johnnyboyz A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die is a daft; knowing; old fashioned yarn – a film with clichéd action figures filling in for characters and crazy shoot outs involving masses of extras acting as its high points of drama. It is a film that begins with the aftermath of a huge gun fight at an American Civil War fort; a gun fight in which an awful lot happens AT the fort, but a gun fight to which the trudging prelude across the deserts of the great American West TO the fort consists of very little. One would compare it to Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch of just a few years previously, but the getting to the fort shoot out finale in that film was around about just as much fun as the maddening final shoot out was, maybe even more: but not here. Tonino Valerii's film is all about the pomp and the circumstance, a trek across the barren sands of nineteenth century U.S.A. that is only ever mildly invigorating at the best of times; the bulk of it acting as a prelude to the all of the chaos which, by the time of its arrival, has just about seen us stop caring altogether.In beginning with the fallout of the all out warfare, the film reveals to us its hand in regards to precisely where it's headed; a tactic we do not necessarily mind, and have indeed come to quite enjoy under varying guises from throughout cinema's long history. Some of the better instances, and the range of examples can be rather vast, arrive in the form of De Palma's Carlito's Way or Billy Wilder's classical era noir Double Indemnity; as two films with the eerie ability to snare us into proceedings and still have us as involved as much as we are by the time the conclusion arrives in exactly the manner we saw or heard during the opening beats. Valerii's film follows that of James Coburn's disgraced colonel Pembroke, and his propulsion from such a state into the messy world of suicide missions and open warfare in which he is the leader of an array of troops one would be a fool to not label the underdogs as to where they're eventually to head.When we first come across Pembroke, it is when the man is scraggly and worn in spite of his rank. He is a thief; a man on his way to jail, that is until he is identified by another official of a more gracious ilk and called into his quarters for a talk. An appreciator of fine wine and enjoying the high life that comes with having gone through the system, a life including armed guards; respect, it seems, and the ability to be so eloquent in one's multi-tasking when speaking of the wine and the mission in equal balance, Pembroke's saviour and his sitting opposite the bedraggled Pembroke displays, in sharp contrast, the deep difference between what a colonel should be and what Pembroke is. Pembroke has proposed to him a mission, a mission to try and recapture a fort for this, the side of the Union Army, from that of the Confederates whom took it under the command of Telly Savalas' Major Ward – a recapturing, it is deemed, that is best preordained by that of an underground tunnel which needs to be taken first. As the gallows outside are readied, and Pembroke contemplates his situation, he begrudgingly accepts and proceeds to round up a disparate array of Apaches; Mexicans; fanatics and rapists from the death roll for this dangerous mission.Pembroke, indeed the majority of the clan, are effectively on a quest for redemption; a quest surmised by the fact the nickname for the large fort they're due to take is that of the "Pulpit", in regards to its situation on that of a mountain, but a highly religious nickname neatly encapsulating the redemptive element of their mission as they attempt to do good for a change, and get the commanding officer back at the base whom sent them away the promotion he feels he deserves. People will be quick to point out the ties to The Dirty Dozen, but Valerii's piece owes so much more to Leone's game-changing Spaghetti Western The Good, The Bad and the Ugly; an apparently knowing point of inspiration inherent with the fact Pembroke initially brushes off enquiries to the rest of his crew with the promise of enemy gold buried out there in the region of where they're headed.Alas, the rest of the film is not up to the standard of Coburn's grizzled, underplayed performance of which he instills within his character and unloads into the film; the man playing the material in a fashion that is better than what the film deserves and is a performance which belongs in a better film. There are skirmishes with those they come up against; disagreements within the band of proverbial brothers as one or two of them express their desires to flee, the bedding down for a night's sleep ought to being a good source of tension as Pembroke's no-nonsense attitude clashes with cut-throats wanting to flee, but it mostly falls flat. One occasion witnesses the stumbling across of a secluded farm, a set piece that, again, ought to rack up a fair degree of tension what with the group of bandits and rapists Pembroke has in tow being forced into sharing the same space as decent civilian folk, but it fails to induce much in the way of effective drama and instead leaves rather-a nasty taste which feels misplaced in an otherwise guilty, old fashioned romp which is a deeply underwhelming experience on the whole.

ianlouisiana I watched this film yesterday evening on ITV4 when I could have tuned into "The Hairy Bikers' Cookbook".Well,nobody's perfect. I can only imagine that ITV in its wisdom cut huge swathes of the storyline in order to fit it into their Saturday dead - time slot. Set during the War between the States the story opens on the eve of a mass hanging in a fort occupied by Union soldiers.For no reason that was apparent Mr J.Coburn and Mr B.Spence are brought to the fort in a waggon and the C.O. immediately seizes on Mr Coburn as the ideal man to lead a suicide raid on an enemy - held fort."I'll need 12 men" says Mr Coburn between drags on his cigarillo and delicate sips of his red wine that he has already pronounced as "good",denoting that he is a man of some culture. You see,Mr Coburn had been the officer in charge of the fort but had surrendered to the Rebs and been considered "yeller" although the fact that the Reb colonel had threatened to murder his wife and child might have concentrated his mind somewhat.Despite being handed his prize the odious colonel (Mr T.Savalas) went ahead and slaughtered Mr Coburn's family just for the fun of it. He doesn't get twelve men but plucks seven from the shadow of the gallows (including one wearing his late wife's crucifix,a point that is never explained or referred to again)and,with the promise of untold riches ringing in their ears,they set off,pausing only to have lunch at an isolated farm occupied by a family of psychos who they discover have trapped unwary Confederate soldiers and stolen whatever unwary Confederate Soldiers carry on their persons.then killed them.We don't actually see the bodies - a touch of sensitivity rather negated by the wholesale murder that occurs later in the film. They execute the Addams Family(There were four of them but I only counted three shots so possibly they lined them up one behind the other) and hop on a convenient passing Iron Horse. An awful lot of time is wasted as Mr Spence ingratiates himself with the reb grunts but eventually Mr Coburn and his scurvy crew get inside the fort and kill near enough every damn living thing except Mr Savalas who,with the dignity of an injured bull on its knees submits to the killing stroke of the sword wielded by Mr Coburn. That's the Code of the West - I guess. The music is intrusive,the guitar sounds a little flat to me,and the actual recording of the soundtrack is blurred. The dubbing is poor,the colour variable and Mr Savals's jacket as he faces his executioner is very untidy below the waist.He must have put it on in a hurry. Perhaps if anyone has seen a full - length version of "A reason to live,a reason to die",they can tip me the wink about Mr Coburn's wife's crucifix.It would be nice to know.

wes-connors This English re-titled "A Reason to Live, A Reason to Die" is a thoroughly unconvincing United States Civil War swipe of "The Dirty Dozen", done in the Clint Eastwood "spaghetti western" style. James Coburn (as Pembroke) leads a less than star-studded group of seven desperadoes. (Still pre-Kojak) Telly Savalas, who appeared as one of the original "Dozen", is Mr. Coburn's major foil. Mr. Savalas (as Ward) has interesting taste in sculpture art. The locations are nice, but don't seem very American. The film's relatively high level of explosions, shootings, and stabbings must have been the box office draw, back in the early 1970s. Today, you only need to play a video game.** Una ragione per vivere e una per morire (1972) Tonino Valerii ~ James Coburn, Telly Savalas, Bud Spencer

printerbob Who wouldn't jump at the chance to get off a gallows and take a chance at living? The motivation is, of course, gold...lot's of it. James Coburn does a very good job of portraying a soldier seeking justice for his murdered wife, and goes after Telly Sevallis with a vengance, using condemmed men as his team. Much like the Dirty Dozen, but without the military structure of WWII. Liked this movie but the sound track is typically Italian...overmodulated and scratchy. When I first saw this film I thought I was watching a Sergio Leone spaghetti western...even the music sounded the same. In spite of the similes and plagarised plots from other films in this genre, this one still turned out well. Good photography and special effects. Hope someday someone will remaster the sound and turn out a smashing DVD. Enjoy!