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The Professionals Details

1966 Certificate PG
  • Rated:
  • 70
  • from 1193 members

A wealthy rancher, Frank Carter (Ralph Bellamy), hires four tough gunslingers to rescue his wife (Claudia Cardinale) who is being held captive by Captain Rasa (Jack Palance), one of Pancho Villa's most desperate revolutionaries, in this dynamic and hard-hitting Western set against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution of 1917. .. Read more

Starring Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Claudia Cardinale
Director Richard Brooks
Genres Action/Adventure

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The Professionals

A wealthy rancher, Frank Carter (Ralph Bellamy), hires four tough gunslingers to rescue his wife (Claudia Cardinale) who is being held captive by Captain Rasa (Jack Palance), one of Pancho Villa's most desperate revolutionaries, in this dynamic and hard-hitting Western set against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution of 1917. The wild West commando team consists of a dynamite expert (Burt Lancaster), an ex-revolutionary and munitions expert (Lee Marvin), a horse specialist (Robert Ryan), and a tracker (Woody Strode). On their mission to return Carter's highly prized wife, they track the Mexican revolutionaries through rough and rugged desert terrain, determined to outsmart, outshoot, and outride anyone they come across--until they meet the the charismatic Rasa and discover that Carter's seductive wife is in love with the Mexican outlaw and has no intention of returning with the band of 'professionals'. Based on the novel A MULE FOR THE MARQUESA by Frank O'Rourke, this beautifully rendered Western features a star-studded cast delivering finely crafted and charismatic performances. Burt Lancaster is at his acrobatic and mercurial best as the rowdy gunslinger.

Starring Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Claudia Cardinale
Director Richard Brooks
Studio COLUMBIA TRI-STAR HOME VIDEO
Run time DVD: 1 hr 52 mins
Blu-ray: 1 hr 52 mins
Certificate Certificate PG
Collections 100 Wild Westerns
Genres Action/Adventure
Language DVD: English
Blu-ray: English
Subtitles DVD: Arabic, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
Blu-ray: Greek, Dutch, Hindi, Norwegian, Finnish, Italian, French, English, Danish, Swedish, Arabic
Released DVD: 16 Jun 2003
Blu-ray: 23 Jun 2008
Production year: 1966
Format DVD

  • Critics' reviews (2) of The Professionals

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  • 4 stars out of 5

    With more than a passing nod to The Magnificent Seven, made six years earlier, Richard Brooks's action western was a box-office smash, repairing the damage that the flop Lord Jim had done to his reputation two years before. Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan and Woody Strode are the magnificent four, flawed and fearsome, hired to rescue Claudia Cardinale from the clutches of manic Mexican bandit Jack Palance. Grittily shot in canyon country, bursting with violence and with pit stops for pithy philosophising, this is one of the last westerns one can call a “classic”.

    • Radio Times
    • Posted 29 Jan 2006

  • Bellamy: 'You bastard!' Marvin: 'In my case an accident of birth, but you, sir, are a self-made man'. Brooks could... read more on Time Out

    • Time Out
    • Posted 04 Nov 2008

  • Most helpful member's review of The Professionals

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  • 3 out of 3 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    "Let's go to work"

    Lee Marvin is quite simply, the man. Next to 'Point Blank', he is at his hardest in this thrilling and hilarious little western. Snappy little character performances, set pieces and one-liners make it essential viewing for genre fans, and worthy (yet secondary) place next to 'The Wild Bunch' and 'Once Upon A Time In The West'.

    Claudia Cardinale is as stunningly sexy as ever, and talent-wise holds up well amongst such professionals as Marvin, Strode, Lancaster, Palance and Ryan.

    Unmissable.

      • iggsta from England
      • Posted 14 Nov 2004 18:23

  • Most recent members' review of The Professionals

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  • 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    The Professionals

    A polished western with original twists. Classy acting and superb camerawork

      • A customer from Cumbria, England
      • Posted 15 Jun 2005 15:19

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1,193 Member ratings
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88
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94
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270
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254
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240
  • 50
119
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64
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31
  • 20
19
  • 10
14

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      • A wealthy rancher, Frank Carter (Ralph Bellamy), hires four tough gunslingers to rescue his wife (Claudia Cardinale) who is being held captive by Captain Rasa (Jack Palance), one of Pancho Villa's ...
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      • A wealthy rancher, Frank Carter (Ralph Bellamy), hires four tough gunslingers to rescue his wife (Claudia Cardinale) who is being held captive by Captain Rasa (Jack Palance), one of Pancho Villa's ...