zardoz-13 A violent western that takes place in Mexico before the collapse of Emperor Maximilian, "The Bandits" looks like a synthesis of John Sturges' "The Magnificent Seven" and Sam Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch." Three selfish gringos find themselves in the thick of the revolution against the French. Things get off to an interesting start with the eponymous trio, Chris Barrett (Robert Conrad of "Young Dillinger"), Josh Racker (Roy Jensen of "Ride Lonesome") and Taye 'Boy' Brown (future Disney star Jan-Michael Vincent), straddling their horses under a tree with nooses looped about their necks. Miguel Valdez (Manuel López Ochoa) and his compadres gun down the bounty hunters who were about to hang our heroes. Chris, Josh, and Boy accompany Valdez and his men into Mexico and participate briefly in the revolution. They set a trap for Captain Sanchez and he falls into it without a second thought. Our heroes help Valdez wipe out the French to the last man. Miraculously, Sanchez survives the shoot-out and Valdez, in a moment of weakness, lets him live. Afterward, Chris, Josh, and Boy ride into Valdez's village. As it turns out, the inhabitants of Valdez's village have a low opinion of Americans. The thing that stands out about the three outlaw Americans is that they shun wearing headgear. Valdez tries to shame his fellow villagers when they refuse to come out and greet their American guests. This scene is reminiscent of a similar scene in "The Magnificent Seven" when the peasants are too timid to come out to greet the seven gunslingers. Chris has a fling with a lady from the village. Later, the villainous French commander who was allowed to live after his initial encounter with Valdez shows up and has the lady executed by a firing squad. Pretty soon our gringo heroes feel compassion toward the poor villagers. Chris shoots the commander and dies in a hail of gunfire. Boy goes down shooting. The supreme surprise here is not only does Robert Conrad and Jan-Michael Vincent bite the dust, but the villains triumph over them in the end. In a change of pace, our unrepentant heroes pay the ultimate price, and ironically one of them meets his death at the end of a rope. The scenery is fresh and sprawling, and composer Manuel Esperón has written a powerful score that celebrates the bravura of the country and the hardy individuals who thrive in it. Indeed, this is the kind of Robert Conrad picture where he sheds his shirt during his scene with his lover. The gunfights are loud and noisy. "The Bandits" isn't a predictable, run-of-the-mill oater. Production values are sturdy. Clocking in at a trim 88 minutes, this solid, compact, little horse opera never wears out its welcome.

PFJOHN1 As a big Robert Conrad fan I purchased the tape a few years back, watched it once and put it on the shelf, just recently looked at it again and enjoyed it more the second time around. Roy Jensen and Jan-Michael Vincent co star in this by the books western yarn, Jensen, who appeared with Conrad in the "Wild Wild West" episode "Night of the Eccentrics" plays one of three outlaws running from the law and travel south into Mexico where they are caught by mercenaries but are released while on the end of hang mans ropes quite literally, a lot of riding horses through the desert shots later the film meets a violent end. Conrad starred and co-directed on a trip to Mexico during hiatus between season 1 and 2 of "Wild Wild West". If you are a Conrad fan you should be satisfied by this effort, I believe it was Jan Michael Vincent's first film role as well.