Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Artivels Undescribable Perfection

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

albertayler1 I have seen two different versions of this "Mexican" film on the Fox Movie Channel (or its on demand version). The first time was the 1.33 version with no subtitles. While it's true that most of the Norte Americano characters (which in this case includes Von Sydow whose accent is very slight--he was reputed to have intentionally learned a mid-Atlantic version of English) have a limited or non-existent command of Spanish, you can't really understand what is going on without subtitles. The novel on which it is based notes that the Americans do not always understand what is going on but the dialog is in "English" anyway. A kind of stilted way of talking which suggests a translation. Also the Mexicans are really Indians except for the police chief who has been exiled from the big city and wants to get back. Even he might not understand what the Indians are saying among themselves. The second time I saw this film (on Fox Film channel, May 2016) it now had English subs and was letterboxed at 1.85 (though the opening title sequence clearly shows that this was a full Cinemascope frame originally!). I'd like to see this in HD (we don't get that for the Fox movie channel here) and a proper Cinemascope ratio. (TCM please) I would also recommend Michael Barrett's novel for richer detail which is hinted at in the film. Another reviewer compared this film to "Treasure of the Sierra Madre". You could say that it falls into a certain subgenre which I call "a Mexican" like the Wild Bunch and other westerns or several film noirs that take place mostly in Mexico or a goodly number of other films and books which highlight our neighbor south as a place of danger, corruption, illicit behavior, serious crime, poverty, untold wealth, a place of refuge for those fleeing the law, etc. Mexico itself has had a first-class film industry which has had its ups and downs. Mexican noirs of the 40s and 50s are every bit as good as the Hollywood versions and laden with less censorship to boot! I agree with another reviewer that there may have been more footage that didn't make it into the final cut which would have made elements of the story clearer. Certainly the ending is very abrupt. In any case this is a film that should be given the restoration treatment. Were it to happen it would probably have a much greater reputation. Perhaps the person who was in charge of production at the studio during the film who contributed some information in another review could tell us more about the process that led to its release. Maybe Von Sydow remembers something as well.Worth seeing!

info-627-664439 "The Reward" (1965)is one of the most interesting and well photographed and directed westerns that I've seen. Director Serge Bourguignon ("Sundays and Cybele") proves he's a distinguished director with this tale of two men who try to bring a posse out after a fugitive for the $50,000 reward and end up having to agree to split the reward with the three other men, a sergeant and an Indian and another Mexican. Bourguignon shows his strength just in his casting decisions that he is a top-flight director. In the cast, as his protagonist, a pilot, (Max Von Sydow)paired with Gilbert Roland as an captain, with Emilio Fernandez as the sergeant, Henry Silva as the Indian and Nino Castelnuovo as the other Mexican. Yvette Mimieux plays the girl accompanying Emphrem Zimbalist, Jr. as the fugitive. The cinematography is very well realized by Joe MacDonald in Color By Deluxe. Bourguignon's directorial flourishes abound, the matching of image to sound and the cutting from scene to scene are skillfully wrought. Film Editor was Robert Simpson. Of course, the English subtitles for the Spanish should have been retained. The script was by Bourguignon and Oscar Millard based on a novel by Michael Barrett. Produced by Aaron Rosenberg. There was always a question after "Sundays and Cybele" that it could have been a fluke the film was as good as it was winning Best Foreign Film, (After all it had Patricia Gozzi as the star) but "The Reward" certainly cements his reputation and makes me interested to see his other films. Yes, I think the film should be revived. It is probably more important today than initially upon release. It was a 20th Century-Fox film.

HEFILM The only way to see this is a rather cropped version of Fox's movie channel, but that version does have all the Spanish language sub titled. Though that fact that "our heroes" don't know what is being said around them is also part of the plot. I assume the film had subtitles when it was released but it's possible it intentionally didn't--a bold move that might not have worked--again I don't know, the subtitles I saw on the film looked to be added for TV.It's often fascinating to watch and beautifully shot with some striking aerial shots and complex staging. Sydow is very good though his character sometimes slips out of being the central focus of the film. the ending is rather abrupt and more like films from the 1970's than the 1960's which may have been part of what kept audiences away.But there is real tension and a good set up for the story that develops as the group on their way for THE REWARD slowly divide into rival sectors. The sparse use of music is effective much of the music being source (a guitar and flute) played on screen. It seems to be building to a big pay off which doesn't happen and it loses steam towards the end and then ends too quickly. It is a modern day western perhaps that puts people off as well. Too bad there isn't a perfect version of it to see as it looks to be shot in a very wide Cinemascope aspect ratio, but it could prove to be an undiscovered pleasure for film fans who want to find new films to like--long after box office success of failure matter. Give it a try.

Poseidon-3 A dream come true for anyone who wants to watch six people listlessly plod across desert terrain while speaking 65% of the dialogue in a language that not everyone knows, this deadening film will likely put most viewers to sleep. Von Sydow (not yet free of his contemplative, expressionless Jesus faces from "The Greatest Story Ever Told") plays a crop dusting pilot who loses everything, including his future freedom, after he crashes his plane on one final flight and destroys a water tank. He strikes a deal with Mexican police captain Roland to pay his fines off by aiding in the capture of a wanted man. Zimbalist plays the man, an American who attempted to kidnap a small boy, the act of which accidentally led to his death. With gal pal Mimieux in tow, he set outs across the desert in her convertible (!), only to be tracked down by Roland, von Sydow and a trio of helpers (police sergeant Fernandez and two young Mexican lads Castelnuovo and Silva.) Once it's discovered that Zimbalist has a $50,000 reward on his head, the five men begin to fracture at the seams, causing disagreement and death. Though this story idea has merit and sounds intriguing, the finished result couldn't be more muddled, dull or disengaging. There is virtually no dramatic thrust or momentum to the film. What's more, the bulk of the dialogue is in Spanish! So, without subtitles, almost nothing being discussed can be fully understood by a solely English-speaking viewer. Naturally, one can get the basic gist of the actions (and this sort of thing is all right in small doses), but it is extremely tiresome to have to try to figure out what is being said between characters over the course of an entire movie! The film also has obnoxiously loud sound effects and incidental music. (The broken guitar scene occurs way too late!) This is especially difficult since what little English dialogue there is is spoken by Swedish (!) von Sydow, Mexican-accented Roland, soft spoken Zimbalist and willowy Mimieux, who apparently used the Leigh Taylor-Young acting handbook here which requires every line to be whispered as breathily as possible. Von Sydow gives a vague and noncommittal performance. Roland attempts to inject a bit of character into his role, but has nothing to work with. Zimbalist is saddled with a smallish part that has confusing motivations. Every clichéd aspect of a Mexican character (loudness, annoying belly laughing, drinking, guitar-playing, obesity, etc...) is brought to the table by Fernandez and his portrayal is quite unpleasant. Mimieux is very attractive with her golden locks blowing and her lovely figure getting rained on, but she has nothing to say or do of consequence. Her role is complete window-dressing. Silva is intriguing and seems slightly homosexual in his role with his shirt tied like Mary Ann on "Gilligan's Island". It's hard to gather what his character is about since all of his lines are in Spanish. One of the few assets to the film is Castelnuovo as a handsome, hunky, upstanding young man. His toothy smile and snug jeans go a long way in relieving the relentless tedium of this pointless film. The worthlessness of the story is brought home for good in it's non-ending.