SYNOPSICS
Barquero (1970) is a English movie. Gordon Douglas has directed this movie. Lee Van Cleef,Warren Oates,Forrest Tucker,Kerwin Mathews are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1970. Barquero (1970) is considered one of the best Western movie in India and around the world.
Jake Remy leads a gang of outlaw cutthroats making their escape toward Mexico from a successful robbery. Barring their way is a river--crossable only by means of a ferry barge. The barge operator, Travis, refuses to be bullied into providing transport for the gang and escapes across river with most of the local populace--leaving Remy and his gang behind, desperately seeking a way across. A river-wide stand-off begins between the gang and the townspeople, both groups of which have left people on the wrong side of the river.
Same Actors
Barquero (1970) Reviews
Duel of titans : Lee Van Cleef against Warren Oates
The picture narrates as a renegade motley group (Warren Oates, Kerwin Matthews, Armando Silvestre) executes a massacre when they are robbing the village's inhabitants . They flee but are stopped by a barge's owner (Lee Van Cleef) in the frontier on river Grande . The barquero called Travis has his own life-style and his own death-style . He is only helped by a mountain man (Forrest Tucker) . The confrontation will be terrible and they will fight until death . The highlights of the movie are the initial slaughter by the cutthroats and facing off between the good and bad guys on the lumber barges . This picture along with ¨ Hang'em high¨ (by Ted Post with Clint Eatwood) belongs to numerous filmed in the 60s and 70s influenced by Spaghetti Western , thus it develops ordinary themes such as : revenge , violent facing , similar musical score , tough antiheroes , spectacular gun-down and excessive baddies , all of them common issues in Italian Western . Lee Van Cleef , recent his success in Leone Western (A few dollars more) is top-notch . Warren Oates is magnificent as the ominous and hideous villain . The secondary cast is excellent , Forrest Tucker as the wry and impulsive trapper , Kerwin Mathew as Marquette , Mariette Hartley as Anna , Armando Silvestre as Sawyer and John Davis Chandler plays a cocky villain , as always . Dominic Frontiere's musical score is atmospheric and adjusted to action western , similar to ¨Hang 'Em High¨ soundtrack that he also composed . The motion picture was well directed by Gordon Douglas , though Robert Sparr was originally set to direct, but he was killed in a plane crash while scouting locations , then Gordon was hired to replace him . Gordon Douglas direction is nice , he had formerly got a lot of experience in Western genre (Only the valiant and Chuka). The yarn will appeal to Lee Van Cleef fonds and Western movies fans.
Underrated and forgotten but classic Western
Lee Van Cleef had already become an international star late in his career, following his success in the Sergio Leone Spaghetti Westerns, when he starred in "Barquero", made in 1970. The film is clearly influenced by the Spaghetti tradition, most clearly displayed in the drugged-up, psychotic villain, Jake Remy, who bares similarities to the character of Indio in "For a Few Dollars More". However "Barquero" is far superior to the many "Spaghetti" imitators and deserves to stand on its own as a great Western. The plot is fairly simple, beginning with the massacre and plundering of a peaceful town by Jake Remy and his crew of assorted bandits. Their only escape from capture is to cross the river to safety but the only person who can help them is the Barquero, played by Lee Van Cleef, who refuses, and a violent stand-off ensues. The film is aided immeasurably by the performance of Warren Oates as Jake Remy, in one of his best roles. Remy makes even most the evil Western characters look saintly in comparison, as he kills and butchers anyone who gets in his path (check out the scene in which he sleeps with a woman and then casually kills her) and his only redeeming feature is his loyalty to his men. This is perhaps the only Western in which the bad guy is given more screen time than the hero and is one of the most complex villains ever seen on screen. Remy has a past which he is haunted by, and is slowly driven mad by his determination to cross the river and by the stubbornness of the Barquero. The film does not really have a hero, as the only two characters to resemble this are the Barquero and Mountain Phil, a truly bizarre character, excellently played by Forrest Tucker. The Barquero is prepared to help the endangered townsfolk against Remy, but only because he wants to bed one of the women and Mountain Phil does not help out of kindness but more so because he is slightly insane. "Barquero" was directed by the undistinguished Gordon Douglas, although he did direct the classic 1954 Sci-Fi/horror "Them". Fans of Sam Peckinpah will be pleased to see the villainous pairing of Warren Oates and John Davis Chandler, although Van Cleef fans may be disappointed as he is given little to do, besides having to wear one of the worst shirts ever committed to film. "Barquero" should be seen by anyone who is serious about Westerns and is required viewing for fans of the great Warren Oates.
Tremendous cast and scenery
Beautiful Colorado scenery and a fine attention to detail in this western set in the late 1860s. Several American attempts at a spaghetti western surfaced in the late 1960s: this one is a much more compelling film than Eastwood's "Hang 'Em High", in that all of the lead characters are well-drawn and mysterious. Van Cleef, in his finest lead, plays the title character, a man more interested in protecting his barge than in the well-being of the "squatters" who populate the town. Oates is a bit hammy as Remy, but an effective psychotic villain nonetheless. Tucker practically steals the film in a role that would have gone to Edgar Buchanan two decades earlier, that of Mountain Phil, a man loyal enough to put his life on the line for his best friend, and who holds the "squatters" in even more contempt than the barquero does. Should be on DVD by now. An overlooked gem that anticipated "Tom Horn", "Unforgiven", and other stripped-down westerns that would follow over the next 25 years.
Barquero
Lee Van Cleef squaring off in a battle of wills against Warren Oates..if that doesn't draw excitement from western fans, then you need to check your vital signs, because you might just not be registering a pulse. Fascinating "psychological oater" has cold-blooded killer Jacob Remy(Warren Oates in a phenomenal performance)and his band of murderous cutthroats needing to use a barge in order to cross a river into Mexico. The problem is that the barge is across the river on the other side and in possession of barquero(bargeman)Travis(Lee Van Cleef), his mountain tracker pal, Phil(Forrest Tucker, stealing every scene he's in)and a group of religious squatters. Who will ultimately win this cat and mouse game as each leader tests the other's resolve in order to maintain control of the barge? The movie opens with a sensational 20 or so minute shootout where Remy's men open fire on a town of innocent people for their materials and valuables, including bags of silver stolen from the bank. Remy and his men are so despicable, they not only shoot the men, but women as well. Travis and Phil uncover the truth about Remy's plans to use the barge to get across the river, burning it down afterward, thanks to the blabbering of Fair(..a really young John Davis Chandler)who they take prisoner. Getting across the river, Travis will be damned if he'll give up his barge, and Remy attempts, through various methods, to persuade him to. Kerwin Mathews is Jacob's French lieutenant, the brains of their outfit, attempting to convince him to split their loot evenly, separating before things get out of hand. But, Remy is determined to get that barge, slowly driven to the brink of madness as Travis often outsmarts him, including a successful rescue of a kidnapped squatter. The film is worth watching if just for the performance of Warren Oates, who vividly, and impressively, conveys a madman deteriorating psychologically bit by bit as his attempts to retrieve the barge fail. Van Cleef oozes confidence and charisma(..it's so effortless, he's such a cool cat, this guy)as the cerebral hero and Tucker is an absolute hoot as his calm, breezy, undeterred comrade who remains loyal to him as they match wits with their enemies. Great closing gun battle as Travis gathers his "troops" together for one final showdown with Jacob, Marquette and their goons as they attempt to get across the river another way. A legitimate sleeper, definitely worth pursuing if you are a fan of Van Cleef and Oates. The beautiful Marienne Hartley has a supporting role as a squatter willing to offer her sexual services to Travis in exchange for his saving her husband from being drowned by Jacob.
Unusual, involving western drama
Finely crafted production by Aubrey Schenck, with most of its action confined to a spot on the Rio Grande where a bunch of "squatters" have set up a primitive frontier town and a man (the "barquero", Van Cleef) has built a barge connected by rope to cross the river. When a bandit leader (Oates) and his group plunder and burn a nearby town, killing everyone, they make fast tracks to the barge, only to find the town evacuated and the barge on the other side of the river, with Cleef and his woodsman friend (Tucker) reluctantly defending the mostly nebbish townspeople. The script's sardonic tone is probably indebted to contemporary Italian oaters, but its ferocious drive and its focus on a personal confrontation between to determined, opposed strangers is very effective. Cleef is good at showing that he has no real concern for the villagers, but is absolutely set on not letting Oates' bandits burn his barge. Oates is a bit over the top (method acting is the worst type to go over the top with), especially in the poorly-conceived scene where he shoots the river. Solid action film with a significant difference going for it.