Review of 100 Rifles

This film had a lot of potential, and had a lot of things going for it (great scenery, good story, big name actors), yet it still falls a little flat. In my opinion, a lot of the reason for this is that the actors, although very good in other roles, were just not well suited for this story. The one exception was Fernando "Dahhlings" Lamas, who really did a great job playing a Mexican general. Jim Brown, who has been good in other movies (i.e. The Dirty Dozen), really wasn't convincing as a sheriff (were there any African-American sheriffs in the Southern USA at this point in time?), and his acting is quite wooden throughout. Raquel Welch, although quite stunning to look at, really was never a great actress, and isn't all that believable as a Mexican guerrilla fighter. And seeing Burt Reynolds in a role as a half Mexican, half American thief is quite unusual and not very authentic either. The story itself is pretty good and briskly paced, and the locations are quite beautiful to look at. Despite the poor casting choices, this is a decent film, and well worth a look. 6 rifles out of 10......