VividSimon Simply Perfect

BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

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

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

adrian-43767 I first watched NEVADA SMITH in the early 80s. My father had spoken highly of it, but I did not like it. At the time, I found McQueen unbelievable as an Indian, and the whole story quite predictable. Much against my will, last Sunday I rewatched it. I had nothing to do, nothing else that seemed worthwhile on TV, and I decided to give it a second chance. I am happy I did, because this time I found the film much better. Still had some difficulty accepting a blond Indian but this time I found McQueen's performance quite acceptable and even credible. Keith, Malden, Kennedy and, above all, Landau and Vallone, all deliver high standard performances.Henry Hathaway's direction is as good as ever. Photography is a bit shabby, but acceptable. What I found much better this time was the script. Yes, Max Sand is predictable in the sense that the thought of revenge blinds him to all other possibilities, but in going on that quest he also goes on a journey of self-, and other, discovery. He begins as a greenhorn who has no idea what to do with weapons, let alone how to kill. Fate is kind to him in the shape of Brian Keith, who teaches him the basics. At the prison camp, he learns from those he meets, especially from Pilar (played by Pleshette), the first one to convince him of the evils of revenge. Perhaps the greatest lesson comes from the priest (great performance from Raf Vallone), who tells him of how he could have embarked on a similar quest, but did not. In the end, Max Sand finishes his revenge assignment without actually putting to death the main villain, and by movie's end he seems to be moving on to a different spiritual level.Inevitably, the question I put to myself was: What if my family were murdered? What would I do if I could track down the killers? Could I live with myself if I did not exact revenge, thereby honoring my loved ones? I am a Catholic, I believe in forgiving, but I hope I am never put in the same position as Max Sand.Ultimately, NEVADA SMITH does not endorse revenge, but its message is one taking fate into your hands - for better or worse.

robert-259-28954 I think this wonderful film often gets passed over on lists of "the best" Westerns. It succeeds on every level that I judge great films on—great story, great script, and the best actors for the roles. It's not very often that I classify Westerns in the "epic" genre, but this one certainly qualifies, like watching an entire novel... from the very beginning, to the bitter end. The only other I can think of with this kind of scope would be Sergio Leone's "Once Upon A Time In The West," a sweeping motion picture and modern day classic. This cast for Nevada Smith was so necessarily large, that they must have used every, single Western character actor alive in Hollywood, to good effect. Most memorable was a superb Brian Keith as the world weary gunsmith, an equally villainous Martin Landau, and fabulously unlikeable Pat Hingle, one of the most underrated actors of all time, in my opinion. Add to this powerful mix the evil Karl Malden and you have what can only be described as a "stellar" cast. Although Malden was often cast in the second fiddle, forgotten man parts, many forget his absolutely chilling portrayals as bad guys, particularly in his star turn as the sadistic sheriff in, "One Eyed Jacks," with Marlon Brando. He seems seems to channel a degree of pure evil like few others, and comes through with another chilling portrayal at the end of this film. Special mention should also go to the FANTASTIC music composer for this film, the great Alfred Newman, who's sweeping score made this motion picture one of the masterpieces of Western films it truly is. Grab a big bag of popcorn, and enjoy.

daylecorley What I think is the biggest problem with Nevada Smith is casting a 40 year old blond with blue eyes to play a 16 year old half Native American. It is distracting throughout the whole story. Sometimes it is even ludicrous because a couple of times people seem to recognize on sight that he is Native American. Couldn't they have at least dyed his hair black and give him some contact lenses for Pete's sake? And what was supposed to be a sweet "coming of age" scene with the young Native American girl just looked WRONG. Steve McQueen was a good actor and all, but throughout the whole movie I was using my imagination replacing him with a young Bronson or someone a little more appropriate to the character he was playing.

ron-fernandez-pittsburgh Good scenery, great cinematography and good music score do not a movie make. Good plot, but executed in a strange way. STEVE MCQUEEN is MUCH, MUCH, MUCH to old for the role. He also kind of "sleep walks" thru this. Maybe he didn't have much faith in the script. SUZANNE PLESCHETTE is wasted in a nothing role. In fact she's totally miss cast. The three villains score my vote for good performances. An uncredited JOANNA MOORE has a nice bit in a hotel room with MCQUEEN. Picture could have used more of her. SPOILER ALERT: Now for the worse part. How did MCQUEEN get out of the swamp and get out of his prison chains and end up in California with no one noticing??? A real plot hole here unless there was a giant cut in the final edit. If so, that was DUMB. Picture was OK until that point, and what follows is pretty bad. Again maybe to jagged editing. Nothing makes much sense. Too bad as NEVADA SMITH has the makings of a good film.