3:10 to Yuma

Naos

Loved this film, plan on buying it on DVD when it comes out.

Thought the ending was very good,

I wonder would he have escaped from the train in the end

Great performances all around and is definitly in my top 10.

Basq

Absolutely magnificent!

Crowe, Bale and Ben Foster all put in stunning performances. And the last half hour was truly nail-biting stuff.

And kudos to James Mangold whose career just seems to be going from strength to strength.

Only small problem i had with it was

Crowe's character somewhat moral u-turn in the end

But it's definitely going in my DVD list on release.

MagicMarker

watched it last night and thought it was awesome!! Bale is just incredible! A true legend in the making!!

However i was particularly impressed with Ben Foster, he almost out did Bale and Crowe, but not quite.

Basq

MagicMarker wrote: »

watched it last night and thought it was awesome!! Bale is just incredible! A true legend in the making!!

However i was particularly impressed with Ben Foster, he almost out did Bale and Crowe, but not quite.

I've been saying Ben Foster is an extremely under-rated actor for years.

Stole the show in Alpha Dog, excellent in Six Feet Under and Freaks And Geeks. Just a top-notch actor. He deserves a starring role in something.

Vascular15

i quite liked it, but i think the last scene cud have been done alot better

why the hell was crowe runnin to the train with him, why didnt the posse not figure it out, and bale should have been shot way before he did, also didnt see enough of that sweet ass siz shooter!

L31mr0d

I really enjoyed this movie, whats great about having a simple storyline is that you have shed loads of time to develop the characters, of which bale and crowe had many layers.

In regard to the ending

i'd like to think it was because crowe believed he was no worse than any other man, while crowe was right about the lack of fortitude of every other man around him, which he verbalzes many times throughout the movie, he was wrong about bale, he believed he was taking him to the train to save his farm, which was wrong when the rain started, he believed he was doing it purely for the money, which was wrong when he refused 5 times more, what he found was that he was doing it all for his family, unselfishly giving himself so that his family could live a better life, I believe this is what changed crowes character to do what he did, crowe only killed people who he believed had it coming and what he saw in bales character was honesty and honor, something which was subtly revealed through crowes drawing of him as he only drew pictures of things he admired (the bird, the woman) something he realised none of his posse had when Ben Forster killed bales character which is why he killed them all. His final act of getting on the train was to honor what bale had sacrificed to get him there.

Peyton Manning

I really loved this film - one of the best Ive seen in the last year - but boy was I pissed off at the ending. Are we really meant to believe that

Russel Crowe's character, who is built up as this remorseless outlaw who's robbed thousands and killed dozens, suddenly has this realisation after spending a day with a guy (Bale) who is an asshole to him the whole time? Whats more, he has many chances to escape but chooses not to, and actually aids Bale in getting him to the train station? I mean, he could have easily escaped before the scene where he tries to choke Bale out. And to add insult to injury, he shoots his whole crewe who risked their lives to try and save him from prison - even Ben Foster's character who remained incredibly loyal to him when the rest of the gang wanted to let him get shipped off to prison? Ridiculous, I really think that the ending could have been done better instead of this lame attempt to leave everybody happy and everything wrapped up in a little ribon.

Rant over.

Like I said, I loved this movie, everything up until the last 3 minutes were incredible. Great performances by Russel Crowe and Christian Bale, but step forward Ben Foster - his character was incredible. Bigger and better things on the horizon for sure.

8/10

Blademan

I realy did like this movie from start to finish (bale) character was a bit dull, was expecting a hereo type, but it did go that way at the end.. great ending.. Russel Crowe agai was fantastic. All in all i will give this Western classic a 9/10 ... loved it.

Jack B. Badd

I found this film really pedestrian. Fortunately, I had been warned beforehand by someone who's opinion I trust so, despite the good reviews, I wasn't overly shocked by how bad it was. On the upside, Bale was good (even if his character was weak as ditchwater) but Bale is nearly always good so him being in a film isn't really the mark of a good one any more imo. Crowe's "lovable rogue, who just happens to brutally butcher people he doesn't like" character was more annoying than anything and there was little or no justification for his actions through most of the 2nd half of the film. It felt like a bad, bad version of Brokeback Mountain without the sex or any idea of what it was or where it was going. Apparently, the 1950s version is supposed to be quite good. This version gets a 3 out of 10 from me, 2 of which are for Bale and the other 1 for the scenery which was spectacular in places.

Morlar

Class movie - performances, production and story wise. That ending was 100% spot on. imo.

big_show

Great Movie, really surprised me how good it actually was, great western soundtrack as well. watched seraphim falls after that and got the complete opposite reaction. crap film

johnny_ultimate

Rather enjoyed this myself. Not usually a fan of Westerns, but found this to be an entertaining actioner, with some fine performances from all involved. In many ways I preferred it to the recent Jessie James. Where that IMO partially failed in it's attempt to create a reflective, arty western, 3:10 creates no illusion that it is anything but straight up, old-school action. And I very much enjoyed it for what it was.

lostexpectation

after reading the current news stories about the myth of frank lucas in american gangster is anybody a bit tired of the principled villians.

Thought this was great movie perfect bale and crowe material...

to the posters above obviously, russel character ben ward, decided to help bale get him to the train becuase he knew he could escape later anyway, I don't think that was much of a deal for him, when he shot his gang he was just applying his rules as much as he had earlier he never told his no2 to shoot bale, and he was by then his friend so he had to shoot him.

was that really the same guy as in firefly, looked very thin, that jacket he wore really gave him a creepy style.

Jack B. Badd

lostexpectation wrote: »

to the posters above obviously, russel character ben ward, decided to help bale get him to the train becuase he knew he could escape later anyway

Tbh, that doesn't ring true for me, obvious or not. The reasoning behind Ward allowing himself to be put on the train (hell, even hopping on the train himself!) is too contrived. It's the kind of justification I'd expect from an immature writer.

lostexpectation wrote: »

was that really the same guy as in firefly, looked very thin, that jacket he wore really gave him a creepy style.

Yep, Wash (Alan Tudyk).

lostexpectation

Jack B. Badd wrote: »

Tbh, that doesn't ring true for me, obvious or not. The reasoning behind Ward allowing himself to be put on the train (hell, even hopping on the train himself!) is too contrived. It's the kind of justification I'd expect from an immature writer.
QUOTE]

I think it was just a bit of fun for him, but it goes back to my first point

anybody a bit tired of the principled villians

Fysh

Argh, how did this get so many good reviews?!

It started off reasonably well, although I didnt realise that Russell Crowe was in it or I might well have refused to watch it. He put in a good performance (well, by his standards - I don't really rate Crowe all that much) and gave a decent portrayal of an utterly ruthless man leading a pack of almost-as-ruthless henchmen. The story built up some nice although simplistic themes (the harshness of life in the west, Dan Evans struggling to provide for his family and be a good father, the appeal of lawlessness as a lifestyle in a frontier world)...and it all kind of went pear-shaped about 2/3s of the way through. Specifically,

at the point when Ben Wade could essentially have walked outside and resumed control of his gang, but instead decided to play along with Evans and continue to let himself be taken in

.

I get the thematic development, I get that it's meant to be some sort of "each of them found redemption through the other" type storyline, but it felt resoundingly fake. The two aspects of Ben Wade did not mesh at all for me - one minute he's a cold-blooded borderline-psychopath with apparently no concern for anyone except himself, the next he's a charming rogue that all the women love and all the men secretly admire. His actions at the end made no sense, and as for the closing moments...

how stupid was William Evans, that he watches Charlie Prince walk up to his dad and shoot him and doesn't, say, draw his own gun and shoot him?!

All in all, this was nearly a good film. Unfortunately, the third act required such a crappy character shift from Ben Wade that it just fell apart for me.

L31mr0d

Fysh wrote: »

All in all, this was nearly a good film. Unfortunately, the third act required such a crappy character shift from Ben Wade that it just fell apart for me.

Can you detail how you believe the 3rd act should of played out?

Fysh

L31mr0d wrote: »

Can you detail how you believe the 3rd act should of played out?

The cynic in me says that the third act would have changed shortly after the marshals were shot and Butterfield escorted Evans' son away; Wade should, upon getting out of the building and down to ground level safely, have knocked Evans to the ground (perhaps trying to spare his life at best) and rejoined his gang, telling them that Evans was dead. After that...I don't know, the story is almost required to go into cheesy action movie realms if it's going to stick with the notion of Wade renouncing his gang in order to save/do right by Evans; perhaps the gang capture Evans' son and want to kill him as retribution for Evans having helped the lawmen. Wade can't quite let the kid get shot, at which point the gang concludes he's gone soft and turn their guns on him. (The problem being, this turns Evans into an action hero who then takes down the gang and proves to be exactly the kind of man he's shown not to be in the rest of the movie). Perhaps Evans son gets shot, provoking a murderous rage in both Wade and Evans, who shoot down the gang and end up in a mexican standoff, Evans blaming Wade for the actions of his gang and Wade blaming Evans for not walking away sooner? (Except this is far darker than the previous two acts, and completely ruins the whole redemption theme) Perhaps Evans decides to take the money and walk away when Butterfield makes the offer? His son, disgusted at him, tries to finish the job his father started and gets caught by the gang, with Wade again sticking up for him and kicking off a fight with the gang. Perhaps Evans joins in the fight to try and save his son and gets himself killed/further wounded while trying to save him?

Short answer; I can't think of a good way for the 3rd act to play out. There's a weird sort of conflict between the thematic arc of the film (redemption of two men through adopting a version of each other's approaches to masculinity) and the actual conclusion (which effectively is a statement of the futility of masculinity if it's not restrained to some extent). There is no happy ending that could work for this story, but the ending that's on it doesn't work for me either.

Laserface

3:10 to Yuma is a waste of a film.

It could have been the best thing in a long time..but it was ****

The Wicker Man

sorry to digress, but I was training in Olympus gym in capel street one day about
six years ago.I was in the changing rooms getting dressed when I felt a tap on my shoulder and a bloke with a beard asked me in an english accent how to use the lockers.As I was answering him I suddenly realised it was only the one and only Mr Christian Bale who had come to buff up for the film he was making at Ardmore ,the utterly forgettable Reign of Fire.We chatted for a bit and he really was the most unassuming guy you could ever meet.Again ... sorry for digressing but he is a great actor and from my experience seems like a great bloke... Hope to see this western this week.

Pepe LeFrits

I think some people missed the point.

By the final act Wade had lost all interest in going back to his gang. It was hinted at throughout the film that he was bored of his life (one example being when he asked the girl to go to Mexico with him) and was looking for something new. He went along with Evans because he interested him; he and Evans were polar opposites. By the end he had developed an admiration for Evans for going to such lengths to look after his family, something neither of his own parents did for him.

Cracking film anyway. 9/10

Vic Vinegar

Saw it a while back, very impressed! Bale & Crowe were great (as usual!) the film ticked along nicely and never lagged! definitely one to watch & add to the collection!

TerrorFirmer

Brilliant film, though I wasn't overly happy with the ending.

It actually reminded me a bit of this, an underrated western from a good few years back that is surprisingly good. Seeing as it's not exactly a popular genre, anyone who liked To Yuma should check it out.

The Freeman

very good film except for the ending a bit, this and jesse james show that good westerns can be made post unforgiven imo

Mrs Roy Keane

Great movie 10 out of 10 all top class performances all round

It was completely snubbed at the Awards which is a shame

Pepe LeFrits

The Freeman wrote: »

very good film except for the ending a bit, this and jesse james show that good westerns can be made post unforgiven imo

Open Range can be included there also imo.

TOPDAWG

I really enjoyed this last night. Well worth paying the late fines to xtra-vision for!!
Thought the finale was brilliant, the way they kept showing different clock's and watches i was on the edge of me seat wondering what was gonna happen next, and i enjoyed the growing admiration both men had for each other, each wanting a little of what the other had. Bale wanting some of crowe's comfort and crowe wanting bale's family life.
You could sense as it went on that crowe (wade) was growing tired of his way of life.

Anyways i couldnt out it as articulately as someothers here have but i really enjoyed it, a simple story and i found bale and crowe perfromances and characters captivating in it.

Anyone think twas a sly dig/nod that Bales kid was called WILLIAM?? William shorten's to Bill or Billy..... Billy the kid??? No? Anyone? Just me then......

Also gave me my favourtite quote from a movie so far this year,
"Even bad men love their momma's!!"

9/10 for me.

Billy the Kid98

Laserface wrote: »

3:10 to Yuma is a waste of a film.

It could have been the best thing in a long time..but it was ****

I have to agree with Laserface on this. The ending ruined it so much that i questioned what i thought i enjoy so far.
Its just rediculous!!!
And the very end!! Are we children now or something???