An action-packed slog

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

This yarn (scripted by director Sam Peckinpah and Gordon T. Dawson, based on a story by Peckinpah and Frank Kowalski) takes place in Mexico, where a powerful land baron (Emilio Fernandez) must deal with scandal. His young daughter has been impregnated by the notorious scoundrel of the title, prompting him to utter that immortal line. Two bounty hunters (played by guest stars Robert Webber and Academy Award winner Gig Young) encounter a small town piano player, Bennie (Warren Oates) in their quest for information, and hire him to help them out. Bennie finds out from his own girlfriend (super sexy Mexican superstar Isela Vega) that Alfredo is in fact already dead. So they set out on a trip to locate where the s.o.b. is buried, and bring back his decapitated head as proof.Peckinpah takes his time spinning this particular yarn, making the film more about the journey - Bennies' journey - than the destination. Therefore, it may not appeal to people who want more action and more bloodshed throughout. But fret not: after a horrible, sombre story turn in the second half, it turns into a revenge saga where our antihero is determined to mete out some punishment. Make no mistake: he IS an antihero, one who does not hesitate to kill others in the pursuit of his goal. Yet he takes no pleasure from it. He just does what he has to do. It's his girlfriend that is more of a moral center for the story. It has some very appealing and poetic moments, gradually working its way bit by bit to a lot of gunfire and squibs going off. It also can boast some fairly funny black humor, since Alfredos' severed head is naturally quite smelly and attractive to flies, and Bennie has to use ice to keep it from rotting too much.Jerry Fieldings' score is excellent, as is the vibrant cinematography by Alex Phillips, Jr. In an offbeat touch, only a few credits are placed up front, with most of them saved for the end, with the films' title coming up just before the fade-out.The cast is superb. The late, great Oates makes the most of this meaty leading role, even emulating his director in his performance. Vega is both delectable (going topless at times) and a tremendous dramatic actress. Webber and Young are very good, subtly underplaying the nature of their relationship. Kris Kristofferson has an effective cameo as a lusty, creepy biker.Highly recommended to fans of both Peckinpah and Oates.Eight out of 10.

Here is a real curiosity; a Sam Peckipah feature in Spanish with English subtitles. A beautiful Mexican girl is pregnant without the benefit of marriage. Teresa is summoned by her mafioso kind of dad for a rather nasty interrogation in order to determine the identity of the daddy. It turns out to be the bosses right hand man, Alfredo Garcia. The mobster puts a bounty of one million dollars for Al's noggin. He sends two hit men, Gig Young is one of them and Robert Webber the other. They question Warren Oates, who is a retired law man enjoying life by playing piano in a bar. Oates asks his girlfriend, a hooker, what she knows. He is told that Garcia was a lover and that he recently died in a car accident.Oates and the prostitute go on a road trip in search of the very valuable corpse. The couple have a violent encounter with a pair of mean bikers and it ends badly. One of the baddies is country singer Kris Kristofferson. He looks young and is convincing as a mean dude.The quest becomes an almost keystone comedy in the treasure hunt for Garcia's skull. Peckinpah created a bloody and funny Mexican road trip.

Film starts promisingly enough , as the story takes place in the Mexican frontier with the U.S. , in 1974 . The Mexican baron land dubbed "The Boss" (Emilio Fernandez) to be aware his teenage daughter "Teresa" is pregnant , and he offers a reward : to take the head of Alfredo Garcia , a former employee . It is concerned by two American bounty hunters , "Quill" (Gig Young) and "Sappensly" (Robert Webber). Also, "Bennie" (Warren Oates), piano player and co-owner of a bar , along with her lover "Elita" Peach Vega (frequently naked Isela Vega), a prostitute and former girlfriend of "Alfredo Garcia" ; all of them are determined to get the reward . The pianist becomes mixed up vicious bounty hunters who are looking for the head of the man who has impregnated the wealthy owner's daughter and finishing in an orgy of blood and destruction .An enjoyable film , it turns to be an elegiac and tough perspective at the world of losers . Taut excitement throughout , though soon becomes to drawn out , beautifully photographed and with brutal scenes and some images filmed in slow-moving . The film results to be one of the most strong and ferocious directed by Peckinpah . Tenth Sam Peckinpah film , shot with limited financial resources and total freedom . As it was the only movie directed by Sam Peckinpah that he had final cut on , all the others were re-cut by the studios . However , upon release , it was banned in Sweden, Germany and Argentina . The screenplay from S. Peckinpah , Gordon T. Dawson, develops a plot of S. Peckinpah and Frank Kawalski . It is filmed on location in various localities of Mexico . The picture is full of action , drama , adventure , crime , thriller , romance and western . There is a lot of bloodletting but seems almost restrained alongside nowadays's movies . It proposes a rough history , violent , sordid and heartbreaking . Abundant dust , odors , standing water covered with algae , watering foul , squalid housing , etc. It shows the poverty of the region , school children , nasty motorists , rapists stalking , assault , murder , shootouts , etc . Extremely violent throughout , it does show a side of Mexico rarely shot in American movies . Violence takes many forms , including long shootouts , punching, pushing malicious torture in private and in public . The central motive is a cruel revenge . The film is possibly the most brutal and ferocious made by Peckinpah , when he was dominated by alcohol , melancholy , loneliness and despair . Warren Oates turns in an excellent acting as independent pianist who is searching redemption by a crazy vengeance , he and Isela Vega strike real sparks . Warren Oates is on the screen as "alter ego" of the director, who creates one of his most candid self-portraits . It is a road movie , which develops the action as a long drive from the city of Mexico , near which lies the estate of "The Boss" . The film is formatted in a violent odyssey , peppered with unexpected incidents , outrageous situations , social problems and a stark as well as shocking bloody violence . It also has exalted friendship , companionship , affection and love . Displays signs of misogyny that characterizes the filmmaker , where women are not reliable : they are infidels , weak character , disloyal , deceitful, and all men are big losers . In the context of this bleak world , explores the mythic figure of the loser, in line with the general mood of the country after the end of the Vietnam War . It pays tribute to "The Treasure of Sierra Madre (Huston, 1948) , which is inspired and takes some elements included in the screenplay .The soundtrack by Jerry Fielding , Peckinpah's usual ("The Wild Bunch" 1969), composed a score in short melodies that evoke the folk music traditional Mexican and 4 songs notables : "Bennie's Song", "A place to go", "Bad Blood Baby "(voice of Peckinpah) and" JF. " Photography, Alex Phillips ("Robinson Crusoe", Buñuel, 1954) , offers images that accompany and underscore the dirty , rough and violent film . Action , dialog , cinematography , score and slow-moving editing are Peckinpah classic in his film more authentic and personal. Professionally made by the famous director who was a real creator and author of masterpieces as ¨Cross of Iron¨,¨The ballad of Cable Hogue¨, ¨Wild bunch¨ . ¨Bring me the head of Alfredo Garcia¨ was lovely realized by Sam Peckinpah in his punchy directorial style . Hardcore Peckinpah moviegoers will appreciate this one more than the casual spectator .

Warren Oates, in a career best performance, unravels magnificently down Mexico way in Peckinpah's criminally underrated nouveau Gothic masterpiece. This film is gradually coming into it's own as a unique pre-Pulp Fiction nightmare. Initially marginalised in the scheme of the director's work it is now reappraised as one of his major achievements. Weird romanticism, shattering violence, morbid subject matter, all combine to make it a truly original cinematic experience.The obvious signpost to the progressively nihilistic tone of the movie is given earlier on when Gig Young is asked for his name by Bennie (Warren Oates). He replies "Dobbs. Fred C. Dobbs." The name is that of the Humphrey Bogart character in John Huston's classic "The Treasure of The Sierra Madre." Bogart's character was driven mad by greed in that movie, in his futile search for an elusive treasure. Peckinpah's vision encompasses many of the same themes, yet is far darker. As Oates' character spirals into psychosis during his journey through the searing and filthy Mexican badlands, he maintains a fractured, rambling dialogue with the decaying, severed head of Alfredo and coldly guns down those who get in his way.Bennie is a loser, a pianist in a dead end bar, cuckolded by the woman he loves who got it on with Alfredo (a friend of Bennie's); he's broke and living in squalor, he perceives obtaining the severed head of his dead friend as a way out. This is his "golden fleece," a passport to a better life. In the process of digging up the body, his girl is murdered and Bennie's personality disintegrates. As he pumps bullet after bullet into the corpse of one of the hoods who whacked his chick, he spits: "Why? Because it feels so damn good!" The role is one that Warren Oates was made for. Seldom a leading man in Hollywood, his history of character parts provide him with the experience needed to invest Bennie with the complex traits of a complete anti-hero. Each tic, each mannerism, the almost improvised quality of his dialogue delivery, results in a totally believable performance.Although many believe that Peckinpah's direction here is "messy and unfocused" on reflection it seems more of a deliberate ploy to accentuate the nightmarish quality of the narrative. Bennie swigs Tequila almost constantly throughout the movie, and very often - combined with the obligatory slow motion violence and gun-play - the result is as if the audience is viewing the action through the languorous gaze of a drunk. Or maybe that's just my imagination running away with me. Or my own alcohol intake influencing my perception.This is probably Peckinpah's most personal film, and his last grand masterpiece. As such it is one of the most original pieces of mainstream cinema ever produced. If you like Tarantino and Rodriguez, this movie will give a sense of where some of their roots are sunk. Ultimately, a journey into the heart of darkness that makes Apocalypse Now seem like a paddle through a Disneyland water park.