HotToastyRag William Holden is devastated when Apaches butcher his family in the western The Revengers. He plans his revenge and forms his own posse of convicted felons, and sets out to find the Indians responsible.I'm not a William Holden fan, and I don't usually like westerns, so this wasn't my favorite movie. I watched it because of Susan Hayward, but she had a pretty small part, so it was hardly worth the wait. There have been many "take revenge against the murdering Indians" movies, and this one isn't really the best. I can't think of one in that genre that is "the best" because it's usually a pretty tired, one-dimensional genre: white man good; Indian bad. Unless you absolutely loved playing Cowboys vs. Indians when you were a little boy, there isn't really a good reason to watch this movie.

zardoz-13 "Our Man Flint" director Daniel Mann's western "The Revengers" resembles Henry King's horse opera "The Bravados" (1958) about a vengeful rancher who tracks down the evil gunmen who murdered his wife and then gradually becomes as callous as the men that he killed. In "The Revengers," a peaceful rancher rides off, leaving his family behind briefly, to track down a wounded mountain lion that his son had shot earlier. Our hero found the mountain lion dead. During his absence, however, a gang of barbaric Comancheros attack his house, massacre his entire family. One of his long-time ranch hands dies, too. The protagonist of this adventurous western, John Benedict (William Holden), heads down to Mexico, assembles a half-dozen dastards that he bails from a dirty Hispanic prison a la "Dirty Dozen," and sets out after the white man with different colored eyes who wiped out his wife, two daughters, and oldest son bound to attend the West Point Military Academy. The better-than-average cast includes Ernest Borgnine as scene-stealing scumbag named Mr. Hoop and Woody Strode as a cantankerous ex-slave who takes his own sweet time making up his mind about his decisions. Benedict and his gunmen search Mexico for years until our protagonist becomes so callous that one of his old friends not only doesn't recognize him but also shuns him for what he has become. "The Revengers" evokes memories of "The Wild Bunch," and some of its scenes are played out in "Wild Bunch" locations. "Death Wish" scenarist Wendell Mayes wrote the screenplay based on Steven W. Carabatsos' story. Carabatsos is best known for the Lee Van Cleef & Jim Brown western "El Condor." Susan Hayward shows up about three-quarters of the way through as a nurse who takes care of Benedict after he is shot and left for dead in a cantina by one of his own men. This film marked Hayward's last big screen role. The chief with "The Revengers" is the slipshod ending. You expect that the reformed Benedict plans to pick up her, but all we see at fade-out is a long shot of his sprawling ranch as he drives horses to it. The Pino Calvi orchestral score is excellent. Essentially, "The Revengers" has a Spaghetti western sensibility to it and Calvi's score alludes to throughout its 148 minutes. Producer Martin Rackin has done an excellent job making this western look prestigious. Prior to making "The Revengers," Holden played a wanderlust cowpoke in Blake Edwards "The Wild Rovers" with Ryan O'Neal. "The Revengers" marked Holden's last appearance in a horse opera.

Wizard-8 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.

ma-cortes Mediocre Western with a relentless revenger , William Holden , post-¨Wild Bunch¨. The rancher named John Benedict (William Holden) goes back his ranch when he meets his family has been slaughtered by a gang of marauding Comancheros and his farm is devastated . Holden is decided to take a group of prisoners and strike a blow against the Comancheros bandits . He goes to a Territorial Prison where he gets a gang of misfit thieves, and other mean convicts . As he assembles a band of outlaws prisoners to act as his posse as they chase the bunch responsible for the deaths of his loved ones . The misfit group is formed by lawless of various countries as a French (Roger Hanin), German (Reinhard Kolldehoff), Mexican (Jorge Hoyos) , a mestizo (Jorge Luke) , an ex-slave ( Woody Strode ) and of course the Yankees (played by William Holden and Ernest Borgnine ), but the men came too late and stayed too long . After that , they go across Mexican territory , being led by Benedict and his ragtag team . At the ending the Wild Bunch makes a violent stand against Indians who besiege a northern fort.This average Western packs lots of action, shootouts, and explosive violence . Taut excitement throughout, beautifully photographed and with spectacular bloodletting but lousy realized with flaws and gaps . William Holden is good as peaceful rancher who turns apart , becoming two-fisted avenger. As Holden is nice as the older gunfighters with their own ethic codes . Furthermore, fine secondaries as Arthur Hunnicutt , Woody Strode , an excessive acting of Ernest Borgnine and Susan Hayward in her last film gives one of the best performances as spinster who falls in love with Holden in some silly love scenes . The story is exactly like ¨The magnificent seven ride ¡ by George McCowan¨ in which the starring, Lee Van Cleef-a Holden lookalike role, after massacred his family enlists convicts in ¨Dirty dozen¨ style with customary outlaws band formed by an eclectic group ; adding brief touches Spaghetti Western with usual theme as 'Vengeance' as leitmotif . The film gets action Western, exciting go riding , shoot outs, it's entertaining , although nothing new but displays a bad pace . The movie contains some moment of grisly violence and even touching on the relationships between the inmates . Colorful cinematography filmed in Mexico by Gabriel Torres Estudios Churubusco Azteca, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico (studio) and on location in Lagunas de Zempoala, Morelos, Parral, Chihuahua, Torreón, Coahuíla,Tres Marias, Morelos,Viesca, Coahuíla. Atmospheric musical score fitting to action Wesstern by Pino Calvi. The motion picture is regularly directed by Daniel Mann , an expert on dramas as ¨Come back little Seba , Rose Tattoo , Last hungry man ¨, but no in Western genre. Recently restored and reissued with perfect remastering is agreeable seeing for spectacular Mexican outdoors. Rating : 5, 5 , passable.