And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (2003)

THE REAL, TRUE PANCHO VILLA??????

I read alot of westerns as well as watch western movies, so when I found this DVD on a $5.00 rack what could I lose?

Now, I have read a few books concerning Pancho Villa, finishing one at the moment by Frank O'Rourke entitled THUNDER IN THE SUN, but I do not know much of Pancho Villa, the man of history, so while this movie was very riveting, I cannot speak to much of its historical accuracy. I can, however, speak to its entertainment value and for me it was a very enjoyable movie.

I'll leave the deep, scholarly reviews to others. I will only say that the color and transfer to DVD is very sharp and good, the acting is more than adequate and you not only get information of Villa and the revolution but one also comes away with information of how films may have been constructed shortly after the turn of the 20th century during the silent era.

I don't know that I would want to pay big bucks for this movie, but for my cost and use, this is one whale of a movie. Don't mind at all having it on my shelves of watchable westerns. Better at least check this one out.

Semper Fi. July 11, 2008

It meet my needs well

The movie meet my needs well. I was able to show my Spanish class a little of the history of a famous Mexican and allow them some fun in the process. November 26, 2007

balderdash, marketing film fiction as pseudo history

This is a B grade movie for HBO that is not even up to that networks standards. Disclaimer at the start {this movie could have happened.......] does not cover the utter nonsense of this film.Yes Pancho Villa did cut a deal with a movie company to shoot his revolution and that is where this movie takes off in a blaze of BS. YES, antonio Banderas is handsome, spanish and swaggers around alot. YES, Pancho Villa was an amazing historical character that fought the repressive totalitarian regiems of Diaz and Huerta for ten turbulent years of the mexican revolution. YES, This film is stupid hollywood pulp made to make money and the same old stuff repeated over and oevver again. Also, why does every film have William Randolph Hearst as the "the bad guy". I'm getting tired of this device and it is also fiction passed off as history. negative stars would be better becasue this is bad for you to watch as it totally mis represents the truth. June 1, 2007

THE LOST REELS OF PANCHO VILLA

It is fair to say that we do not remember Noah for his drunkeness but for the Ark that he built to save many....

Pancho Villa was trully guilty of fighting against a corrupt Mexican Dictatorship and attacking Americans who had illegally settled on Mexican soil. It is easy to undermine such histories when making a film that reads like a one page synopsys of a man who struggled to change his country for the better. Antonio Banderas attempt at portraying Pancho Villa as a charismatic, self determined leader comes off well but falls short due to the limitations in script and budget. This film should be seen as an introduction to versed films like "Pancho Villa" or "The lost Reels of Pancho Villa." Only then might the true complexity of his life and struggles be understood.

"learning without wisdom is like a bunch of books on a donkeys back"
-ZNHurtson May 22, 2006

Maybe Not History, but Good Fiction

When making this kind of historical fiction, too many people expect that it is going to be a documentary; it isn't anything like that. This film is an interesting, ambiguous study of how perceptions can change by being validated by something bigger than they: something like the movies, which in itself is an absurd premise, but something that we live with every day. I wish the characters in the flim were better referenced, as I know D.W. Griffith, Charles Rosher, Christy Cabanne, and others are part of the plot as in real life, but I couldn't tell you who they were in the production, as their attributions went by so fast. Villa as a villain and charismatic leader of the masses has a built-in paradox to it, as does the documentary format in film in any case. It is a pity that the original film doesn't exist any longer (along with 90% of silent film that was made, unfortunately), especially as it was under D.W. Griffith's auspices, when the rest of his oeuvre exists down to the last reel. January 15, 2006

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