Wonderfully offbeat film!

i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

Good movie but grossly overrated

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Look at that cast! I guess with that lot you'd need a different plot from your usual Spaghetti Western plot (anti-hero, corrupt businessmen, Mexicans) so here we instead get a Dirty Dozen set up…which is the plot of many an Italian war film.This one starts off with our hero Captain Kaleb of the US army discovering that his wife has been raped and flayed by a bunch of Apaches. After putting her out of her misery, Kaleb goes nuts at his superior officer as they were supposed to be guarding the mission where his wife was working. After shooting his superior officer in the leg, Kaleb heads off for the wilderness to go rogue and kill loads of Apaches.Two years later, General John Houston turns up and demands that they find Kaleb for a special mission (They haven't seen him in that time, but it takes about five minutes to find him!) and promises him a pardon if he'll take a team of men over the border and wipe out a certain Apache army that's been troubling the US – but who will make up this Dirty Dozen-or-so? There's Chuck Connors (explosives expert, smoking), Ricardo Montalban (Native Indian, overblown philosophy), Woody Strode (Engineering, punch ups), Slims Pickens (good ol' Southern hospitality, tobacco chewing), Ian Bannen (Sarcasm, full of Buckfast) and some other guys. They all do what a Dirty Unspecified Quantity always do – start training! This being the seventies and not the eighties, we get a fairly long training scene instead of a montage.After all that crap, it's time to go on the mission, but wait, Kaleb's superior officer has something to tell them, and I'd love to tell you what that is, but just as he's about to speak the Mill Creek version of the film immediately cuts to the Dirty Group heading for their destination. Thanks Mill Creek! Thanks also for the bit where Kaleb tells the group to shut up and ride in silence when no one was talking.As you'd expect from films like this, this lot don't get on very well and have a few punch ups on the way, and not everyone will make it to the epic battle at the end. In tone this plays out a lot more like an American Western than an Italian one (although it's as violent as an Italian one!), which means it wasn't quite as daft, although I loved that bit where they are hoisting a donkey up a cliff face when the Apaches ride by, causing everyone to dive for cover and leave the donkey hanging there, looking genuinely perplexed.

"Support Your Local Sheriff" director Burt Kennedy takes no time out for either comedy or romance in "The Deserter," a gritty, violent frontier fracas written by western novelist Claire Huffaker. Previously, Huffaker and Kennedy had teamed up on the superlative western adventure "The War Wagon" back in 1967 that co-starred John Wayne and Kurt Douglas. This time around Kennedy and Huffaker are dealing with the U.S. Cavalry and bloodthirsty renegade Apache savages on the warpath. "The Deserter" qualifies as one of those ensemble, military actioneers with a diverse bunch of hardcases selected either because they are prisoners or specialists and hurled into the breach to thwart a menacing villain and his army. This beautifully lensed, 100-minute "Magnificent Seven" meets "The Dirty Dozen" oater mixes and matches genres and ranks as a solid shoot'em up bolstered by a top-notch supporting cast of Hollywood veterans who were already western icons. You've got Chuck Connors of "The Rifleman" fame. You've got Patrick Wayne, the son of the biggest western star ever: John Wayne. You've got John Ford stock player Woody Strode of "Sergeant Rutledge" fame. You've got Brandon De Wilde of "Shane;" he was the little boy who chased after Alan Ladd in the final scene screaming "Shane!" Additionally, you're got Slim Pickens, Ricardo Montalban, Albert Salmi, Richard Crenna, John Huston, and Ian Bannen. This dusty oater is worth seeing just to see these guys assembled against the savage Spanish scenery that substitutes splendidly for the American southwest. "War and Peace" producer Dino De Laurentiis has lavishly blown a fortune on this western. Although it has formidable production values, a great supporting cast, strong direction, sharp editing, and memorable dialogue, the one weakness is the lead played by Bekim Fehmiu, whose biggest movie was "The Adventurers." Fehmiu is appropriately laconic but he lacks charisma. You can believe him as a character because Huffaker and Kennedy have incorporated his non-native status in the storyline the same way that Warner Brothers use to provide for Australian actor Errol Flynn in their westerns. Indeed, a high percentage of people who converted to American citizenship were immigrants during the 19th century. Last but not least, prolific Italian composer Piero Piccioni of "Contempt" has furnished an orchestral score that is reminiscent more of American composer Neal Hefti than Ennio Morricone with its jazz-like melodies. The offbeat thing about "The Deserter" is that our indomitable hero must led a platoon of marauders into Mexico, something that violated international agreements between Mexico and America at the time, to wipe out an army of sadistic Indians that threaten not only the peace of white settlers but also innocent Native Americans! Talk about politically correct! Nevertheless, "The Deserter" is a thoroughly enjoyable western that piles on drama at the expense of humor. If you are watching the Mill Creek version, prepare yourself for a mangled viewing opportunity as the print is pretty butchered.

Really loved this film when I saw it on BBC1 way back in 1981, when I was the grand old age of 11. One of those films I always wanted to see on TV again, but it has NEVER been repeated on UK TV. However, I managed to pick it up on second hand video from e-bay, and wondered how it would stand up today, over 20 years after I saw it. The verdict? Still great. True, it is dated in parts (Music, editing) but these are really minor complaints on the whole. The lead character is great; really ruthless and a true anti-hero. Some great supporting cast also; with some really unexpected moments. And it takes it's time getting to where it's going, which I feel a lot of todays films lack. In 'The Deserter', the characters are given time to breath, and it is not until well after the first hour that they inevitably start to die. This all leads up to an explosive last twenty mins, with some memorable scenes. If you love 'guys on a mission' movies, or westerns, see this little gem. Allan.

Chuck Conners,Albert Salmi,Woody Strode,Pat Wayne,Slim Pickens,Ricardo Montalban.Sound like a good show?How about throwing in a little Richard Crenna and John Huston.Mix it all together with international star Bekim Fehmiu and you have the "Deserter".You have seen it before and if you take time, you will see it again.A worthwhile oater that is very watchable(The gatling gun scene that has the cast looking right at you),and enjoyable.I have to agree w/previous comment of the film being too short and not getting to know the charactors very well(they were good and could have been great!).This however was a Dino de Laurentis production,and he doesn,t do westerns very well.Check it out anyway.