Hitting hard is the idealistic tone and free-flowing spirit that engraves itself in director Sergio Sollima's sprawling spaghetti western (a semi-sequel to "The Big Gundown (1966)") starring Tomas Milan as the simple, but lethal knife slinging protagonist Cuchillo. While the material is heavy on the comic banter and physical mishaps, it never loses balance of the strenuously meaningful political side of the story, as Sollima agreeably pulls it off. There's bounce, and zippy energy as it moves along quickly enough, despite its lengthy story and open-ended conclusion for another expansive adventure to begin. Rich varieties of characters (maybe too many) come and go with a lot of minor stories branching of the central premise. This leaves the story feeling loose. So pretty much something is always happening, but the resolutions and overall intentions come off cloudy in this largely chatty script. There's a lot of running, but just as much talking. Sollima skilfully directs with bold compositions and controlled precision in his grand set-pieces. His camera-work imagery and widescreen placement is professionally executed, and imaginatively snappy. The rough and scorching desolate backdrop never looked so sumptuously rich. Adding to the drama was Bruno Nicolai and Ennio Morricone's downright superb alarmingly scheming and melodic score. The performances are truly wonderful. Milan's ferret manner always amused, and Donal O'Brien brings out an intriguing performance. The passionate performances came from two fiery ladies; Linda Veras and Chelo Alonso. They were great! John Ireland has a small, but potently hearty and flavorful role as Mexican revolutionary General Santillana. Quite a fun and well-made spaghetti western, but it does take quite a lot out of you.
