A Reason To Live, A Reason To Die

A subpar spaghetti western from Italian director Tonino Valerii, this film borrows heavily from such diverse sources as Jean Renoir's GRAND ILLUSION (1936), Robert Aldrich's THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967), Sam Peckinpah's THE WILD BUNCH (1969), and Sergio Leone's DUCK, YOU SUCKER! (1971). During the Civil War, we meet Yankee commander Coburn, who inexplicably turns over his fort to Confederate forces led by Savalas (doing Eric von Stroheim) without putting up a fight. Facing a court martial, Coburn decides to redeem himself by organizing a group of soldiers sentenced to death and leading them on a raid to get the fort back. Although Valerii emulates and parodies the aforem...