Although Sony's special edition DVD of Richard Brooks' The Professionals has been on the market for quite some time, I only got around to viewing it recently - and many readers may not even know this edition is available, given the fact it received little fanfare. For my money, this 1966 western ranks with the best of Sergio Leone, John Sturges and John Ford as a genuine classic. The film features the kind of macho cast that today's movie audiences can only dream about. Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan and Woody Strode - all at their super coolest - are guns for hire who are employed by desperate tycoon Ralph Bellamy to plan a daring mission into Mexico to rescue his kidnapped young wife, smolderingly sexy Claudia Cardinale, from notorious bandit Jack Palance. The superb script features some of the wittiest dialogue imaginable as well as some surprising plot twists. Mostly, however, the central pleasure is watching a team of seasoned professionals in the acting profession play seasoned professionals in the mercenary trade.
The single disc DVD edition features some enjoyable extras, produced and directed by the ubiquitous Laurent Bouzereau. The extras include informative and fun documentaries that examine the making of the film, a portrait of Burt Lancaster (featuring insightful interviews with his daughter Joanna) and Memories of the Professionals with interviews with Claudia Cardinale, the late cinematographer Conrad Hall and Marie Gomez, who played the sexpot nymphomaniac among the bandito gang. Most of the comments are fairly innocuous and it becomes clear this was a difficult shoot in the physical sense because of the hot terrain, but it was also a highly enjoyable experience. Hall does touch on Brooks' notorious temper and confesses he was almost tempted to quit after being humiliated by the director in a blow-up on the set. Fortunately, he stuck with the film and Hall's glorious widescreen shots are given their due. (Only Maurice Jarre's magnificent title theme and score remain unmentioned by the participants). The featurettes benefit from generous use of rare production stills and fascinating home movies taken on the set. In one of the documentaries, James Bond director Martin Campbell astutely points out that action movies today aren't as good as The Professionals because there is literally no one in the industry today who could be cast in any of the parts with the same satisfying results. Amen to that...- Lee Pfeiffer
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