Vamos a matar, compañeros (1970)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Sergio Corbucci

Writers:

Sergio Corbucci (screenplay)
Sergio Corbucci (story)
(more)

Release Date:

April 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Western | Comedy

Tagline:

Fate brought them together. Greed made them inseparable, and violence made them Companeros!

Plot:

Arms dealer Yolaf Peterson aims to make a sale to guerilla Mongo, but the money is locked in a bank safe...

Plot Keywords:

Political | Female Nudity | Nudity | Zapata Western | Train

Cast

Franco Nero	...	Yodlaf Peterson
Tomas Milian	...	El Vasco
Jack Palance	...	John
Fernando Rey	...	Prof. Xantos
Iris Berben	...	Lola
José Bódalo	...	Gen. Mongo (as Francisco Bódalo)
Eduardo Fajardo	...	Colonel (as Edoardo Fajardo)
Karin Schubert	...	Zaira
Gino Pernice	...	Tourneur (as Luigi Pernice)
Álvaro de Luna
Jesús Fernández
Claudio Scarchilli
Lorenzo Robledo
Giovanni Petrucci		(as Giovanni Petti)
Gérard Tichy	...	Lieutenant
Gianni Pulone		(as Giovanni Pulone)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ramón Fernández Tejela
Simón Arriaga	...	(uncredited)
Tito García	...	Pepito Tigrero (uncredited)
Víctor Israel	...	Rosenbloom henchman with brown suit (uncredited)
Vicente Roca	...	Rosenbloom henchman with tropical hat (uncredited)

Directed by
Sergio Corbucci

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Sergio Corbucci		screenplay
Sergio Corbucci		story
Massimo De Rita		writer
Fritz Ebert		writer
José Frade		dialogue
Arduino Maiuri		writer (as Dino Maiuri)

Produced by
Antonio Morelli	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Ennio Morricone

Cinematography by
Alejandro Ulloa

Film Editing by
Eugenio Alabiso

Production Design by
Adolfo Cofiño

Costume Design by
Jürgen Henze

Makeup Department
Giuseppe Capogrosso	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Maria Alabasio	....	unit manager
Enrique Bellot	....	unit manager
Norberto Soliño	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sabatino Ciuffini	....	assistant director
Ricardo Huertas	....	assistant director
Manfred R. Köhler	....	assistant director (as Manfred Köhler)

Sound Department
Nick Alexander	....	dubbing engineer
Antonio Forrest	....	sound engineer

Camera and Electrical Department
Giovanni Bergamini	....	camera operator
Ruggero Radicchi	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Osanna Guardini	....	wardrobe assistant

Editorial Department
Giuseppe Romano	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Bruno Nicolai	....	conductor

Other crew
Lamberto Andreani	....	production coordinator
Francisco Bellot	....	production coordinator (as Paco Bellot)

Production Companies

• Atlántida Films
• Terra-Filmkunst
• Tritone Cinematografica

Distributors

• Atlántida Films (1970) (Spain) (theatrical)
• GSF (1972) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Constantin Film (1971) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (USA) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• Argentina Video Home (2009) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Astro Distribution (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Reserva Especial (Brazil) (VHS)
• Terra-Filmkunst (2005) (Germany) (all media)

Also Known As:

Companeros (USA)
Laßt uns töten, Companeros (West Germany)
Los compañeros (Spain)
Zwei Compañeros (West Germany)

Runtime:

118 min | Spain:110 min | Germany:115 min

Country:

Spain | Italy | West Germany

Language:

Italian | English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (cut) (1971) | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (2005) | West Germany:18 (nf) | Singapore:NC-16 | Norway:16 (1970) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (1995) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Atlántida Films

Trivia:

At one point, Tomas Milian is seen dragging a coffin out of a graveyard. This is a reference to Sergio Corbucci and Franco Nero's previous collaboration Django (1966) in which the title character drags a coffin behind him.

Quotes:

Yolof Peterson: Your friend is right, compañero. When you're about to die, don't ask so many questions.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Spaghetti West (2005) (V)

"If I stayed, I'd have to take that dollar back."

By 1970 the initial gold rush of the spaghetti western was over and directors were seeking new ways to push the genre forward. Trinita opted for a satirical approach while Sabata brought James Bond sensibilities to the classic anti-hero. Others chose to use the Mexican revolution as the backdrop for the escapades of their heroes. That is the case for Sergio Corbucci's Companeros.

It is essentially a remake or a reimagining of Corbucci's The Mercenary, using much of the same cast, and swapping Tony Musante as the Mexican revolutionary for the great Thomas Milian. Franco Nero plays once again the European (this time a Swede) and Jack Palance returns to the fold as the ruthless if not semi-insane baddie. All of them hit all the right notes and Nero and Milian's interactions are a joy to behold. The story opens with a duel between the two in a dusty Mexican village and the whole movie is a flashback that leads us to the events at the start of the movie, again as in The Mercenary two years earlier. Nero and Milian are employed by corrupt Mexican General Mongo to travel to the US and free the Mexican professor Xantos that is held captive in Fort Yuma. Xantos is the leader of another small group of student revolutionaries, but General Mongo wants him for more practical reasons. Xantos knows the code to a safe that is impossible to open and with the gold General Mongo hopes to finance the revolution against Porfirio Diaz. Or does he? Each one has his own personal agenda of course. As they make their way back to Mexico, a semi-insane Jack Palance with a wooden hand (do I sense a small Son of Frankenstein tribute here?) and a hawk will hunt them down and the two companeros will slowly begin to take to the more noble attitude of the professor.

Here Corbucci goes for a more Leone-esquire approach, leaving the dark and brooding nature of his previous westerns (like Django and The Great Silence) behind. As Leone used to say, this is a "fairytale for grown ups". The story takes us from the Mexican revolution to the Fort Yuma prison to the Rio Grande to a spectacular showdown in the end, with comedic touches, wild shootouts, explosions, a typically great Morricone score and excellent performances and cinematography. This is more of an adventure spaghetti western in the Leone tradition. It's considerably light-hearted but fused with the same political undertones one could find in Sergio Sollima's work and brilliant pacing. Above all, this is A grade entertainment like only the Italians can deliver.

Sergio Corbucci is not considered only second to Leone in the spaghetti western realm for no reason. His attention to detail, from the sets, camera angles, props, costumes and cinematography is impeccable and he manages to convey that iconic aspect of the west only the Europeans were able to capture. Don't miss it.