BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Benedito Dias Rodrigues Having Kirk Douglas on leading role and direction this western won't disappoint nobody,but a littles sins almost unnoticed crying for.....Bruce Dern is always in a blue jeans impeccable clean.....the escape inside the train wasn't convincing among another little mistakes...in first part of the movie the ambush at the river the landscape is unforgettable,the cinematography is quite good,alfonso Arau is another high point but died so early,shall be better exploited along of the picture!Resume:First watch: 1985 / How many: 4 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7.25

addicott On screen I find Kirk Douglas to be without peer, but I have come to admire him as much if not more for his real-life advocacy of some highly unorthodox, yet worthy projects.If this movie doesn't rank among his very best, it is still remarkable for how unapologetically it goes against the grain and makes a very bold personal statement (one that was not so popular at the time but resonates to this day). All the while he is producing and directing himself in what proves to be a rather unflattering role. I can't think of anyone else who would have the real-life grit to do such a thing - Kirk Douglas has done so repeatedly with aplomb.

Karl Ericsson kirk douglas being a rather intelligent man, I was still a little surprised the way this movie turned out. I didn't think he had that much OOMPH in him or whatever. The good guy is the bad guy and the bad guy is the good guy - that's always a good start. But then the good/bad guy gets too greedy and forgets about paying his men decently and then they leave him. If it was only like that in reality! Things have become too complicated today with too big societies and the crooks just too stupid and coward. they don't steal from the rich anymore - they steal from the poor and when they don't get caught they get to be presidents or whatever. Where is the modern day Robin Hood? Nowhere or maybe the media just refuse to write about him - who knows? Anyway, great finish on a film that, without this glorious OOMPH, would have been mediocre. Kirk belonged to the old school of decency and he shows it here. By the way, it's he, who plays the bad guy, in case you would miss it.

classicsoncall Finally, after watching literally hundreds of westerns, score one for the bad guy! Bruce Dern's character is Jack Strawhorn, a savvy train robber with enough sense in the early going to know that his gang was second best to Marshal Howard Nightingale's (Kirk Douglas) lawmen. Savvy enough also to allow himself to be captured than to foolishly throw down with Nightingale when he had the upper hand. Strawhorn's capture virtually assures Nightingale of an election win for a U.S. Senate seat, a position he's angling for with a lot more ambition on his mind than simply serving the people.As the story plays out though, things get a whole lot murkier, so much so that the finale winds up totally at odds with any sense of credibility. Granted, Nightingale's men spend a fair amount of time worrying about what will happen to them should he pack up for Washington, D.C. Here's what bothers me though - who's payroll were they actually on to begin with? They were uniformed officers and all wore stars; Nightingale's title was that of a Marshal. So why wouldn't they have remained no worse off than their present circumstances? I can understand them shaking down the town to save the life of their boss, but then to turn around and split up the money just because Strawhorn suggested it just doesn't make sense to me.Other than the ending that proved a letdown for this viewer, the film does have some fine points to offer. The cinematography is more than adequate, and the hijacked train on fire was an exciting touch. There are also two outstanding scenes where horses go above and beyond the call of duty. The first involves a mount going over a cliff and into the water at the Mexican camp, and later when Strawhorn attempts his getaway from the train on horseback. How does one get a horse to take those crazy spills?Pay attention to the scene when Strawhorn plans his breakout on the train. He rigs a garrote from a piece of wire taken apart from a broom and lashes Wesley (Bo Hopkins) tightly by the neck to the bars of the cell. Later when Wesley answers Strawhorn's call to come to his room where Nightingale is kept hostage, there isn't even the slightest hint of redness or abrasion on his neck from the event.One other comment bears mentioning that came across unintentionally funny. The train bearing Nightingale's posse is clearly marked as the Texas and Arizona Rail Road. While stationed at the town of Tesota, three of Nightingale's randy men entertain women folk of the town in secluded quarters. Interestingly, there's a shot of one of the train cars with the abbreviated name - 'T.& A. R.R.' For Wesley and the boys, it certainly was.