure film set during the Mexican Revolution. Peter Graves stars as the Dutchman, who recruits some old friends (Bud Spencer, Tetsuro Tamba, James Daly and Nino Castelnuovo) to steal $500,000 in gold from a heavily guarded train to fund the rebel forces. I always found this film rather entertaining and was glad to see the opening sequence, which I'd heard of, but not seen, involving Nino Castelnuovo's character reinstated. Previous versions I'd seen always omitted the opening sequence, following the credits, and went straight into the film with Bud Spencer's Mesito character feeding some chickens. For fans of Spaghetti westerns, in particular, this rarely shown film is worth seeking out. It has action aplenty balanced by some moving scenes, all helped along by a bouncy, entertaining score from maestro Ennio Morricone.The DVD from the Warner Archive Collection, which i'm reviewing, is of good picture quality, even though it's not been remastered. Certainly not top drawer, but it is engaging in an undemanding sort of way.