A Train for Durango

TRAIN FOR DURANGO is a somewhat obscure spaghetti western shot in Spain with a mainly Spanish supporting cast. The director is Mario Caiano, one of the most experienced genre directors working in Italy, and his solid leads are played by Anthony Steffen and Mark Damon, two actors well acquainted with the making of Italian westerns.

This is one of those comedy adventures in which the main characters are all rogues of some sort going after greater villains. The opening train robbery gives the film its title, but for the most part this is your standard comedy adventure, packed with twists and double-crossing and hidden character motivations. There's a ton of action here but most of it is inconsequential and merely seems to be action for the sake of action; thus the characters kick, punch, and shoot their way out of endless dangerous situations.

Steffen and Damon remain good value for viewers although the rest of the cast are unmemorable and stuck in cliché type roles. As for the comedy, I found it merely adequate. The film has a long, slow middle part in which nothing much of note really happens, although it does pick up again at the end.