In the 1960's westerns began to blaze a new and grittier trail with the Italian film director Sergio Leone and American actor Clint Eastwood shaking up the genre in Italy with their Man With No Name Trilogy.  But here in the US we're producing films like 100 Rifles a western with the football player Jim Brown as a "policeman", Burt Reynolds as an Indian, and Raquel Welch as the only reason anyone bothered seeing this film!

Burt Reynolds plays an Indian named Joe Herrera, who has recently robbed a bank in Phoenix, Arizona and used the money to purchase rifles for his people to help defend against the Mexicans. Jim Brown is Lyedecker, a sheriff whose been sent into Mexico to bring Joe back to the United States to face trial. But bringing Joe back isn't going to be such an easy task, he's not the only one who wants him. The Mexican government is bent on eradicating the Indians and when they learn of Joe purchasing weapons for their defense they capture Lyedecker and Joe in an attempt to obtain the rifles before they're used against them. The two are rescued by Sarita (Raquel Welch), and with a little convincing Lyedecker agrees to help Sarita and Joe defend the Indians against the Mexican government.

100 Rifles is a slow and desperately boring film from the get go, the characters are bland, the acting is horrible and the story is about as interesting as a root canal. Attempting to pass off NFL Hall of Fame Jim Brown as a sheriff in 1912 is hilarious, and Burt Reynolds as an Indian is even more unbelievable, the two of them stick out like sore thumbs in this horrible excuse for a western. Raquel Welch, while as gorgeous as usual, doesn't see much screen time to make this worth sitting through for eye candy alone. After about 80 minutes of a lot of useless dialogue and a few mediocre gun fights, it picks up with the final battle, jump started by the highlight if the entire film, Raquel showering under a water tower acting as a distraction for the passing Mexican soldiers. While this helps to ignite a little bit of spark in the last minutes, it in no way redeems the film from being a complete waste of time.

3/10