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Vera Cruz [1954]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Vera Cruz was only director Robert Aldrich's second Western (his first, made a few months earlier, was the revisionist, pro-Native-American Apache), but it's such an assured, stylish affair that he might have been roaming the sagebrush for decades. In the aftermath of the American Civil War two lone adventurers make their way south of the border, where Mexico is fighting a civil war of its own to rid the country of the French-imposed Emperor Maximilian. Neither the dour Benjamin Trane (Gary Cooper) nor the grinning, devil-may-care Joe Erin (Burt Lancaster) has much in the way of idealism, but Trane still retains a thin bitter edge of integrity, a quality quite alien to the cheerfully amoral Erin. In uneasy alliance, constantly looking to outwit or double-cross each other, the two find themselves escorting a beautiful French countess (Denise Darcel) and a shipment of gold across country. Cooper and Lancaster create a superb double-act, using their contrasted screen personas to point up the humour and the cynicism of the two mercenaries' relationship. Darcel makes less than she might of the femme fatale role, but there are relishable cameos from Cesar Romero as a suavely duplicitous aristo and Ernest Borgnine as another gringo with an exceptionally vicious streak. The script, according to Aldrich, was written on the run, "always finished about five minutes before we shot it", but you wouldn't guess it from the laconic wit of the dialogue. It looks great, too--Ernest Laszlo's widescreen photography makes the most of the handsome Mexican locations.

With its irreverent take on the accepted moral conventions of the genre, Vera Cruz ushered in a new kind of Western, and its central love-hate relationship would be replayed in Sam Peckinpah's Ride the High Country (1962) and Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966).

On the DVD: Not much in the way of extras but the mono sound has been expertly remastered to the benefit of Hugo Friedhofer's spirited score. Above all, the film's presented in its full Superscope ratio (16:9), a blessed relief after all those years when it showed up panned-and-scanned on BBC1. If ever a movie needed widescreen, it's this one--if only to fit in all Burt's teeth. You can see why they called him "Crockery Joe". --Philip Kemp

Editorial
Special Features

16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
DVD 9
French\German\Italian\Spanish
English\German
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital Mono English French German Italian Spanish
Dolby Digital Mono
Original Theatrical Trailer
Interactive Menu
Chapter Selection
Danish\Dutch\English\French\German\Italian\Norwegian\Spanish\Swedish

Editorial
Synopsis

In Robert Aldrich's action-packed Western, Benjamin Trane (Gary Cooper) and Joe Erin (Burt Lancaster) are American soldiers of fortune hired by the Austrian ruler of Mexico, Maximilian, to safeguard a royal convoy transporting gold and an Austrian countess to the port of Vera Cruz. Things get complicated for the mercenaries when they begin to mistrust one another--and when Erin starts to fall for the countess. Aldrich throws a bit of European exotica into the standard oater formula of guns, grit, and gold to create a striking, memorable film that showcases the acting talents of Cooper and Lancaster, two monumental Hollywood stars. The director also sprinkles some trenchant historical commentary into his powder-keg narrative by showing the Hapsburg empire's bumbling attempt to annex Mexico.

Not nearly as good as they claim
Review date: 2008-06-05 Rating: 4 out of 10

I bought this film for my collection on the strength of the other reviews. Bad mistake. The quality of the transfer is poor and getting to the end of the movie was a challenge. NOT one for the collection imho.

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Reviews


Vera Cruz / A classic western
Review date: 2003-11-14 Rating: 8 out of 10

From its haunting latin american theme to its magnificent colour ,Vera Cruz is a classic example of the western fare from the mid late fifties .It boasts two main stars in Gary Cooper (Ben Trane)and Burt Lancaster (Joe Erin)as two mercineries hired to escort a stage coach with gold hidden inside to the Emperor Maxmillian dictator of Mexico.Filled with action ,it tells of the struggle of the two men to fulfill their obligations,each with his own desires that the gold would help to fulfill.Gary Cooper gives his usual steady performance as the good guy,while Burt Lancaster fills the shoes of the greedy self promoting bad guy to a tee (What out for his smile) Good stuff watch and enjoy

vera cruz
Review date: 2003-05-06 Rating: 10 out of 10

if you don't have this western classic in your collection,go and get it now!

FIRE AND ICE
Review date: 2003-02-05 Rating: 10 out of 10

Robert Aldrich's VERA CRUZ is a movie I watch every two or three years from my childhood on. Dubbed in french, in pan & scan or even in black & white on my first TV set, no matter in what condition I've seen it, the film stayed as a favorite of mine. Now MGM presents it on DVD with a trailer and different dubbings and subtitles as bonus features. Meager. Furthermore, sound and images are in my opinion no more than average.

Coproduced by Burt Lancaster, VERA CRUZ gives to the actor the opportunity to present an extraordinary performance. Joe Erin is an outlaw with no morals, ready to cheat his friends. He is very fast with his gun and the two man-to-man duels of the movie are scenes worthy to stay in the annals of western movies.

Superb are also the scenes involving Burt Lancaster and Gary Cooper, specially the evening at the emperor's residence or the first encounter between both men. I still can hear Lancaster say " Guess ! " with his overwhite teeth to a Gary Cooper asking him which horse belongs to him.

All in all, VERA CRUZ is a must for any movie lover even if the DVD presentation is far from being perfect.

A DVD for your library.

One of the best western movies for all ages - MUST see
Review date: 2002-05-24 Rating: 10 out of 10

When I first saw this movie...many years ago on TV I loved it. I was so excited with the story, the scenery, the gunfights...I loved that smiling, black-dressed cowboy (Burt Lancaster) even though I didn't know who he was. The story goes as follows:
Gary Cooper (playing a decent, honest, gentleman cowboy) and Burt Lancaster (a selfish-antihero cowboy) portray western adventurers, who after the American Civil War, are looking to hire out their guns to any cause that is willing to pay a price. The two characters are met by accident and ment to become friends and competitors at the same time. At first, the two agree to hire out to the Emperor Maximillan on an escort job, that involves taking a beautiful Countess (Denise Darcel) of the court to Vera Cruz. But something else is going on with this escort and Juaristas revolutionaries, loyal troops to the emperor, and a gang of cowboys are very interested in...GOLD.
Lots of exciting gunfighting, multible double crosses and betrayals, love stories, gold, all together with a magnificent One-on-One gunfight at the very end qualify this film as one of the best western movies ever made.
Burt Lancanser...even as a "bad guy" steals the show. A must-see for all ages.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Gary Cooper
Cesar Romero
Sara Montiel
Denise Darcel
Burt Lancaster

Creators:
Gary Cooper (Primary Contributor)
Burt Lancaster (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: MGM Entertainment
Manufacturer: MGM Entertainment
EAN: 5050070006520
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2001-06-11
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 90 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1954-12-25
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: French (Original Language)
Language: Spanish (Original Language)

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