|
|
I am evidently more fortunate than most reviewers in having seen, as an adult, both versions of this excellent and delightful story. While I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of both very much, I cannot say one is "better" than the other.
Of the new film, one reviewer said, "It drags," another, "Too Slow." Come on folks! You must have been raised on a steady diet of "action adventure" westerns, where men are spectacularly killing each other in every scene. Would you really prefer to believe that the helicopter chasing Tom Cruise, clinging to the top of a speeding train (Mission Impossible) explodes in a fireball rather than the crashing boredom of being cooped up in a bunkhouse with a bunch of guys who have nothing better to do than master the ability of getting on each other's last nerve? Another comment, "Too pretty." As a resident of the Eastern slope of the Southern Rocky Mountains (4,000 feet) who has traveled through Montana, it really does look that beautiful. I see mountains (which are occasionally snow-covered) in any direction from my house and if I stand on my tiptoes I can see the Rio Grande from my front porch.
I watched this film twice recently over the last three weeks. Between viewings, I read The Forgotten Founders: Rethinking the History of the Old West, by Stewart L. Udall. Udall does a fine job of correcting the horse manure that dime novels, Buffalo Bill, Hollywood and television have shown as "history." Wyatt Earp shot one of the Clantons in the back in ambush. Pat Garrett shot Billy the Kid (much more fiction than fact about him) in bed. Pat (buried in the Garrett family plot a few blocks from my home) was later shot in the back of the head while urinating during a carriage ride stop. Pat was such a rotten sidewinder that when his killer claimed self defense, the jury acquitted him, with a sentiment of "Thank you for providing a needed public service!" After seeing both excellent versions of this outstanding story, I must read the book. --J. D. Schultz Sr., Las Cruces, New Mexico.
score 10/10
rustbeltrefugee 13 February 2015
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3182437/ |
|
6-4-2021 02:54:08