Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

This is the fourth John Sayles movie I've seen and I was not disappointed. One of the most haunting scenes was when the village priest recounted the soldiers issuing the villagers an ultimatum, leading to the executions of the village leaders. The way in which the village leaders took the vote was so routine that it made one really wonder about the dignity and value of life in the unnamed country. I enjoyed listening to the John Sayles DVD commentary - he mentioned that the actors in this scene were recruited from a local acting troupe. They do a fine job.Mandy Patinkin (who was good in Chicago Hope) pops up throughout the movie and provides some humorous relief, if one can have such relief in movie of such seriousness.

This subject matter on life in rural Mexico (which could also have been many other places in Central America) typically attracts a very niche audience; either you are interested in it as a traveler, anthropologist, activist or someone with ties to the region. The film is very bleak and while a couple of people do actually smile, you can count the instances on your hand. Men with Guns really seeks to drive home the "Man's Inhumanity to Man" theme, using various character examples to encapsulate horror-stories anyone who is familiar with the region has heard. My biggest critique here is I couldn't get over Federico Luppi's Argentine accent; is he incapable of doing a Mexican accent? If so, why did the director cast him in a story about Mexico? It really threw me off.

Simply excellent depiction of life for the Indian population of the mountain regions of most of Latin America. This film is based in a fictional nation somewhere in south America, but the events that unfold are everything but fiction, in fact they are based very closely on true events as they were described by people who actually lived it. A doctor, raised in the city and ignorant of the terror that exists outside the "civilized" part of his nation, sends a group of students on a mission to educate the Indians - this is his self-proclaimed legacy. When he finds that one of his students has abandoned the legacy he sets out to find the rest. What he discovers is a brutal trail of murder, torture, and rape. Was his legacy such the excellent idea that he claimed at the beginning? The murders seem to be in the hands of no one group, they are attributed simply to the men with guns: the soldiers, and the guerillas fighting them. The Indians are stuck in the middle, often subjected to torture and rape by both sides. The justification is always that they deserve the suffering because they are helping the other side. However, refusal to help means an equally brutal death, so they are left without choice. There are no uplifting fake Hollywood gimmicks in Men With Guns, no cheerful dialogue, and certainly no "happily ever after" endings - it is simply the truth about the life for the Indian people, not only in Guatemala, Mexico, or Colombia, but also their life in the United States not so long ago. This is a truly powerful film that should not be missed by anyone!

"Men With Guns" follows an aging physician as he goes in search of doctors whom he has trained, as his legacy to humanity, to serve the Indians living in the remote jungles of a fictitious region somewhere in southern Mexico or Central America. An odyssey film, "MWG" is a chronicle of the doctor's wandering and happenstance encounters with native Indians, government soldiers, guerrillas, sundry civilians, and even an American archeologist. The film features indigenous actors, lush jungle traveloguesque scenery, a variety of unusual situations, some reflections on human nature, and a smattering of philosophizing. Not the usual cinematic fare, this film will have narrow appeal and will be appreciated for its exotic milieu as well as its story, drama, and intrigue.