It's just "meh" all around. Being that it is directed by Ford you'd think it would have at least a few things going for it. It's just a flat movie with tons of star power at its disposal. Take Fonda's character for example. You can make a commanding officer a tough remorseless guy but as a character you still have to give us something to latch onto as a watcher. This is movie character development 101 and yet Ford fails to grasp that.
I totally agree with mi-16evil and bubastis, and I would like to add that it is overlong. Bits and pieces of interest from John Wayne and Henry Fonda who both have a lot of screen presence and try to do something with their roles, but they have a difficult task cut out for them to catch a modern audience's interest. I also loved Stagecoach and therefore expected more from the legendary John Ford than this yawn of a movie.
Probably the most boring western I've seen. What a disappointment, because I loved Stagecoach and expected this one to be just as good. Fonda's character is incredibly irritating.
While it has some excellent action pieces and an interesting twist on Custer's Last Stand, the characters are just too one note and the story too bland and overblown to make it matter in the slightest.
@fewvisiblescars I took away the opposite. It seems like Ford is criticizing history’s tendency to glorify the commanders and turn a blind eye to their stupidity, ignorance and bigotry, when the real heroes were the common soldiers doing their duty.
Sorry, I just don't get it.. a glorification of stupidity, ignorance and bigotry? A film where the John Wayne character - in comparison- comes out as the reasonable one?
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It's just "meh" all around. Being that it is directed by Ford you'd think it would have at least a few things going for it. It's just a flat movie with tons of star power at its disposal. Take Fonda's character for example. You can make a commanding officer a tough remorseless guy but as a character you still have to give us something to latch onto as a watcher. This is movie character development 101 and yet Ford fails to grasp that.thestuman101694
Well . . . I liked it . . .Zeltaebar
I totally agree with mi-16evil and bubastis, and I would like to add that it is overlong. Bits and pieces of interest from John Wayne and Henry Fonda who both have a lot of screen presence and try to do something with their roles, but they have a difficult task cut out for them to catch a modern audience's interest. I also loved Stagecoach and therefore expected more from the legendary John Ford than this yawn of a movie.Rohit
Did John Agar and Shirley Temple think this was a school skit?celinesthreedots
Probably the most boring western I've seen. What a disappointment, because I loved Stagecoach and expected this one to be just as good. Fonda's character is incredibly irritating.mi-16evil
While it has some excellent action pieces and an interesting twist on Custer's Last Stand, the characters are just too one note and the story too bland and overblown to make it matter in the slightest.Prof. Lumpcicle
Quality scenery as you would expect from a John Ford picture, but the acting, dialog and poor casting choices really hold it down.jmars
@fewvisiblescars I took away the opposite. It seems like Ford is criticizing history’s tendency to glorify the commanders and turn a blind eye to their stupidity, ignorance and bigotry, when the real heroes were the common soldiers doing their duty.few visible scars
Sorry, I just don't get it.. a glorification of stupidity, ignorance and bigotry? A film where the John Wayne character - in comparison- comes out as the reasonable one?