The Mercenary

The crowned jewel of the Zapata subgenre and in the top 10 of the best Spaghettis ever made. Absolutely immaculate and convincing performances by both Franco and the Musante as the unlikely, chaotic, and charismatic main duo of a Polish mercenary and a Zapata-aspiring revolutionary who genuinely tries to do the right thing, but mostly ends up failling; with also a special highlight for the overarching villain perfectly played by Mister Jack Palance himself Beautifully shot and features a perfect score by none other than the master Morricone himself. This one is a definite must see.

One of the most epic spaghetti westerns ever put on screen! Stacks up with the likes of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

On the northern side of the Mexico–United States border, Sergei "Polack" Kowalski (Franco Nero), a well-groomed, greedy mercenary, attends a circus performance where he recognizes the show's lead rodeo clown as Paco Roman. During the performance, Kowalski reminisces on how he and Paco fought together as revolutionaries against the Mexican Government. Prior to the start of their partnership, Paco, a peon working in a silver mine owned by Elias Garcia, rebels against his boss and humiliates him and his two brothers, including Colonel Alfonso Garcia. He is soon captured, but saved from execution by his friends. Meanwhile, Kowalski makes a deal with Elias and his brother to take their silver safely across the border. Curly (Jack Palance), Kowalski's flamboyant American rival, sees the three men talking and tracks down the brothers to find out what they hired Kowalski for, after which Curly kills the two. When Kowalski arrives at the mine to meet the Garcias, he meets Paco and his revolutionaries instead. Colonel Garcia's troops arrive to attack them, and Kowalski agrees to help Paco fight them for money. With the help of Kowalski and his Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun, the revolutionaries drive Colonel Garcia's forces away. Kowalski then leaves, but he is soon ambushed by Curly. Paco's group arrives and kills Curly's men. Although Curly swears revenge, they let him go after stripping him of his clothes. Paco then hires Kowalski to teach him how to lead a revolution... This 1968 Zapata Western film directed by Sergio Corbucci starring the always cool Franco Nero as the a well-groomed, greedy mercenary Sergei "Polack" Kowalski with a musical score by Ennio Morricone has all the great ingredients of a Zapata Western. Nice storyline with several twists, great sceneries, comedy, drama, over the top action and acting plus some really great cinematography. Well worth to see.

One of the most epic spaghetti westerns ever put on screen! Stacks up with the likes of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

A lot of chaos and hullabaloo, back and forth in an endless and rather thin plot, full of clichés based on the myth of the Mexican revolution. After all, entertaining and not bad for being another Spaghetti Western, as in cinematographically well executed and with good actors, but the best part is the music score by Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai, which is pivotal. Regardless, it could have been made into something really good.

A solid spaghetti western, easily Franco Nero's 3rd or maybe 4th best movie.

this is a classic italian western

Hard to rate this one. I saw it in the theatre when I was 13-15, and it made a strong impression on me. Seeing it again it is clear to me why it did. Morricone's music is stellar. Everything visual in this movie is stunning. The story is unusual and clever. The problem: the movie is REALLY dated. I think every cliché and trope about Mexico and revolutions is trotted out. I found myself thinking about a Mad Magazine send up of spaghetti Westerns that commented on laughing Mexicans played by Italian actors. Still worth seeing.

A Zapata western which doesn't take itself too seriously. And fuck Tarantino for using its music.

Pretty great camerawork and a decent storyline.