The Revengers borrows the idea of a bunch of unsavoury convicts being sent on a deadly mission that was used so marvellously in The Dirty Dozen, and transports it to the unlikely setting of a western. The convicts are a rough and ready bunch indeed, and their mission is nothing so grand as the saving of the world from the Nazis.... just a humble quest for revenge.
William Holden is a relatively peaceful rancher whose entire family is massacred by brigands. He swears revenge and helps a bunch of Mexican convicts to bust out of jail in order to enlist them as his "hit squad". However, they are such an unpredictable group that even Holden is not safe from their bouts of violence and aggression. By the time he finds his prey, he has witnessed so much carnage that he ponders whether it is truly worthwhile to kill the brigands just to gratify his thirst for revenge.
This movie is OK, but aside from the bouts of post Wild Bunch viciousness, there is little that hasn't been done before. The westerns were getting tired by '72 and it's no exaggeration to say that this one is more tired than most. It also contains a self-defeating wrap-up which renders the previous two hours all but pointless. However, the acting and the action are pretty good, the scenery is ruggedly beautiful, and for fans of the genre it passes the time efficiently. If you're expecting a classic, then you'd be better sticking to The Wild Bunch, in which the same two leading stars find themselves in a much better movie.
