Vera Cruz [DVD]

It's been a while since I've seen this one. I can't remember how long … not since I was a kid. It's a pretty slick 50s western with Cooper and Lancaster teaming up to grab some gold with a strange marriage of American bandits and Maximillian's finest in the form of French lancers.The image is DVD quality, but is wide screen. I guess my only beef is that it's a typical western with a few gun fights leading up to the big shoot out at the end. I say that because for once I would have liked to have seen a few "big battles" in the middle of the film, and just at the end. But, whatever.It's a good solid western with a few over the top moments. It has a kind of universal all audience PG kind of thing going for it. No one uses extreme foul language, and the dialogue is pretty clever as per a lot of westerns. In this regard it's actually a pretty smart film as it lets the audience figure out what the characters mean when they're exchanging barbs with one another; i.e. none of the conversation and intent behind it spelled out as per today's films. And that's a real plus here, because you don't get that kind of writing nor sober film making from today's big studios. A shame, but that's kind of what drug culture does to artistry, and the films of years past shows us today how good films are made without chemical abuse.Lancaster and his coproducer also went further and actually shot the film in Mexico with lots of Mexican extras. For a very segregated 1950's America that had a lot of race issues going on, that was nearly unheard of. Not entirely, but nearly.Cooper, to me, doesn't make for a very convincing former confederate officer and southern "gentleman", but he's Anglo enough to sell the role. No southern accent, no gentlemanly conduct, and his law enforcement character is at odds with a man from the south who is supposed to be chivalrous. In other words Cooper plays Cooper as a southern aristocrat; i.e. he plays himself with the southern officer nametag. Does it work? Not really, but then again you went to a Gary Cooper film to see Gary Cooper, not really to see him stretch his thespian's repertoire.Lancaster, on the other hand, had played heavies before, but was also known for playing good guys. Here he plays the smiling backstabber. A criminal who only knows survival, and has a heart but has steeled it for the life he leads. Find out who comes out on top at the end.All in all an okay western. Check it out if you're into westerns.Enjoy.

Westerns were a steady diet when I was a kid watching movies like this back in the 50’s and this is one of the better ones. It’s better because of direction and location shooting but also because it has a supporting cast of actors that went on to be stars in later movies. It’s also good because everyone wants to betray everyone else but somehow you know Cooper won’t go down the wrong path. Lancaster is a scene stealer as a bright white toothy gunslinger that has a smile that is downright a killer expression. It’s old school but holds up well considering when it was made and Aldrich seems to have had good control over how this one played out and keeping the runtime short was a real plus. Overall, a pretty good action western with a plot that worked even though it wasn’t all the unique.

Excellent western! Burt Lancaster and Gary Cooper were great opposites in this story. It has been decades since I first saw this film, but I still enjoy the characters and their conflicts. The movie was actually longer than I remembered, but still fun.

The more recent Westerns are grittier, dirtier and probably more realistic than "vera Cruz", but the characters like Cooper and Lancaster with their Bold Performances, Gleaming Shooting Irons, Fancy Riding, assisted by a cadre of super actors like Borgnine, Bronson and the Inimitable Jack Elam, make for an especially enjoyable trip back to the Western Movies of our childhood. Then you add the Pretty Gals & appearance by Cesar Romero and the massive amount of extras, Exploding Everything & Everybody, but the heroes, makes for a most enjoyable Adventure.They don't really make Westerns anymore, like Vera Cruz, or any other, for that matter.Too many "Grievances" have to be addressed in order to make just about any film genre, most especially The Western. In the modern mix you have "Cowboys" that look like "Monkeys Molesting a Football" should they attempt to actually Ride A Horse, much less do any but the most safe, and carefully choreographed of their own stunts.People tend to forget that Burt Lancaster was, in a prior life, an actual Circus Acrobat, and brought so much life and energy to his performances. Also Gary Cooper was All Man, an accomplished Horseman, and so Underplayed his rolls that it's hard for any other actor to gain any attention while "Coop" is doing his stuff. In a way that makes fellow Steve McQueen admirers kinda see where his road was paved.All in all, Vera Cruz is a thoroughly enjoyable trip back to days in Cinema that will never likely be seen again, seeing Actors that really were Stars in their own right, without all the Computer Generated enhancement that we see in every modern attempt at cinematic excellence.........I do enjoy some...a few....not very many modern Movies, but when you consider the manufactured Reality, Stars who Ain't, along with the One Hit Wonders and the other machinations of today's film industry, forgive this Old Man for admiring Screen Gems such as Vera Cruz, maybe a little more than I should, in today's "Climate", and regret the dearth of Real Acting and Actors, that brought so much fun and enjoyment to me and Millions like me.

The film is set in 1866 after the end of the 'American' Civil War.Two mercenaries link-up together both seeking adventure and fortune in'Mexico' where a revolution is under way.'Benjamin Train' (Gary Cooper) and 'Joe Erin' (Burt Lancaster) are willingto sell their guns to the highest bidder.'Train' along with 'Erin' and his men are hired by 'Countess Duvarre' to escorther along with a fortune in gold to the Emperor's forces.The rebels are watching the convoy and aim to get their hands on the goldfor their cause.However 'Joe Erin' has his own views on who should own the cargo, of coursehe's not alone with those thoughts.It's a mighty long road to 'Vera Cruz' --there is danger around every corner.Plenty of action along the way.'Burt Lancaster' is magnificent in his role of 'Joe Erin'Great old-school western with all the excitement that 50's and 60's westernsbrought to the silver-screen.The film has many familiar faces on-board such as 'Ernest Borgnine' and'Charles Bronson'Acceptable picture quality for a 1954 movie.Feature - Theatrical Trailer.

Gary Cooper {Ben Trane: pensive, enigmatic, respectful, adventurous lone-wolf Confederate} was 51, and Burt Lancaster {Joe Erin: grinning, opportunistic, unscrupulous, adventurous lone-wolf gold-digger} was 40 when they made this rambunctious 1954 western, set in 1866 during the Mexican Revolution.They're a fine team, and it's mildly disappointing that their supporting cast are so relatively wasted, who include Bronson, Borgnine, and the great Jack Elam, who has little to do. Joseph Macready has one good scene, and Cesar Romero scores as a Mexican marquis, with Denise Darcel ~ who lived to 86, had five husbands, and ended up as a casino dealer in Las Vegas ~ as a duplicitous Frenchwoman who has brutal love scenes with Lancaster, and Sarita Montiel ~ who lived to 85, had four husbands {the first being classic western director Anthony Mann, O lucky Mann!} and has a bar named after her in Barcelona ~ who has mostly tender love scenes with Coop.Robert Aldrich directs with gleeful flair, and it's from a story by Borden Chase, always a good source. Ernest Laszlo excels behind the camera.There is at least one superbly staged and credible battle scene, and the whole film reeks of sweat and impassioned south~of~the~border sun~drenched revolutionary spirit, with Burt's famous wide grin as whitely bright as anything on show.Coop and Lancaster {who co-produced} are fascinating to watch together, and I'll bet Burt learnt something about restraint from the elder man. Both deservedly became legends.This is so enjoyable that I can imagine watching it at least once a year till I bite the bullet.

I always liked this 1954 classic and I was pleased to see that it didn't age at all. It still remains a darn good viewing! Below, more of my impressions, with some LIMITED SPOILERS.The story happens during the final stages of French Intervention in Mexico (1861-1867). Ben Trane (Gary Cooper) is a former soldier of Confederation, once a wealthy man, but who, as most of Southerners, was ruined by abuse and land theft by occupying Yankee army. Lacking prospects he goes to Mexico seeking a job as a mercenary. At the very beginning of the film he meets Joe Erin (Burt Lancaster), an exuberant, sociopathic gunfighter who, together with his gang of a dozen of desperados, also looks for employment – and loot. Together they will have to decide if they join the Juaristas or the Emperor Maximilian – not an easy choice, because if the Emperor seems to be able to pay more, the Juaristas were winning more and more battles… I will say no more about the story.This is probably the first western, in which there is no strict separation between the hero and the villain, as both main characters are at least partly amoral. Erin is more openly villainous, but Trane is not a "good guy" either. There were already earlier successful attempts to make westerns heroes a little bit more shady, beginning with John Wayne films (Duke's characters in "Stagecoach", "Angel and the badman" and "Three godfathers" are all outlaws) but all those were "not really so bad, in fact quite good guys". "Vera Cruz" went much further, even if Trane is not yet even half as shady as Clint Eastwood's man without a name or half as sulphurous as John Wayne's Rooster Cogburn. As already noticed in other reviews, this was the beginning of a new trend, which gave us great films about ambiguous "heroes" like "The magnificent seven", "The professionals", "The Wild Bunch", "True grit" and Sergio Leone's "Dollar Trilogy", "Duck, you sucker!" and "Once upon a time in the West".This was only the third film directed by Robert Aldrich, who already made considerable impression earlier the same year with "Apache" (also with Burt Lancaster), a western more radical, brutal and even more "macho" than what was previously done. Having gained experience and confidence, in this film he went further, showing for the first time his full creativity and creating his own personal brand of very tough, very masculine cinema, which would fully bloom in his masterpieces "Attack" and "Dirty Dozen" as well as in other excellent films, like "The flight of the phoenix", "Ulzana's raid" and "Emperor of the North".Although in principle this is a western, in fact "Vera Cruz" is more of a swashbuckling pirate movie, in which tough, larger than life characters compete for a treasure in a hostile environment, with a lot of adventures, fights, twists, double-crossings and killer dialogs. The great difference with classical pirate movies is the fact that women, even if they are present, are finally not so important after all – it is nice to have them (in every sense of the term), but they are disposable…In this film Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster gave everything they had and could borrow and the result is absolutely TERRIFIC! This is the screen partnership of the highest possible level! Veteran Cesar Romero seconds them valiantly and there is also a cute blond (Denise Darcel) and a hot Latina (Sara Montile). Amongst the ugly collection of scum and villainy Joe Erin drags behind him you will recognise Jack Elam, Ernest Borgnine and a certain Charles Buchinsky, who was going later to become a major star under the name Charles Bronson…As adventure films for pure entertainment go, this is one of the best. Fast pace of action, interesting characters, excellent dialogs, machismo and a little bit of tragedy all this equals a winning formula. I will absolutely keep my DVD for another viewing. ENJOY!

This is my first Blu-ray disc. I hoped that it would replace the DVD of what is my favourite Western. I shouldn't have bothered. The colours in the Blu-ray are so muted compared with the DVD, as if seen through a veil ( a disaster for such a colourful film) that I shall continue to watch it only on DVD and give the Blu-ray to a charity shop!The film remains one of the best Westerns ever (even the awful Denise Darcel doesn't manage to ruin it. !)

I like western films, one's with John Wayne and James Stewart and Gary Cooper. I think the western film High Noon with Gary Cooper is good. That's another one of his western films I have on DVD. My late grandfather was also a fan of western films as well particularly John Wayne one's.