by 1970 the initial gold rush of the spaghetti western be over and director be seek new way to push the genre forward . trinita opt for a satirical approach while sabata bring james bond sensibility to the classic anti hero . others choose to use the mexican revolution a the backdrop for the escapade of their hero . that be the case for sergio corbucci companeros . it be essentially a remake or a reimagining of corbucci the mercenary and use much of the same cast and and swap tony musante a the mexican revolutionary for the great thomas milian . franco nero play once again the european ( this time a swede ) and jack palance return to the fold a the ruthless if not semi insane baddie . all of them hit all the right note and nero and milian interaction be a joy to behold . the story open with a duel between the two in a dusty mexican village and the whole movie be a flashback that lead u to the event at the start of the movie and again a in the mercenary two year earlier . nero and milian be employ by corrupt mexican general mongo to travel to the u and free the mexican professor xantos that be hold captive in fort yuma . xantos be the leader of another small group of student revolutionary and but general mongo want him for more practical reason . xantos know the code to a safe that be impossible to open and with the gold general mongo hop to finance the revolution against porfirio diaz . or do he . each one have his own personal agenda of course . a they make their way back to mexico and a semi insane jack palance with a wooden hand ( do i sense a small son of frankenstein tribute here . ) and a hawk will hunt them down and the two companeros will slowly begin to take to the more noble attitude of the professor . here corbucci go for a more leone esquire approach and leave the dark and brooding nature of his previous western ( like django and the great silence ) behind . a leone use to say and this be a fairytale for grown ups . the story take u from the mexican revolution to the fort yuma prison to the rio grande to a spectacular showdown in the end and with comedic touch and wild shootout and explosion and a typically great morricone score and excellent performance and cinematography . this be more of an adventure spaghetti western in the leone tradition . it considerably light hearted but fuse with the same political undertone one could find in sergio sollima work and brilliant pacing . above all and this be a grade entertainment like only the italian can deliver . sergio corbucci be not consider only second to leone in the spaghetti western realm for no reason . his attention to detail and from the set and camera angle and prop and costume and cinematography be impeccable and he manage to convey that iconic aspect of the west only the european be able to capture . don not miss it .