Burt Reynolds plays a half-breed who stole some money to buy the title amount of items for his people, Jim Brown is a sheriff pursuing him, and Requel Welch is a revolutionary having witnessed a hanging of a family member. All three eventually team up to defeat the Mexican general Fernando Lamas and his men for all the cruel acts they committed. With what I just described, this was quite entertaining what with all those action scenes, a steamy love scene, and Ms. Welch's assets almost exposed whenever her close-ups come on. Really, I don't have anything else to say except that 100 Rifles is worth a look for fans of the above players.

In her heyday, the 1960's, I don't think any actress was hotter than Raquel Welch in the looks department. Unfortunately, that didn't translate into meaningful movie roles, perhaps because her physical assets outshone her acting ability. Just surmising on that point mind you, since I haven't seen a lot of her pictures. Here she seems effective as the strong willed Yaqui woman who comes to the aid of her people following the hanging death of her father in an opening scene. Fellow Yaqui, Joe Herrera (Burt Reynolds) is being pursued by ex-footballer Jim Brown, who's character Lyedecker is after a two hundred dollar reward and a permanent job for capturing the Indian bandit.

I couldn't help feeling that the almost two hour film could have been done in half the time like a 'B' programmer from the 1950's. Then of course, you wouldn't have needed the three principal stars to tell the story, or the strong supporting cast headed by Fernando Lamas as the bloodthirsty Mexican General Verdugo. Not knowing him by his real name, Eric Braeden, I would have sworn Hans Gudegast turned up for his role straight off the set of "Rat Patrol" - I'll have to go back to some of those episodes to see if there's a uniform change. He's a very similar character here, but certainly second string to Lamas.

I'll have to admit I was a little impatient for things to get going here, once they do there are a few interesting moments. There's a real tough looking descent down a cliff side on horseback by both the Indians and the Mexican rurales. The love scene between Brown and Welch had me wondering if this might have been the first time an inter-racial match up was attempted in film, if so, it was a ground breaking move, even if tame by today's standards. Still, it was a moment to be noted for the late 1960's. For Raquel Welch, the show stopper was the train stopper, if you know what I mean.

100 RIFLES is a Hollywood western shot in Spain with a good little cast. Made in 1969 it features a little ultra-violence in the WILD BUNCH style although is much inferior when compared to the Peckinpah movie. However, it's still quite watchable and has an interesting story about a bank robber, a bounty hunter, a female gunslinger and a cruel Mexican general. The story favours larger-than-life characters and action and generally works very well, even if it isn't top tier. Burt Reynolds plays an irascible character with plenty of charm while Jim Brown is another imposing tough guy with a heart. Raquel Welch certainly grabs the attention with THAT infamous shower scene but the tragic Soledad Miranda is equally entrancing in her first-scene cameo. I wouldn't call 100 RIFLES a classic but it certainly does the job for western lovers.