All the Umberto Lenzi’s cop movies with Milian are worth seeing. Almost Human is my favorite of those. I like Nico Giraldi series too but I have seen only the first two of them. They are more funnier and less violent than usual italian crime films.
i wrote something about him on the DB (Category:Thomas Milian - The Spaghetti Western Database).(i also wrote about nero,van cleef and some composers).Please tell me if its allright and if there are many mistakes.
A good, accurate write-up on Milian. Perhaps you might expand on the SW period in his career?
[quote=“Fredge, post:14, topic:235”]Who saw " Life Is Tough, Eh Providence? " (in my want-list) and" Here We Go Again, Eh Providence?".
It hears Tomas is a bit"crazy"… but always excellent…[/quote]
i think both “Providenza” movies are great, especially the second one, i know it’s cheesy but i love it when Milian breaks into song!
He is my second favourite actor after Clint Eastwood, also check out his Italian crime flicks.
Just rewatched the first ‘Providenza’ movie. I’m not a big fan of comedy westerns but I must say this one is really, really good. Maybe the best cw there is !? Tomas is just brilliant !!!
Tomas Milian is NOT among my favourite leading men, in fact he comes near the bottom :’(
His serious Films Like DJANGO KILL 1967, BOUNTY KILLER 66, FOUR OF THE APOCALYPSE 75 are good and he performs well but there are far too many utterly daft, irritating, hammy, over the top “performances” and unfunny stuff. Also the Police comedies are awful.
I am not very keen on Run Man Run or Face To Face, but prefer Milian In Companeros 71.
I pretty much like Milian in all that I’ve seen. ‘Face to Face’ is very special for me because it was one of the first films of the genre that I saw - and had me, years later, trying to track it down. I think that he shows himself at his (serious) best in ‘The Big Gundown’ and then gets to ham up the same role for ‘Run Man Run’ - a film that I wasn’t so keen on the first time (I wasn’t expecting it to be as ‘light’ as it was, in comparison to TBG), but it’s grown on me a lot since and is now, for me, a highly rated and enjoyable outing.
He has to play a very different role from his Mexican peon roles in ‘Django Kill’ - and he delivers a great performance in this - different and somewhat ‘underplayed’ relative to some of his other, more ‘obvious’ roles.
‘Tepepa’ and ‘Companeros’ put him admirably back to his safety zone again, and 4 of the Apocalypse needs another viewing, but I seem to remember he’s damn good (bad, mean, vicious, might be better adjectives here) in this as well.
He shows his versitility, other than in ‘Django Kill’, with a completely over-the-top cameo in ‘Death Sentence’ as the epileptic albino, but even more so, in a completely different way, in ‘The Bounty Killer’. I think that this shows Milian’s best bit of acting in any of the films (even tho’ there are imo better films among those mentioned), and as mentioned somewhere else, has one of the most moving death scenes.
I don’t own, and havn’t yet plucked up the courage to have my illusions shattered by a viewing of ‘Providence’ - although, judging by some of these reports, I could be missing out (I’ll give it a go) … but I don’t think I’m ready for ‘The White, the Yellow and the Black’ yet!!!
I’ve only seen Milian in one non-genre role - ‘Don’t torture a duckling’ and it was good to see him in another type of film and in a different context.
Overall, I can’t imagine these sw films without Tomas Milian’s trademark cheeky smile and the twinkle in his eye. I’ve been brought up with him and I can’t separate him from my overall love of this genre. I am not uncritical, he can be a bit hammy at times, but when his personality shines through the roles, it is not to the detriment of the films. He has shown that this character can, within the same film, contrast with itself as he switches from a slightly comedic role to one more thought-provoking. Often, these films need that slightly o.t.t. character that Milian does so well - being a slightly comedic foil to the straight man (whether its Van Cleef or Volonte et all), but he can show sensitivity and restraint as needs be. IMO - One of the genre greats. God bless 'im.
edit: forgot ‘Sonny and Jed’, sorry ENNIOO how could I? Still, it’s getting a fresh (widescreen) viewing very soon… ;D
Milian is one of my favorites, just after Franco Nero.
My favorite role of his was Chaco in Four of the Apocalypse. He was so great though sadly wasn’t in half of the film, though he still managed to steal the picture.
Django Kill, Run Man Run, Companeros…he was definitely great in those.
Saw Umberto Lenzi’s Syndicate Sadists recently where Milian played a character named Rambo (apparently he found the book First Blood at an airport and liked it so much he had someone write a script for him about a character named Rambo. This was several years before Stallone’s First Blood). The film itself was kind of cheesy but Milian was mesmerizing as always.
Actually, I just watched Traffic this morning and (a much older) Milian was great in that too.
This reminds me that I must watch this one again in the near future.
Did anyone here see Milian in the prison tv series “Oz” a few years ago? He played the an inmate whose son and grandson were in the same prison as he was, and he was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. I have to say it was the best performance I’ve ever seen from Milian, because it was so real, and very touching and tragic. None of the usual overacting.
I have mixed feelings about Milian. I think he’s a good actor, but most of the characters he plays in spaghettis are quite irritating.
It has to be said, though, that he is absolutely outstanding as the menacing Chaco in Four Of The Apocalypse.
I’m in need of some serious SW schooling, but from what I’ve seen Milian has been impressive enough to want to track down more of his work.
Take Four of the Apocalypse and Run, Man, Run - two entirely different characterizations.
In FotA Milian’s acting was so transparent I forgot it was even him, though the gypsy get up did help. Drop dead serious and just a bad remorseless mutha ***. The character of Chaco is straight forward enough but was well played.
Milan’s Cuchillo character in RMR really impressed me. His character was aloof, care free and unassuming and it all fell right into the gist of the story - falling from one circumstance to the next. Milian’s performance seemed very natural and improvised when the scenes allowed. I thought he was hysterical - though unintentionally on occasion probably due to overacting. Even during the showdown - which was great - he had a very fluid approach which, in my opinion, added to the entertainment value of the sequence. Yeah, there’s something to be said for tension but too many showdowns take that to the extreme. This particular one was well balanced. Excellent film and acting.
But I don’t care what anyone says … Milian really shines when interviewed. I don’t believe I’ve ever witnessed anyone else (maybe Tak Sakaguchi) who enjoys screen time as much as Milian does. 
@ Six String
I’m a big Milian fan (as is well documented on this forum) and would highly recommend you get hold of any of his westerns that you can. The good news is most of them are pretty easy to obtain as there are good quality official releases of his very best work available from the states and germany. You mention FoTA and Run Man Run but I’m not sure what others you have seen so I will just list the ones I believe are his best other than those two.
The Big Gundown
Face to Face
The Bounty Killer
Companeros
Django Kill
These are all of the very highest quality in my opinion and Milian shines in every one of them. Any fan of the genre who is just starting to get beyond the Leone classics is “in need of some serious SW schooling” as you put it, could have no better starting place.
Glad to have another Milian fan with us.
Thanks for the info, Phil. I’ll take a good lead wherever I can.
I’ve seen and own Django, Kill … and sadly it was more of an underwhelming performance IIRC. Though I hate to fess up after only seeing a film once especially when it’s a knock. A revisit is in order. Companeros I plan on watching tonight.
As for the others, The Big Gundown and Bounty Killer are intransit as I type. Can’t wait - though I hear Milian is tamer in the first Big Gundown film. I almost picked off Tepepa on Xploited but I’m weary about the noted audio drop outs. Damn nice price for that set now too, though I need to investigate a bit more.
I first became aware of Milian in The Big Gundown. His Cuchillo is my favorite character of the ones I’m familiar with…[Four of the Apocalypse; Companeros; Se Sei Vivo Spara; Corri, Uomo, Corri]
When I joined in here at SWDB, I was reading this thread and Bill san Antonio said;
All the Umberto Lenzi's cop movies with Milian are worth seeing. Almost Human is my favorite of those.
Well, it took a while to catch up, but I just saw Almost Human this past weekend and loved it. TM is great in this! Thanks for the recommend, Bill!
I’ve got Syndicate Sadists on the stack to watch this week.
[quote=“happyfortune, post:35, topic:235”]Thanks for the recommend, Bill! [/quote]You’re welcome.
[quote=“happyfortune, post:35, topic:235”]I’ve got Syndicate Sadists on the stack to watch this week.[/quote]First Rambo movie made 
I definitely prefer Milian as a Mexican bandit or a revolutionary, that’s where his best perfomances are. On the other hand, his choice as the back-from-the-grave avenger in Django Kill couldn’t convince me at all…
I just adore the guy. He’s the perfect lovable mexican SOB.
I think Tomas Milian is great. Especially with Franco Nero in Companeros.