A week or so before his retirement, Captain Nathan Brittles is in charge of a fort when it is clear that the Indian tribes are joining to fight their common foe of the cavalry. Brittles leads his men out to try and stop the impending attack but finds himself hampered by having to also escort the two women who were staying at the fort at the time.
I am a fan of Ford/Wayne westerns and will often enjoy them with ease. However I struggled to really get into this one and it did really feel a little light and unstructured. The overall plot was good but I didn't get any sense of detail or character other than broader brushstrokes. The action is good and the dialogue is witty and interesting but the film was a bit too light and impersonal to be able to take that broad sweep of history and apply it to this small group.
Wayne plays a man 20 years his senior but does it well. He has his usual tough charm and has some great dialogue to go along with it. He is given great support by the rest of the cast, some of whom stand out more than others. The best support he has also risks upstaging him - that of the scenery and the Oscar winning cinematography. The wide-open spaces feel wonderful and the colours are very generous.
Overall I did quite enjoy the film but I didn't really get into the plot. It seemed a little too big to be able to make the smaller things work. For example I didn't really get much from the idea of Brittles retiring where I think I was meant to read it as the changing of the type of men America needed from this period on, a salute to the men of the old west if you will. However this got lost in the battles and Indian wars. Still worth seeing but by Ford and Wayne standards this could be considered not much above par.
I am a fan of Ford/Wayne westerns and will often enjoy them with ease. However I struggled to really get into this one and it did really feel a little light and unstructured. The overall plot was good but I didn't get any sense of detail or character other than broader brushstrokes. The action is good and the dialogue is witty and interesting but the film was a bit too light and impersonal to be able to take that broad sweep of history and apply it to this small group.
Wayne plays a man 20 years his senior but does it well. He has his usual tough charm and has some great dialogue to go along with it. He is given great support by the rest of the cast, some of whom stand out more than others. The best support he has also risks upstaging him - that of the scenery and the Oscar winning cinematography. The wide-open spaces feel wonderful and the colours are very generous.
Overall I did quite enjoy the film but I didn't really get into the plot. It seemed a little too big to be able to make the smaller things work. For example I didn't really get much from the idea of Brittles retiring where I think I was meant to read it as the changing of the type of men America needed from this period on, a salute to the men of the old west if you will. However this got lost in the battles and Indian wars. Still worth seeing but by Ford and Wayne standards this could be considered not much above par.