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3:10 to Yuma (2007)Never let it be said that the Western is dead. Because every time its last rites are read, another filmmaker moves in and produces another fine entry to an enduring genre that'll simply never go away. In this case, the film is 3:10 To Yuma, and the filmmaker is James Mangold, straight off his Oscar-winning Johnny Cash biopic, Walk The Line.
3:10 To Yuma is, however, a far different beast, bringing together two of the most magnetic male leads in modern day cinema. On the one hand, there's Christian Bale as the law-enforcing Sheriff, and he's facing off against Russell Crowe's killer. Unsurprisingly, it's the conflict and sparks between these two that ignite the film, and turn it into a film well worth seeking out. For what director Mangold realises is that the trick with 3:10 To Yuma (named after the prison train that Bale's character seeks to put Crowe's on) is to give his two stars room to work, and injecting plenty of action and excitement into the mix. The end result, while not a top-notch Western, turns out to be a real cut above most of the current multiplex fodder. Even if Westerns aren't usually your thing, it's well worth giving this one a try. --Jon Foster |
Average User Rating: 60% (64 Reviews) | |
| 5 / 5 | Superb, gritty and action-packed western
Hooligween "Rowena the Red" (Kernow, Great Britain) - 3 December 2007 Putting Russell Crowe and Christian Bale together in this movie was a master-stroke. They take opposing roles as the film romps along and the conflict (and then friendship) which develops between them makes for some gripping, nasty and touching moments. This isn't one of those slowly paced, meandering modern westerns where it takes forever and a day for nothing much to happen. This is a vigh-velocity romp with plenty of wham! and bam! In 3:10 To Yuma the characters develop through blood, sweat and tears (punctuated by gunfire and fist fights). Bale is a failing farmer, a cripple, who feels he's letting down his family and in particular his oldest son. Crowe is a high-living outlaw, used to ruling the roost and robbing whoever he can. Their paths cross when Crowe is captured and Bale agrees to join the guards who will take the prisoner to catch the prison train (that's the 3:10 to Yuma). So that sets the scene for a road journey, one where the two men get to know each other, understand more about each other, fight each other, ride horses, sit round campfire, get beaten up -- all that good western stuff. The pace of the film is rapid, so it doesn't sit around dwelling on each point, but clips along to the next fight, the next showdown, the next twist. There are moments of sweeping action on the plains and in the railroad yards, backed with gritted-teeth drama as the farmer's son starts to admire the outlaw -- his father can't compete with the glamorous gun-slinger who effortlessly charms the women, and provides exactly the wrong role model for the boy. Bale's character can't quite believe that Crowe really is 100% bad, and that he's completely beyond redemption. Crowe keeps proving, brutally, that he really IS a bad man. Yet in the end, both characters find a form of redemption, via a shower of bullets and a heart-stopping chase sequence. It's one of the best showdown sequences I've ever seen, across the clapboard walkways, through the barns and alleyways and on the roofs of a frontier town. 3:10 to Yuma is over two hours long but it flies by. If you missed it at the movies then definitely watch it now. It's one of the best westerns to come along for years -- all guns blazing... ... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | TRUly GRITty
Kona (Derbyshire) - 25 December 2007 Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) is a killer and thief, and after robbing the stage 22 times, he's been caught. Rancher Dan Evans (Christian Bale) volunteers to join the posse that's taking Wade to the train station, a three-day ride away, for the princely sum of $200. Evans needs the money to keep his ranch and to improve his status in his teenage son's eyes. All the while, Wade's evil gang is following them and slowly but surely whittling down the posse. This western grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go for two hours. At the end, I felt like I hadn't taken a breath the whole time. It's gritty and dirty and cruel and incredibly intense. Crowe manages to make his nasty character likeable and even heroic at the end. His manly charisma dominates the screen. Bale is also excellent as the pitable, noble rancher. I was really rooting for him. Ben Foster plays a thoroughly hateful sadist with relish, but he looked so much like Mike Love of the Beachboys that I was a little distracted during his close-ups. The taut script has many memorable lines such as, "Even a bad man loves his mama." The desert scenery is magnificent and the movie has a realistic, no-frills look to it. It left me exhausted and sad, but it was powerful and extremely well-made. ... Read Full Review » |
| 4 / 5 | WESTERN GENRE FANS WILL LOVE IT
stuart "s.vernon" (MIDDLESBROUGH, ENGLAND) - 29 November 2007 It wasn't until the last three years that I became an enormous Western fan so it was with great excitement that I drooled to see '310 To Yuma' the newest Western to hit the big screens in a long time. Although some reviewers hailed it as the rebirth of the Hollywood Western I won't go that far but for us Western starved fans it fulfilled my quota and there aren't many out there any more. The characters and actors that played them did a magnificent job and director James Mangold knows how to bring a story to life and really get the most out of his characters so that you become completely attached to them as he did with the outstanding Walk The Line as well as other of his films. He has only 7 film credits to his name and almost every one can be heralded as terrific stories. You can just tell he puts his heart and soul into it. Nonetheless he certainly makes sure that everything is in place that you would want from a Western. The villainy and the shootouts, and the small western town, the cattle farmer, the gangs, the sand and tumbleweeds, coach robberies, horses, camping under the stars and the railway. There isn't anything missing and you feel like you're immersed into this world and that is the key to a great Western. I do like Christian Bale. Please don't anyone think I don't. He has done some terrific work but I'm beginning to feel he might be slightly over rated. I thought his performance in Rescue Dawn (see my review) was ridiculous and over performed and I think I've come to realize he might just be someone who really over acts his roles. In 310 To Yuma he plays down on his luck family man and cattle farmer Dan Evans. He does a decent job but he just seems so hyped up and on edge that it's almost hard to watch him. I mean I understand he is playing a desperate man but still the performance was overdone I thought. Russell Crowe literally steals the show as absolutely notorious villain and killer Ben Wade. Crowe's Wade should probably be considered for Oscar Nominations because his suave, polite, and yet diabolically disturbing performance just draws you in and makes everything worth while. This is truly his best role in a long time!! I would love to see Ben Wade come back in a sequel with Crowe returning to the role. He is brilliant and him and Bale have good chemistry but I think it's more from Crowe's performance than Bale's. Terrific young character actor Ben Foster is Ben Wade's right hand man Charlie Prince. His character could have easily carried the film as the villain and he is just as terrifying in a far less subtle way than Crowe's character. Foster is terrific and I was convinced he would turn on Wade rather than stay loyal to the very end which is part of the irony of the film I think. The infamous in his own right Peter Fonda plays a small yet very important and distinguished role as a bounty hunter of sorts and Wade's long time nemesis. I would have absolutely loved to have seen Fonda and Crowe go head to head more than they did. You could sense the tension and it was terrific. Not to leave the rest of the cast out because they all did their fair share including strong performances from Alan Tudyk, Logan Lerman (was really terrific in his role as Bale's son), and Luce Rains. They all basically supported Bale and Crowe in their respective performances and they were all terrific. It really boils down to this. If you're a fan of Westerns than 310 To Yuma is really going to impress you because it has everything you could possibly ask for. And if you're not a fan of Westerns you won't like it because it's Western through and through. The story is terrific, the characters are great and it is a film that will likely stick around because I think it's got classic written on it. I have never seen the original 310 To Yuma although I'd like to and I don't know if it was good or not but this remake certainly brings it to a new generation because remake or on it's own it definitely gets it's point across for it's genre. Not life changing but a damn good western. 8.5/10... Read Full Review » |
| 1 / 5 | Boring over hashed out rubbish
C. J. Green "¿?" (London) - 6 March 2008 If this film was a horse it would be taken round back and be shot. Unfortunately its not, it is in fact a nearly 2 hour long exercise in nonsensical rubbish. This film is nothing like a good western because although good westerns often contain improbable gun battles or strange characters in the the core story makes sense. This film does not. Russell Crowe's accent slips all the time. The dialog is forced and boring but most of all you dont give a damn about any of them and the sooner the all get dispatched the better. This might just have been a good film had the screenwriter taken the time to actually bother to make a plot that was believable instead you are left with a western written by David Lynch. Its CRAP AVOID! ... Read Full Review » |
| 1 / 5 | An Insult To The Intelligence
PCM (Ipswich, UK) - 25 January 2008 Senseless twists and turns in the plot undermine a story which started with a good basic premise. A few examples will suffice: A bad guy who allows himself to be apprehended; a bounty hunter mortally wounded with a point-blank shot to the stomach is miraculously in the saddle the next day - cured by a vet; the good guy who takes every precaution against the bad guys but suddenly stops doing so to feed the crazy storyline; the bandit who turns inexplicably on his own men, and on and on. This is one of Hollywood's many insults to it customers' intelligence. ... Read Full Review » |
RRP
£20.00
Release Date
28 January 2008
Price Range
£4.99 - £13.99