The Mercenary (1968)
One of the classic Corbucci westerns to watch after The Great Silence and Django, and yet another recognizable Morricone score Tarantino helped raise in popularity with its inclusion in Kill Bill. The music here also works better with what happens on screen that in Death Rides a Horse.
The plot is pretty much the usual with a mercenary motivated by money crossing paths with an idealistic revolutionary during the Mexican revolution. It is a very well trodden formula for Zapata western, but Corbucci knows what he is doing and applies the formula close to perfection here. It is a little bit on the lighter tone, but not an outright comedy, though there are some pretty hilarious scenes where Franco Neros character is demanding payment right in the middle of a massive gunfight.
Production value is high with plenty of explosions and he had the time to experiment with the camerawork. There are some odd but effective extremely low angels, and some pretty impressive (and funny) one takes where a victim gets beaten out of frame and then panning back to a bloody victim. Some makeup crew worked quickly for the few seconds the camera was shooting something else. I really appreciate when there are such details that really don’t need to be there as such, but it gives a little extra to the movie when you notice them.
Rating: 4