Search - Bandolero! on DVD

Great looking DVD

David C. Read | Glendale, CA USA | 07/16/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Typical oater. Jimmy Stewart and Racquel Welch save it from being completely forgettable. Stewart and Dean Martin play brothers who fought on opposite sides of the civil war, but have both been damaged by the experience, and have a hard time staying on the straight and narrow. Martin's character rode with Quantrill (like the real-life James and Younger brothers), and now robs banks for a living, an outlaw with a heart of gold, at no time do we believe he's really a bad man. But what a splendid looking DVD! The image quality is absolutely perfect. Looks like a movie filmed last year, not one filmed 36 years ago. Both the image and sound quality are way, way above average, what every DVD release should be but very few are. The image quality is better than what this movie really deserves."

Another Fun Action Western from Andrew V. McLaglen

gobirds2 | New England | 07/29/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 1968 Western seems to have been greatly influenced by the ?Spaghetti Western? enjoying great popularity in America at the time right down to Jerry Goldsmith?s score complete with a whistler rendering the main title theme. Director Andrew V. McLaglen must have given way to the wishes of the producers on these points. However influences of John Ford still remain in the casting of James Stewart, the Cinematography of William Clothier and McLaglen?s persistence on rambunctious comic direction thanks to Dean Martin and Sheriff George Kennedy?s cronies and if you can believe that James Stewart and Dean Martin are really brothers. Raquel Welch seems like the odd girl out in this film as the outlaw brothers? gang escapes across the Mexican border with Kennedy?s posse in pursuit. The opening scene is a classic and the over-the-top finale is quite good. This is one of Jerry Goldsmith?s best action-Western scores. This is an enjoyable film all around. The cast also includes Andrew Prine, Will Geer, Denver Pyle, Perry Lopez and veteran character actor Dub Taylor. This VHS tape is recorded in 2-channel stereo and sounds great."

Very good western with excellent cast

T O'Brien | Chicago, Il United States | 03/16/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Bandolero! is a very good western that never slows down from beginning to end. This may seem like your typical western but it is a step above the rest. After the Civil War, two brothers are reunited on opposite sides of the law. Mace pretends to be a hangman to save his brother and his gang for robbing a bank. After saving them from certain death, Mace and Dee race south with a posse close after them. Along the way, they take along a rich widow whose husband was killed in the attempted bank robbery. The posse follows the gang into Mexico and "territorio bandolero", bandit country. This is a very exciting western with plenty of action. Much of the movie was shot at John Wayne's Alamo Village in Brackettvile, Texas which is very notable in the final shootout. Very good western that is well worth a watch. James Stewart and Dean Martin are very good together as Mace and Dee Bishop, who were on different sides in the Civil War, but now must work together. Raquel Welch plays rich widow, Maria Stoner, who is the love interest of several characters. Her Spanish accent is questionable, but who really cares? George Kennedy is also good as Sheriff July Johnson, the leader of the posse. The movie also stars Andrew Prine, Harry Carey JR, Rudy Diaz, Denver Pyle, and Dub Taylor. The DVD offers a great looking widescreen presentation, two theatrical trailers for Bandolero!, and five other trailers from Raquel Welch movies. For a very good western with a great cast and plenty of action, check out Bandolero!"

Beautifully photographed western

R. Monteith | Ft. Lauderdale, FL United States | 03/12/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Just out on DVD, 20th Century-Fox's "Bandolero!" was originally released in June of 1968, most likely for the rural theatre and summer drive-in market. It's an unpretentious western, with a story not much better than the average episode of TV's "The Big Valley," but it's stylishly directed and its stars, Jimmy Stewart and Dean Martin, playing brothers, look as though they're having a good time. The disc is being marketed as a Raquel Welch picture, but the movie really belongs to Stewart and Martin. The DVD features a stunning 16X9 transfer of the original Panavision lensing, done by William Clothier. The print is so pristine it often looks as though it were shot yesterday. The movie is also helped by a marvelous score by Jerry Goldsmith, presented here in a fine Dolby Digital 2.0 remastering of the original 4-track stereo. I wish Fox had done the soundtrack one better by remastering it in the proper Dolby Digital 4.0, but the DVD sounds and looks so good as it is I really can't complain. One thing I can complain about is that on the disc's menu screen the picture that's supposed to be Dean Martin is actually Stuart Whitman! Who's the dummy at Fox responsible for that?"