Review of Barquero (1970) by Glen O — 11 Oct 2013
This was quite an entertaining western, somewhat in the style of Sergio Leone, nicely shot, with great music but with plot holes you could drive a truck through. (If the Barquero and the mountain man could swim across the river to rescue the farmer why didn't the bad guys just swim across the river in the first place instead of staging a pitched battle over the ferry?) You know this is an early 70s western when Warren Oates' character spends half his time smoking dope and hallucinating.
Oates and Lee van Cleef both give convincing performances but there's no real reason why their final shoot couldn't have happened right at the start of the story but then I guess you have to fill your 105 minutes with something.
One of only a couple of films Marie Gomez appeared in (she was a regular on the TV show The High Chaparral) her tough cigar chomping character was a rare thing for a female lead in this period. She knows how to look after herself and at no point does she need rescuing by any man.
Long a cult classic the DVD release was a long time coming (2010) and fans of late night television should enjoy its appearance in the format.
This review of Barquero (1970) was written by Glen O on 11 Oct 2013.
Barquero has generally received mixed reviews.
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