Dir: Antonio Margheriti \u2013 Cast: Jim Brown (Pike), Lee van Cleef (Kiefer), Fred Williamson (Tyree), Catherine Spaak (Catherine), Jim Kelly (Kashtok), Barry Sullivan (Sheriff Kane), Dana Andrew, Harry Carey Jr., Ricardo Palacios \u2013 Music: Jerry Goldsmith<\/p>\n
Made roughly a decade after the glory days of the genre, Take a Hard Ride is as much a blaxploitation film as a spaghetti western. With Jim Kelly, fresh from Enter the Dragon, as an Indian (!) martial arts specialist, even a third genre is smuggled in. As a hybrid, the film isn\u2019t very inspiring. Even the Canary Islands locations have an alienating effect, as if there’s something totally wrong with the film: you can\u2019t shake the bizarre feeling that it doesn\u2019t belong there. Luckily those locations are beautiful.<\/p>\n
Jim Brown is Pike, a black right-hand man of a rancher, who must bring an $ 86.000 payroll over the border after the death of his boss. When he\u2019s attacked by bandits, he\u2019s saved, and subsequently joined, by a fellow black man, Tyree, a dishonest professional card player. The two men head for Mexico, attracting an entire army of would-be thieves, led by Kiefer, a merciless bounty killer, played by Lee van Cleef himself.<\/p>\n
Although far from great, the first half of the movie is enjoyable. Brown and Williamson aren\u2019t gifted or versatile actors (Brown is his stone-faced self, Williamson does his usual pimp impersonation), but the contrast between both characters is interesting: the first a sort of Uncle Tom, honest and loyal to his white boss, the other a talkative and manipulative opportunist, only honest to himself. With Jim Kelly and the lovely Catherine Spaak joining them, and Lee and his ever-growing bunch trailing them, things look quite promising, but somewhere half way, it all falls apart. Spaak is killed so abruptly that it took me a while to realize that she wouldn\u2019t return. A machine gun is thrown in, but apparently for no other reason than the presence of a machine gun in The Wild Bunch, obviously a source of inspiration (others, among them the director himself, have pointed at similarities with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid). At a specific moment, Brown and Williamson are confused with two other niggas, who play hide and seek with the movie and then, all of a sudden, like Spaak, are killed off. There\u2019s no coherence, no flow. And no finale. There\u2019s an explosion and a waterfall, and that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n
An enjoyable first half, a few decent action scenes (Hal Needham was one of the stunt coordinators), great locations and a nice score by Jerry Goldsmith, that is what this movie has to offer. It\u2019s also nice to see a few Hollywood veteran actors like Barry Sullivan and Dana Andrews. And then there\u2019s Lee, good old Lee, who\u2019s in desperate need of a hair dresser. I\u2019ve never seen him so bored, and above all: so thin; he literally looks emaciated here, almost swallowed by his traditional Colonel Mortimer coat. Ricardo Palacios, playing a Mexican bandit, seems to have put on all the weight Lee had lost.