The Professionals (Special Edition) |  | Director: Richard Brooks
Actors: Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Woody Strode, Jack Palance
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.94
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Rating:  62 reviews
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 99
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 117 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: COLD08661D
ISBN: 1404968431
UPC: 043396086616
EAN: 9781404968431
Theatrical Release Date: November 2, 1966
Release Date: April 5, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
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Before The Wild Bunch, there was The Professionals, Richard Brooks's marvelous ode to friendship, loyalty, and disillusionment. It may not have the stylistic bravado or fatalistic doom of the legendary Sam Peckinpah film, but Brooks's storytelling is simple and steady and just as insightful. The difference is Brooks is a lot more optimistic. Lee Marvin and Burt Lancaster are buddies who have drifted into oblivion after fighting together in the Mexican Revolution. Marvin, the principled loyalist and munitions expert, lost his wife and his heart. Lancaster, the dynamite expert and unprincipled adventurer, keeps losing his pants. They team up with wrangler Robert Ryan and archer Woody Strode to rescue the beguiling Claudia Cardinale, who has been kidnapped by their old revolutionary buddie Jack Palance. So it's back into bloody Mexico they go on a "mission of mercy" for railroad tycoon Ralph Bellamy, who's paying handsomely for the return of his wife. But nothing is what it seems in this exciting, existential adventure, which was beautifully shot by Conrad Hall. Sarcastic quips, philosophical musings, and heart-rending reversals underlie Brooks's humanistic sentiments. These are tired, world-weary men who somehow find the strength and the will to pull together for the sake of love and commitment. Through it all, Brooks seems to be lamenting a decline in professionalism much deeper than his story. He's decrying Hollywood and the society at large, anticipating Peckinpah's later strategy. --Bill Desowitz
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 62
 The Professionals (Special Edition) June 10, 2009
Harry Brewer (S'port, La.)
The Professionals is one of Hollywood's last great Westerns. It's not the last great one made; Westerns that followed it include The Wild Bunch, Once Upon a Time in the West (non-American) & Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, just to name a few but not all. The cast is loaded: Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Claudia Cardinale, Woody Strode, Jack Palance & Ralph Bellamy. It's almost a who's who listing of actors.
J. W. Grant (Bellamy) wants his kidnapped wife, Maria (Cardinale) rescued. He hires a team of professionals to accomplish this: Bill Dolworth (Lancaster), an explosives expert; Henry Fardan (Marvin), expert in tactics; Hans Ehrengard (Ryan), a horse expert; & Jake Sharp (Strode), an expert with the longbow. All of these come in handy because there's a call for their particular expertise.
They are given 9 days to pull off the rescue. They have to enter the Mexican desert & the fortress stronghold of Capt. Jesus Raza (Palance). Not only will this be difficult, Dolworth & Fardan had fought alongside with Raza earlier in the Mexican Revolution. The film takes place in 1917 which makes it one of the latest Westerns ever done. Let it be suffice to say that not all things are as they seem as this team of crack professionals go after Raza. There are some plot twists & a surprise ending.
The Professionals is an extremely well done film directed by Richard Brooks. Brooks was not on Hollywood's A-list but he was one of their better directors & had some excellent films to his credit. Brooks began his career as a screenwriter then went into directing. In the vast majority of the films he directed he also did the screenplay.
The Professionals was nominated for 3 Academy Awards in 1966: Best Adapted Screenplay (Brooks), Best Color Cinematography (Conrad Hall) & Best Director (Brooks) but didn't take any of them home. The Directors Guild also nominated Brooks for Best Director but failed to capture this award either.
This Special Edition has some bonus features: "The Professionals - A Classic", "Burt Lancaster - A Portrait" & "Memories from The Professionals". These are all entertaining & informative. The audio & video are in excellent condition.
Sizzling Classic June 3, 2009
neotroglodyte (desert southwest)
From the opening credits with Maurice Jarre's fantastic score, you know you're in for a hell of a ride.
A great western and one of the fine American films.
Plausible, almost credible. Not without its flaws...but, in this film, who cares?
Seasoned actors on a noble quest with clever scripting and gorgeous cinematography.
Marvin, Lancaster, Ryan, and Strode are fully polished, here. Never better.
No "defect of birth(s)" here.
 mixed elements of A and B in this old west genre May 1, 2009
tizzle (Ventura, Ca)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
There's several qualities that contribute to this being a top 10 western classic and few 'corny' elements that keep it out of the top 5 for this genre. The 4 main characters (Lancaster, Marvin, Strode and Ryan) have enough screen presence on their own to make a "shoot 'em up" (Lancaster/Marvin being the obvious best of the 4). First, the good.
Lancaster doesn't stray completely from his goofy athletic screen persona with his "tite" pants and some of his athleticism (climbing up a canyon on a rope vs. going down the rope). He puffs cigars, bares his pearly-whites and swigs some whiskey... along with plugging a few banditos (and horses) in cool/gritty fashion. Sly glances, great one-liners and some suave playboy genuiness couple with a "burned too many times" cynicism. Great stuff. His character does a great job of personifying the young Hollywood Golden Age actor transitioning into his role as a, well, no longer young/ athletic does-it-on-looks-alone actor.
Lee Marvin clearly steals this movie. With a grittier than usual tone, and cold / calculating deliveries of lines (regarding life, romance, money and the future), it seems each scene is crafted to compliment and conclude with Marvin's presence. The way he handles firearms with obvious ease stems, in part, from his time as a United States Marine. In the first scene, he is demonstrating the capabilities of a Maxim machine gun.. and very cooly as usual. Later on he wields a Lewis [machine] gun. He departs from the Colt SAA's .. the ubiquitous 'cowboy gun' .. and uses a Colt DA .38 spl.. and looks cool as heck handling it. The 'knucklebuster' Winchester '97 is used with cool dexterity as well.
Ryan and Strode play complimentary roles and do them pretty well. Ryan shows some of his stale deliveries at times. Strode has fewer lines, but is very believable as a tracker. Was his character the model for Zen archer in Conan the Barbarian? Maybe.
Jack Pallance does kind of a laughable job as the stereotypical Mexican bandito. The scene where he goes for broke.. a desperate last ditch effort .. on the back of some donkey is pretty corny.. which made me kinda grimace.
The music is a bit overdone by modern standards. Kind of all over the place and a bit too cliche.
Oh yeah.. the scenery is worth the price of admission. Great desert southwest xeriscape; sandstone canyons, playas, arroyos, bajadas... like I said, good stuff.
Over-all, the story is just ok. Nothing compelling and you won't be surprised. Believable action. Great dialogue. Unique. Hard to describe, but it's a mix of cynicism and hope coupled with the characters obvious motivations and what really makes them tick. Yeah.. hard to explain. I definitely recommend this one to anyone who appreciates westerns OR this assemblage of actors.
The not so Magnificient .... April 1, 2009
Hussain Shihab (Riyadh / KSA)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
After seeing The Magnificient Seven, this one was not up to the mark. But I am giving it 4 stars since I liked the script. The best part was tha it did not potray the maxsicans in the all negetive light.....at least in the end.... The extras... not that great...But its a real good western of the eara when westerns were a big draw.The Professionals [Blu-ray]
Great Western March 15, 2009
Randall B. Moore (USA)
This story line to this movie is great. I saw the movie when it came out and decided I would show it on my once a month friendship circle of guys. I was surpised to see the wives join us when they heard this was my choice for movie night. I will look at this movie over and over its a great hero epic that allows one to escape and shows what a determined team of rebels can do.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 62
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