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Amazon.co.uk Review
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
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
72 of 80 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb, gritty and action-packed western,
By
This review is from: 3.10 To Yuma [DVD] (DVD)
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...
37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Yee-hah! What a movie!,
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This review is from: 3.10 To Yuma [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
'3:10 to Yuma' is the adaption from Elmore Leonard's novel and is also a remake of the 1957 film of the same name. The film begins when rancher Dan Evans (Christian Bale) heads into Bisbee to clear up issues concerning the sake of his land when he witnesses a stagecoach robbery, lead by famous outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe). Then, with the help of Evans, Wade is captured by the law in Bisbee and Evans is one of the escorts who will take Wade to the 3:10 to Yuma train in Contention for the reward of $200. Evans' quest for taking Wade to the station is not only for saving for his land but an inner battle that he can be more than just a naive rancher in the eyes of his gunslinging son William Evans. The transport to Contention is hazardous and filled with ambushes from Indians, pursuits by Wade's vengeful gang and Wade's own conniving.
I've not watched a great deal of Westerns, so I didn't really know what to expect from this film, but I watched it anyway as it was directed by James Mangold who also directed some of my recent favourites, Cop Land, Walk the Line and Identity and I was not disappointed by '3:10 to Yuma' at all. The action and excitement is heavy from the get-go and the acting is just top-notch. The standout actor here has to be Russell Crowe who plays the cocky, confident and ruthless outlaw Ben Wade absolutely perfectly. I've never been much of a fan of Crowe but after watching this I wondered what I'd been missing as I thought he did a superb performance. Christian Bale plays Dan Evans very well, although I felt the character itself was rather a let-down as opposed to Bale's acting, as this definitely wasn't his best role I've seen him in. Ben Foster, who plays Wade's right-hand man, Charlie Prince is also an extremely talented actor who I'd seen in some of his previous films like The Punisher, X-Men 3, Hostage and 30 Days of Night and this is without a doubt his most stand-out performance of them all. Overall this is an excellent film all round that is just non-stop from start to finish and even makes you route for the bad guy the whole way through. Definitely one of the best films of 2007 and will no doubt be one of the best DVDs of 2008. Highly recommended.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
TRUly GRITy,
By
This review is from: 3:10 to Yuma [Blu-ray] [2007] [US Import] (Blu-ray)
Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) is a theif and a killer, 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.
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