The Professionals (1966)
The Professionals is one of those films you just know Quentin Tarantino would kill to have made. Clever dialogue overflows and the influence this film had on Quentin was probably huge. From the men on a mission that doesn't go to plan plot line to choice snippets of chat - 'Let's go to work' says Marvin as he, Burt Lancaster, Woody Strode and Robert Ryan, finalize their plan to break Claudia Cardinale out of a Mexican stronghold. "I bet you're a big Lee Marvin fan" says Michael Madsen to Harvey Keitel following a bust up in Reservoir Dogs. No wonder, because he's excellent in this. Laconic coolness personified, although perhaps not quite at Walker levels in the awesome Point Blank.
Anyway that's almost besides the point. The Professionals is one of the great westerns, closer in style and spirit to an Italian spaghetti western than it is an old school Hollywood production. It's beautifully filmed with a haunting Leoni-esq score from Maurice Jarre, Director Richard Brooks gets the best out of a fantastic ensemble cast, which also includes Jack Palance and Ralph Bellamy, and everything from the sweltering desert to the fantastic action scenes keep the viewer transfixed to the screen making this a genuinely great film for all film fans not just western genre specific.
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