Companeros came along during a transitional period of Italian genre cinema and Westerns specifically started shifting towards humor. Companeros is essentially a buddy comedy set against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution with Franco Nero and Tomas Milian capitalizing on the dynamic success of Paul Newman and Robert Redford the previous year. Nero's Yodlaf Peterson has comedic charisma and charm that doesn't quite reach the heights of Terence Hill's ‘Trinity' persona, but his chemistry with Milian's El Vasco carries this movie past the dull beginning stretch that isn't the director's strong suit, dealing with an intricate political plot that's explained and expanded on and the wind doesn't pick up in the sails until Jack Palance shows up as a wooden handed, reefer smokin', creepy bad guy with a mean pet bird and a personal vendetta towards Yodlaf.
Alejandro Ulloa's cinematography deserves much credit for capturing the rich atmosphere that helps carry this movie to it's playful destination where Corbucci really excels, even the comedic chemistry between the two leads kick into full gear when Palance's character makes his presence. When El Vasco is taunting Yodlaf in song about his blue eyes before freeing him from becoming a bird feast, it is a great funny moment that showcases where their chemistry really evolves. Corbucci also displays humor about where the direction of the genre has headed and references himself in a scene that has El Vasco dragging a wooden coffin out of a graveyard.
When Campaneros gets to the shootouts is when Corbucci is in his playground and drives this movie home with his hyper-stylized mayhem and delivers a solid and entertaining shoot em' up. The editing by Eugenio Alabiso needs to be mentioned as well, as he cuts machine gun fury with urgency and finesse. Ennio Morricone's music is great as usual and the way this particular score layers more depth to the atmosphere is a great example of what makes this genre hypnotic to watch. Companeros isn't the best Corbucci offered to the genre, but it's certainly an entertaining outing that's well worth recommending.
Blue Underground has done a terrific HD transfer in widescreen 2.35:1 and offers the option to view the English version or the Italian version that runs 4 minutes longer. There's also audio commentary by journalists C.Courtney Joyner and Henry Parke and a collection of interviews with Franco Nero, Tomas Milian and composer Ennio Morricone.
Film Score: 3/5
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