I can't believe we don't have a thread on this one yet.
I just saw it last night on dvd. I liked it. Some thoughts:
- Crowe's thief/preacher value combo should have been explored a little more. But, I realize that he is a representative foil against which Davis has to struggle - theft, whoring, using whatever means he needs to in order to get what he wants (including religion and self-mythologizing). Still, the "Hand of God" pistol was pretty cool - Henry Fonda always looks like he's about to go drop acid in a New Orleans graveyard, no matter what movie he's in. - Although the movie was really, really trying to get to the actual journey to Contention, they could have easily thrown in another 25 min of action on the road. - The final scene ended VERY predictibly. - Gretchen Mol: still hot, even in frontier gear
― B.L.A.M., Monday, 14 January 2008 16:45 (eighteen years ago)
Henry Fonda
This, of course, should read Peter Fonda.
― B.L.A.M., Monday, 14 January 2008 16:47 (eighteen years ago)
But does Christian Bale take his SHIRT off?
― franny glass, Monday, 14 January 2008 16:53 (eighteen years ago)
Ben Foster creeped the hell out of me.
Liked this better than the original, but I still couldn't get past the wrong location they used for Bisbee (I vacation there a lot)
― Elvis Telecom, Monday, 14 January 2008 19:27 (eighteen years ago)
i liked this a lot!
crowe was awes.
― s1ocki, Monday, 14 January 2008 19:27 (eighteen years ago)
yeah worth seeing for crowe alone. he was so great as that character that i wished he had a better movie to go with it (i could not at all get into the drama of christian bale redeeming his manhood or whatever he was supposed to be doing). there should be a whole ben wade series.
― tipsy mothra, Monday, 14 January 2008 19:51 (eighteen years ago)
also...
"are you boys some kinda ... posse?"
this thing completely died at the box office, didn't it? I don't even remember it ever coming out.
― akm, Monday, 14 January 2008 19:53 (eighteen years ago)
BBC just showed the original, 1957 version. I liked its narrative economy. It is tense and temporally taut. It reminded me of old-time town westerns (Wayne / Hawks et al) in which a captive must be held until the time comes.
Here is a view of old and new versions: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n20/wood01_.html
― the pinefox, Monday, 24 March 2008 14:33 (seventeen years ago)
It didn't blow anything out of the water, but I think it held its own.
Anyway, two thumbs up, Crowe is a revelation in a breakthrough performance, whatever the guy from Wireless Magazine wrote to get on the studio's good side, etc etc etc.
― David R., Monday, 24 March 2008 14:58 (seventeen years ago)
Mangold can't stage an action scene.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 24 March 2008 15:00 (seventeen years ago)
this movie is totally, profoundly average.
― by another name (amateurist), Wednesday, 12 May 2010 03:46 (fifteen years ago)
Didn't think much of it, but loved Ben Foster working it out.
― rim this, fuck that (Eric H.), Wednesday, 12 May 2010 04:05 (fifteen years ago)
i just found it very on-the-nose and kind of empty headed, without being remotely bad.
― by another name (amateurist), Wednesday, 12 May 2010 09:30 (fifteen years ago)
the original is not a great film, but glenn ford is pretty amazing in it. the brief scene where he seduces the bar girl is electrifying.
― by another name (amateurist), Wednesday, 12 May 2010 09:32 (fifteen years ago)
Eric OTM
― Black IP's (darraghmac), Wednesday, 12 May 2010 09:41 (fifteen years ago)