| Overall Grade: |
A |
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| Story: |
A |
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| Acting: |
A- |
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| Direction: |
A |
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| Visuals: |
A+ |
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Don't miss the train.
by T (movies profile)
Jun 10, 2008
26
of
34 people found this review helpful
This is the best western since Unforgiven. Zane Grey and Louis L'Amour would be proud of this remake of the 1957 classic tale based on the short story by Elmore Leonard.
The cast is like a loaded Smith and Wesson, beautiful to shoot and deadly to the point. The visuals, wardrobe, guns, steel stagecoaches, and Arizona buttes add to the majesty of an untamed west. Like the Wild West Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) uses the railroad to keep his outlaw gang well fortified and above the law. His right hand man Ben Foster is a cruel, cold blooded assassin who takes pleasure in murder, is masterfully played by Charlie Prince.
The protagonist Dan Evans (Christian Bale) is a poor farmer trying to make his wife Gretchen Mol proud of him by making a life on the new frontier that will be opened up by the railroad.
The strain of lack of money and a sick child in their family is apparent and drives Dan to take any chance. His 14 year old son Will (Logan Lerman) is ashamed of his farmer father not knowing that beneath his fathers gritty surface is a humble man who has made decisions to save his youngest son from sickness and give his family a new beginning. Bale continues to give another strong performance.
The opening sequence is riveting with a steel stagecoach carrying a payload that is ripe for the picking and Ben Wade calmly plots to get his gang the loot and skidaddle to Mexico. The Gatlin Gun on the back is so cool and the sequence with the cattle to overturn the stagecoach was spectacular.
Ben Wade is not afraid of any lawman and calmly goes to see a girl friend and gets caught by several lawmen who look for volunteers to take the dangerous prisoner to Contention to catch "the 310 to Yuma".
Having the scariest guys in the world in your posse its just a matter of time before the bad guys will figure out where Wade is going to try on a necktie rope. With an offer of 200 dollars Dan Evans sees the opportunity to make ammends and make his family proud and escort Wade with several other lawmen.
The journey to Contention is wrought with ambushes, and Ben Wade calmly picking off each member one by one even with his shackles on. Peter Fonda is brilliant as Byron McElroy a crotchety old law man bent on revenge for the bullet he got at the hands of Ben Foster.
The psychological twist and turns make this a thriller of the tale as Wade makes Dan question his sense of honor and decency and pushes all the buttons to make him regret taking him to the train.
Intertwined is the building of the railroad connecting the East to the West. The Chinese were largely responsible from the West and the Irish Immigrants from the east. The director Mangold made sure details were always evident of the way life was in this changing world brought on by the railroad including Morse Code, cattle movement and transporting bad guys too.
The climax and final scene were better than most westerns and I highly recommend this film for audience members over 14 years old due to extreme violence.
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