Cannon for Cordoba (Blu-ray Review)
Director
Paul WendkosRelease Date(s)
1970 (May 27, 2026)Studio(s)
The Mirisch Company/United Artists (Imprint Films/Via Vision Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: C-
- Video Grade: B
- Audio Grade: B
- Extras Grade: B
Review
[Editor’s Note: This is a Region-Free Australian Blu-ray import.]
The Italian Western craze affected Hollywood so hardcore that eventually it was hard to know which was a Hollywood studio film and what was pure Spaghetti. Cannon for Cordoba was one of them. It was so much a Hollywood studio film, it was originally conceived as the fourth entry in The Magnificent Seven series and was directed by Paul Wendkos, maker of the third film, Guns of the... In the novelization of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Tarantino had Rick playing the role Don Gordon occupies, which would have been one of the last films Rick made while he was in Europe before his triumphant return to Hollywood and his night with the Manson family.
Cannon for Cordoba follows a Mexican revolutionary, General Héctor Cordoba who has snuck into the States to steal six state-of-the-art cannons to fortify his lair in the mountains and points them at America. In comes General “Blackjack” Pershing (George Peppard) who is sent undercover with his handpicked team of ne’er-do-wells and a Mexican lieutenant with a beautiful Mexican honeypot to infiltrate the camp, destroy the cannons and bring Cordoba back to the Mexican government to face justice. Those familiar with Westerns of this period know that “nothing bad can happen, it can only good happen” in the purest way of that sentiment. Cannon for Cordoba is okay, it’s not the best Western of the period, but it’s better than some of the TV-quality movies that came out at the time. It has some memorable action which amounts to some of the best expositions in any Western that open and close this film. I get Tarantino’s wanting to replace Don Gordon in this. He plays a soldier under Peppard who hates him for a somewhat wishy-washy reason and it’s a role that could have had layers and nuance, but there really isn’t any here. Rick would have been great in this if he existed.
Overall, it’s an ownable physical version of this film. Video quality is good. Color is bright, blacks are solid. There are a few moments where you can see print damage and grain, but it’s an old Western, so it’s fine. Presented 1080/24p at 2.35:1. Sound is LPCM 2.0 with optional English subs and it is equally good. I didn’t hear any distortion or hiss, and it serves the film well. Extras include audio commentary with Western film expert Toby Roan providing nice insight into the underlying true story of the events the film was based on and historical overview of the production and all the players. There’s also a video essay by filmmaker Erik Clapp titled Leftover Lasagna: The Many Layers of Cordoba. Clapp breaks the film down to its Joseph Campbell basics, discusses the history of the production and tries to make a case to replace the term Spaghetti Western with Lasagna Western. Makes more sense, sure, but “no” Erik. There’s also the theatrical trailer and an Australian TV promo for Channel 7.
- Todd Doogan