miguellopezcortes Reviews

El furgón (2003)

Passable film about tree thieves performed by Sancho Gracia , Pablo Carbonell, Carlos Fuentes who getaway from prison

[5/10 · 25 February 2019]

Fun and entertaining but average film about a trio of delinquents escape from a prison van and go the Mediterranean coast . They are : a retired, crippled pickpocket, (Sancho Gracia) , a man (Paco Carbonel) born and raised in a prision who's never seen a day of freedom, and a young loser (Carlos Fuentes) . When the vehicle has an accident they flee and jump a freight train and make their way to the Mediterranean coast, , there they find an isolated mansion where stand hiidden out . The strange house seems to be well maintained and strangely well stocked. Buth then shows up a beautiful foreigner, Elsa Pataki , and things go awry . After that , they become accidentally involved in a plutonium-trafficking scheme , and are relentlessly pursued by Policemen ,mobsters and shady Russian mafia .

This one deals with three unfortunate swindlers played by Sancho Gracia , Pablo Carbonell, Carlos Fuentes who getaway from a jail van when Guardia Civil is taking then back to penitentiary ; they are three second-rate delinquents to exact their comdenation and escaping from the police van that is taking them back to prison when it crashes . Later on , they become involved with a twisted intrigue about Plutonium smugging and hide out in an isolated mansion by the sea .This is a comedy with some of action and thriller in which 3 delinquents fall in extreme distresses . It is an uneven picture that's why it seems to be some silly and tiring. In this stirring feature nobody is what they seem and three getaway outlaws result to be the only ones amidst schemes , lies, betrayals ,chases , plots and seduction who act in the name of honesty and friendship . The enjoyable trio of main actors deliver agreeable acting such as : Sancho Gracia who plays a retired crook , Pablo Carbonell as the distressed thief who was born and raised in prison and the outcast fugitive performed by Carlos Fuentes. And gorgeous Elsa Patakias Nina, a young foreigner, whom the three escaped men have no choice but to hold against her will .Support cast is pretty good , such as : Manuel Galiana as Judge , Rafael Álvarez 'El Brujo' as Inspector , Óscar Ladoire as cashier , the veteran Luis Cuenca and a mobster played by Aitor Mazo who leads the Russian mafia .

Being well produced by Carlos Fernandez and Juan Fernandez from Castelao Productions . Packing an atmospheric and adequate cinematography by Angel Alderete . And catching as well as evocative score by Juan Pablo Muñoz Zielinski . Being uneven and regularly made by Benito Rabal . Benito is son of the prestigious actor Francisco Rabal . He previously directed El hermano bastardo de Dios and various TV series , such as : De tal Paco tal astilla , Nazca , Que pintamos aquí , Curro Jiménez: El regreso de una leyenda and a documentary : Paco Mi Padre . Raing : 5 acceptable and passable .

The King's Pirate (1967)

Fun and agreeable Pirate movie dealing with an officer of the Royal Navy versus the pirates of Madagascar .

[6/10 · 25 February 2019]

Conventional and standard sea adventure movie from Universal International Studios . Amusing pirate movie , plenty of action-packed , land rescues , thrills , sea battles , colorful cinematography , luxurious costumes and paced in lighthearted style . This is a story of the Madagascar pirates when villainy wore a Sash and the only political creed in the world was love , gold and adventure . It is a blending of adventures , romance , action , exciting naval battle scenes , and swashbuckler . In 1700 A.D. , the Pirate Republic of Libertaria on the Island of Madagascar was a constant menace to the rich trade routes to India . Several days sail from his pirate fortress in the British merchant ship . There appears Brian (Doug McClure) , an English navy officer slashing his way through the fleet and pretending to be a deserter to infiltrate into pirate island . Now he can infiltrate the pirate stronghold of Diego Suarez using his cunning , bravery , humor and shrewness .Once inside the port, Flynn meets the pirate captain called John Avery (Guy Stockwell) and moll (Jill St John) . Brian is after Avery , and to find a valuable treasure and locate fortifications so that it can be successfully taken by the English navy . Pirates capture and burn a ship carrying Princess Patma (Mary Anne Mobley) , daughter of the Great Mogul, and her governess . After numerous adventures Brian is able to aid his lover and help save his British empire , finding romance along the way . As Brian ravished the pirate port of Madagascar to steal the love of its Corsair Queen . This is a spirited pirate fare in which seas ablaze with black villainy , with fiery romance, with breathless deeds of daring in the roaring era of Love, Gold and Adventure! .

Combination of overwhelming sea battles , lots of derring-do , and full of action , romance , swashbuckler , bravura and humor remarks . An enjoyable swashbuckler about the Pirate Republic of Libertaria , Magadascar , at the turn of the 17th century , dealing with Lt. Brian Fleming who volunteers to be flogged for a contrived offense and then discharged from the British Navy . Entertaining pirate movie , plenty of action , thrills , colorful cinematography and luxurious costumes . Although the story has been told before , tight filmmaking and nice acting win out . This engaging picture is fast-moving , exciting , hilarious and thrilling right up to the almost balletic climatic confrontation between Doug McClure and Guy Stockwell . Average-budgeted film by Universal International Pictures , using appropriate ship shots and miniature sets when possible . It results to be a remake of Against all flags (1952) with Doug McClure in the Errol Flynn role , Guy Stockwell in the Anthony Quinn character and Jill St. John in the Maureen O'Hara role. Universal took advantage of the unused sets by other films scripting and shooting a hastily assembled B picture . And it packs some stock footage of the original film , including ships scale model and breathtaking sea battles . Good and sympathetic acting by Doug McClure , the famous Trampas from The Virginian , as a deserter in order to penetrate a well-defended pirate stronghold on Madagascar . Doug McClure seems to happy as the adventurer pirate whose good looks and swordmanship were both at their peak . And even he did most of his own stunts . Master of adventure and Western , Doug could happily have found a better vehicle for his faculties than this entertaining adaptation . There appears two gorgeous women Jill St John , who married Robert Wagner, as a hot-tempered pirate moll who swoons over Doug ; furthermore , Mary Anne Mobley , as a tarty eyeful and likable princess in distress who Doug saves from the burning ship and she falls for him , too . More stylish villainy is provided by both , the nasty Guy Stockwell and Richard Deacon . It displays a nice support cast such : as Kurt Kasznar, Woodrow Parfrey, Sean McClory , Torin Thatcher , Alex Montoya , Ted de Corsia , among others .This is a good-natured Technicolor romp with splendid cinematography by Clifford Stine and evocative musical score by Ralph Ferraro . The motion picture was professionally directed by Don Weiss , a craftsman and action specialist who had already filmed other adventures .He made several episodes from notorious TV series , such as : Mannix , Kolchack , Planet of apes , Alfred Hitchcock presents , The Immortal and Petrocelli . And occassionally directing some films in big screen , such as : The ghost and the invisible bikini , Gene Krupa story , The longest hundred miles , Adventures of Hajji , among others . Rating : 6 , decent swashbuckler movie , wonderful stuff . It will appeal to pirate genre fans.

Un capitán de quince años (1973)

Adventure fictional about some travelers who sail and stranded on a remote location and freely based on Jules Verne novel

[5/10 · 5 February 2018]

Adventure tale full of colorful scenarios , thrills , action and in low budget . Amusing , lighthearted romp though so-so, only for kids and teenagers , based upon the Jules Verne novel . It's a mediocre fun with naive special effects , passable set decoration and functional art direction without use of computer generator . It deals with a young European Dick Sand (José Luis Marcos) who wishes to travel around the world , as his godfather (Edmund Purdom) assigns to care his newly wife . His wealthy father Admiral Marlowe agrees to send him on a global expedition aboard a vessel . As he travels aboard the Whale-ship called "Pilgrim" captained by Hull (Marc Cassot) . Following dramatic happenings , as the captain is attacked by a whale and the second-in-command (Luis Barboo) also diez , as the boat becomes without a captain . They undergo a hazardous voyage , and to keep all sailors , cook (William Berger) , the motlew crew , and passengers (Sergio Mendizábal , Marisol Delgado, Doris Thomas) in peace, he shall command the ship and all of them accept this arrangement . Along the way they face numerous betrayals , dangers , risks , treason and slavery .

It results to be a silly but likable Spanish adaptation based on Jules Verne classic novel . This below average and humdrum adaptation is a special version of the Jules Verne adventure yarn titled : Fifteen Year Old Captain . There're rip-roaring action , spirit of adventure , derring-do , humor , thrills and results to be briefly entertaining but mediocre . Among the most spectacular of its visuals there are the semi-spectacular scenes in which the tough fishers chase a whale , and the colorful backgrounds of the lost African places . It's a slight fun with average special effects , passable set decoration , and functional art direction . The fable is silly and laughable , and the effects and action are regularly made . Being clumsily made but the movie has some good moments here and there . Some illogical parts in the plot are more than compensated for the excitement provided by the scenes about the whale hunting .Here there are various notorious secondaries in this production , support actors seen in co-productions of the 60s and 70s , Spaghetti and Terror genre , as Edmund Purdom , Howard Vernon , Alberto Dalbes , Sergio Mendizábal , Luis Barboo , though they are really wasted . Special mention for William Berger as a suspect cook whose resentment will add treachery to circumstances already difficult to take the ship to safe harbour.

Jules Verne has been adapted several times as the best ¨20,000 Leagues Under the Sea¨ (954) by Richard Fleischer ; ¨following L'Ile Mysterieuse" or "The Mysterious Island" by Cry Endfield it was written in 1874, though the source of this picture is actually "L'École des Robinsons" or "The Robinson School" published in 1882 . And ¨Around the World in 80 Days¨classic version by Michael Anderson and recent (2004) by Frank Coraci ; Michel Strogoff by Carmine Gallone ; ¨Mathias Sandorff¨with Louis Jourdan , Journey to the Center of the Earth¨ classic version with James Mason and new with Brendan Frazer and many others .

The motion picture was middlingly realized by Jess Frank or Jesús Franco . Franco who recently passed away was an average and prolific craftsman , he owned his own studio and created a many of the silly scripts you see in any of his many unimaginative undertakings . Jesús was expert on all kind of genres as Terror (Vampires , The devil came from Akasawa,Dracula , Orloff series , Notre Dame Hunchback ) , Action (Esmeralda Bay , Dark mission ,Downtown heat) , Erotic (Macumba sexual , Incubus ,Pick-Up Girls ) and WIP. While his films have been universally panned by the prestigious reviewers, they have a kind of quality that must be endured to be fully appreciated .

No Room to Die (1969)

Violent and decently made Spaghetti Western with two main actors : Anthony Steffen and William Berger

[2 February 2018]

This is an exciting film , plenty action , thrills , fights , and starked outdoors from El Lacio , Rome and De Paolis Studios . Two pistoleros called Johnny Brandon (Anthony Steffen) and Everett 'Bible' Murdock (William Berger) join forces to take down dangerous bandits , murderers and other scums . Brandon/Steffen is similar to Django , a fast-draw and silent gunfighter . Everett/William Berger is nicknamed The Preacher and dressed in black in Sartana- Sabata style , like a ¨Death Angel¨ , and he is wielding a six-barrel gun . They are two killer bounty hunters taking out outlaws who are wanted with fine prices on their heads in a small Western border town. The duo of bounty hunters take off an evil and mighty landowner (Riccardo Garrone) who carries out smuggling illegal of Mexican immigrants and confronting the hoodlums (Giancarlo Sisti, Roberto Messina , Emilio Messina) that work for him .

Enjoyable Western follows the Sergio Leone wake , as it is proceeded in Spaghetti models . It's a moving western with breathtaking gunfight between the protagonists Anthony Steffen , William Berger against the heartless Riccardo Garrone , in addition a stirring ending fight in which takes place an impressive duel among three contenders in ¨The good , the bad , and the ugly¨ style . Acceptable action sequences with rousing attacks and spectacularly paced confrontation . Charismatic performance for the whole casting . The notorious Spaghetti actor , Anthony Steffen is good as Brandon . Anthony Steffen may be a name best remembered by Spaghetti Western aficionados, but in his day, from the mid-'60s to the early '70s, Steffen was one of the most popular actors of the genre - at the time cheap B movies, now revered cult classics . The handsome, Italian-born - actually at the Brazilian embassy in Rome - Antonio Luiz de Teffè von Hoonholtz began working in films as a studio messenger for Vittorio De Sica . From there, Steffen began acting in sword-and-sandal epics, later moving onto the Western genre , where he found his niche . Unlike fellow Spaghetti star Clint Eastwood, however, Steffen never became a top international box-office attraction .His acting is often accused of being wooden, but in many manners is ideally suited to playing the steely-faced gunslinger synonymous with the genre . His others successes include features as ¨Seven Dollars to Kill¨, ¨The last Mohican¨ or ¨The last Tomahawk¨, ¨Train for Durango¨, ¨Gentleman Jo¨ , ¨¨Stranger in Paso Bravo¨, ¨Garringo¨, ¨Four dollars for Django¨, ¨Shango¨, ¨Arizona colt¨, ¨Apocalypse Joe¨ and several others . Although he played other genres as Terror and Gialli , such as : ¨An angel for Satan¨ and ¨The night Evelyn came out of the grave¨ . And William Berger , the fair-haired Austrian leading man, who appeared in many spaghetti westerns between 1966 and 1987. He had a reputation for being a rebel and a vociferous anti-establishment figure . However , Berger's career was also at times interrupted by drug abuse. He played known Westerns as Face to face (1967), Keoma (1976) , Fast hand , The band of Jaider , Sabata , Chuncho , El Cisco , Today We Kill , Tomorrow We Die! , A Name That Cried Revenge. There appears as secondaries the habitual in Italian Western such as : Mario Brega , Giancarlo Sisti , Riccardo Garrone , and two gorgeous Eurothash girls : Nicoletta Machiavelli and Mariangela Giordano .

The musician Vasili Kojucharov and Elsio Mancuso compose a nice soundtrack in Morricole style and well conducted , this turns out to be one of the most memorable parts of the movie; as it's full of enjoyable sounds and haunting musical background . The soundtrack and songs contribute tremendously to the atmosphere of the film, including an emotive leitmotif, the music score is perhaps the best aspect of this movie . And adequate and atmospheric cinematography in Eastmancolor and CinemaScope by Franco Villa . The motion picture titled ¨Une langue file de croix ¨or ¨Una lunga fila di Croix¨ or ¨Una larga fila de cruces¨ was well filmed by Sergio Garrone and with lots of zooms , difficult angles , foregrounds , and backgrounds . Sergio's direction is finely crafted , here he is more inclined toward violence and packs some thrills and action , but especially this exciting Western contains moving shoot'em ups and some gloomy scenes when a lot of Mexican people are massacred . Sergio serves as a classic example of a journeyman Italian exploitation filmmaker and freelance screenwriter . As Garrone penned a great number of screenplays and lack-luster films , working from the 60s in all kind of genres and B movies . He directed this embarrassing western , genre in which he would not only excel but one where he would spent much of the rest of his career . Sergio went on to helm several other spaghetti Westerns , many of them Spanish co-productions, that include Tre Croci Per Non Morire (1968) , Quel Maledetto Giorno Della Resa Dei Conti (1971) , Deguello (1966) also starred by Jack Stuart , Huracan Sobre Mexico (1967) and his greatest notoriety was the peculiar outing : Django il Bastardo (1969) . In 1974 Garrone directed the horror features as Le Amanti del Mostro (1974) and La mano Che Nutre la Morte (1974) , both of which performed Klaus Kinski . He made and wrote for everything from inferior sex comedies as La Clinica Dell'Amore (1976) , El Periscopio (1979) by José Ramón Larraz , to even Giallo , mystery thrillers such as : L'ultimo harem , La Pagella , Blonde Köder Kür den Mörder (1969) or Killer's Gold . Later on , Sergio Garrone directed nasty Naziexploitation or Porno-Nazis as Lager SSadis Kastrat Kommandantur (1976) and SS Lager 5: L'inferno Delle Donne (1977). And after writing the violent/erotic WIPs (women-in-prison) : Hell Behind the Bars (1984) and Detenute Violente (1984)

Death on High Mountain (1969)

Decent and acceptable Paella/Spaghetti Western co-produced by Spain/Italy about an intrigue that involves a bank loot

[1 February 2018]

An great robbery goes awry , as two young men named Loring Vandervelt (Peter Lee Lawrence ) and a mysterious stranger Francis Parker ( Luis Davila) join forces themselves and find standing in the way of Mexican bandits led by General Valiente (Tanio Cimarosa) and his second-in-command called Agustin (Jesús Guzmán) and an evil corrupt as well as poweful owner Frank Braddock (Antonio Gradoli) wanting their stolen loot back . As the Mexican outlaws take the bank cash , but Parker and Loring steal it to them and , then , they hide it into the Vandervelt's farm where lives his sister Daphne Vandervelt (Agnès Spaak) .

It is an exciting western that packs a story full of action , go riding , violence , fighting , shots and subsequent suspense , good dramatic pace , plot twists and slick direction , along with brief touches of humor , including saloon brawls in Terence Hill/Bud Spencer style . It contains an intriguing premise to investigate and to locate whereabouts a robbed loot , and results to be moderately entertaining , though drags at times , balancing in ups and downs . Agreeable Chorizo-Spaghetti Western mostly produced by Spain and important Italian participation , being rightly shot by the Italian profesional Fernando Cerchio as Fred Ringold . It follows the Sergio Leone wake , including close-up , zooms , choreographic duels and adding hilarious elements thanks to the couple played by Tano Cimarosa and his underling Jesús Guzmán . Passable action sequences with rousing crossfire and spectacularly bloody shootouts . Charismatic performance for the whole casting .The notorious Spaghetti actor , Peter Lee Lawrence is good in his usual tough role . Blond German youth Peter Lee Lawrence, who made his uncredited debut in Sergio Leone "For A Few Dollars More" (1965), was the hero in many Spaghetti Westerns. His short cinematographic history can be enclosed in nine years of Italo-Spain co-productions such as "More Dollars for the MacGregors" , ¨Winchester justice¨,"Pistol for a Hundred Coffins", ¨The man who killed Billy the Kid¨ , ¨Fury of Johnny Kid¨ and several others . And sympathetic acting by his colleague Luis Dávila as a strange gunslinger who decides that he wants to get justice for his friends and he has a secret identity , too . Dávila played several Euro Spy and thrillers as ¨Marc Mato¨, ¨Hello Glen Ward , house Dick¨ , ¨Razzia , ¨Paranoia¨ ; Adventure movie as ¨Normand sword¨, ¨The Sherwood archer¨, ¨Tigres Mompracen¨ and various Westerns as ¨Pancho Villa¨ , ¨Dinamite Jim¨, ¨Relevo para un pistolero¨, ¨Matalo¡¨. In the film appears ordinary Chorizo/Spaghetti Western as Spanish players as Jesús Guzmán , Frank Braña , José Marco , Ricardo Valle , Rafael Hernández , Antonio Pica as well as Italian ones as Nello Pazzafini , Barbara Carroll ,Romano Puppo and Tano Cimarosa in a similar role to Fernando Sancho , among others

Colorful and evocative cinematography in CinemaScope and Eastmancolor by Julio Ortas , filmed on location in Hoyo Manzanares del Real , Colmenar Viejo and La Pedriza , Madrid , Almeria and Rome . Pretty good musical score Luis Enriquez Bacalov , who many years later composed ¨Il Postino¨ that won a deserved Academy Award . The motion picture was well produced by Eduardo Manzanos Brochero who started producing ¨Il Coyote¨ and ¨The Jiusticia De Coyote¨ by Joaquin Romero Marchent with Abel Salazar and Gloria Marin . After that , he produced with his company Copercines ¨Vengeance of Zorro¨ and ¨L'Ombra Di Zorro¨ (1962) by Joaquin Marchent with Frank Latimore . Eduardo Manzanos built a Western little town in Hoyo De Manzanares (Madrid) called ¨Golden City¨ with sets by Jaime Perez Cubero and Jose Luis Galicia .This original initiative corresponded to this prestigious writer /producer/director Eduardo Brochero who saw the potential of European Westerns and commissioned to the production designers Jaime Pérez Cubero and José Luis Galicia (Construcine) the task of raising the set , as in 1962 the first ¨Paella¨ set in Spain was built . Then , the first filming there was made : ¨The terrible sheriff (62) . A year later , there came Sergio Leone to shoot the iconic ¨A fistful of Dollars¨ with which the boom of Spaghetti/Chorizo Western was burst . However , today sadly disappeared just like is well shown in ¨Winchester, Uno Entre Mil¨ or ¨Killer, Adios¨ . The motion picture was professionally directed by Fernando Cerchio (as Fred Ringold) . He written/directed several action/adventure/ mini-epics movies , such as : 1968 Los Cuatro Budas De Kriminal , 1967 Secretísimo , 1964 Totó against the Black Pirate ,1963 Totò and Cleopatra , 1962 The red mask , 1962 Daggers of blood , 1962 Totó versus Maciste , 1961 Queen of Nile , 1960 Il Sepolcro Dei Re , 1959 Giuditta and Oloferne , 1957 La Venere Di Cheronea , 1957 Desert lovers , 1957 Mysteries in Paris , 1955 I Quattro Del Getto Tonante , 1954 El Vizconde De Bragelonne , 1952 Il Bandolero Stanco and Son of Lagardere .

Red Bells (1982)

Lavish biography about John Reed regarding his thunderous existence in Mexico during the bloody revolution

[31 January 2018]

A biographic chronicle of John Reed dealing with the Mexican revolution in the early 20th century. John Silas "Jack" Reed (October 22, 1887 - October 17, 1920) , he was an American journalist, poet, and socialist activist, best remembered for his first-hand account of the Bolshevik Revolution, Ten Days That Shook the World. He was married to writer and feminist Louise Bryant. Reed died in Russia in 1920 and is one of only three Americans buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis, the others being labor organizer Bill Haywood, and Charles Ruthenburg , the founder of the Communist Party USA.

Here concerns itself into the life of the notorious journalist John Reed/Franco Nero in Mexico , adding his relationship to Louise Bryant played by Úrsula Andress . Franco Nero gives a passable acting as Reed , the radical American journalist who becomes involved with the Mexican revolution in Russia, and hopes to bring its spirit and idealism to the United States. The film has a lot of battles and several scenes with crowd and great number of extras . The motion picture was professionally made by the Russian Director: Sergey Bondarchuk .

Various films are based on Reed's accounts of the Mexican Revolution and Russian revolution : the 1973 film Reed: Insurgent Mexico, by Mexican director Paul Leduc, and the two-part Mexican-Soviet-Italian co-production consisting of Red Bells (1982) and Red Bells II (1983), both directed by Sergei Bondarchuk, with Franco Nero as Reed. Being especially known Reds (1981) played and directed by Warren Beatty as John Reed , Diane Keaton , Jerzy Kosinski as Zinoiev , Paul Sorvino , , Edward Herrmann , and Jack Nicholson as Eugene O'Neill .