Giù la testa Review

In Revolution-torn 1913 Mexico, Juan Miranda, a Mexican outlaw leading a bandit family, robs a coach of wealthy men and rapes a female passenger who insulted him. Passing by on a motorcycle is John H. Mallory, an early Irish Republican explosives expert, who is working in Mexico as a silver prospector. Discovering his skill with dynamite and nitroglycerin, Juan asks John to help him rob the Mesa Verde National Bank. After John initially refuses, Juan frames him for the murder of his employer and several soldiers, making him a wanted criminal and offering to "protect" him in exchange for his help. John reluctantly agrees to help Juan rob the bank, but escapes on the way to Mesa Verde.

Arriving in the city before Juan, John makes contact with Mexican revolutionaries led by physician Dr. Villega and agrees to use his explosives in their service. When Juan arrives, John inducts him into the revolutionaries' ranks. The bank is hit as part of an orchestrated attack on the Mexican army. Juan, interested only in the bank's money, is shocked to find that it has no funds and is instead being used by the army as a political prison. John, Juan and his family end up freeing hundreds of prisoners, inadvertently (and against his wishes) causing Juan to become a "great, grand, glorious hero of the revolution."

The revolutionaries are chased into the hills by an army detachment led by Colonel Günther Reza. John and Juan volunteer to stay behind with two machine guns and dynamite. Much of the Mexican army's detachment is destroyed while crossing a bridge, which is blown up by John. Colonel Reza, who commands an armored car, survives. After the battle, John and Juan find most of their comrades, including Juan's father and children, have been killed by the army in a cave which served as the rebels hideout. Grief-stricken and enraged, Juan goes out to fight the army single-handed and is captured. John sneaks into camp, where he witnesses executions of many of his fellow revolutionaries by firing squad. They had been informed on by Dr. Villega, who has been tortured by Colonel Reza and his men. This evokes in John memories of a similar betrayal by Nolan, his best friend in Ireland. After Nolan identified John, John killed two British soldiers and then killed Nolan, making him a fugitive and forcing him to flee Ireland. Juan faces a firing squad of his own, but John arrives and blows up the wall with dynamite just in time. They escape on John's motorcycle.

John and Juan hide in the animal coach of a train. It stops to pick up the tyrannical Governor Don Jaime, who is fleeing (with a small fortune) from the revolutionary forces belonging to Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata. As the train is ambushed, John, as a test of Juan's loyalty, lets him choose between shooting the Governor and accepting a bribe from him. Juan kills Jaime, also stealing the Governor's spoils. As the doors to the coach open, Juan is greeted by a large crowd and once again is unexpectedly hailed as a great hero of the revolution. The money is taken away by revolutionary General Santerna.

On a train with commanders of the revolution, John and Juan are joined by Dr. Villega, who has escaped. John alone knows of Villega's betrayal. They learn that Pancho Villa's forces will be delayed by 24 hours and that an army train carrying 1,000 soldiers and heavy weapons, led by Colonel Reza, will be arriving in a few hours that evening, which will surely overpower the rebel position. John suggests they rig a locomotive with dynamite and send it head on. He requires one other man, but instead of picking Juan, who volunteers, he chooses Dr. Villega. It becomes clear to Villega that John knows of the betrayal, but John says he used to judge people but he doesn't anymore. John pleads with him to jump off the locomotive before it hits the army's train, but Villega feels guilty and stays on board. John jumps in time and the two trains collide and explode, killing Villega and a number of Mexican soldiers.

The revolutionaries' ambush is successful, but as John approaches to meet Juan, he is shot in the back by Colonel Reza. An enraged Juan guns down the Colonel with a machine gun. As John lies dying, he continues to have memories of Nolan, and of a young woman they both apparently loved. Juan kneels by his side to ask about Dr. Villega. John keeps the doctor's secret and tells Juan that he died a hero of the revolution. As Juan goes to seek help, the fatally wounded John, knowing his end is near, sets off a second charge he secretly laid in case the battle went bad. Horrified by his friend's sudden death, Juan stares at John's burning remains, before turning to the camera and asking forlornly, "What about me?".