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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
41 of 42 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
After a somewhat slow start, Cowboys And Aliens turns into a fun scifi western. It's a surprisingly dark and gritty film, playing like a straight western at first. Imagine you're watching an old John Wayne movie. You're enjoying it, and suddenly alien spaceships come out of nowhere blasting everything in sight and kidnapping the locals. That in a nutshell is the plot, sounds ridiculous, looks ridiculous but if not taken seriously, despite the surprisingly dark and gritty tone then it's also a lot of fun. Some good performances, Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford and Olivia Wilde are all very good and there's a solid supporting cast too. All the western cliches are there, Daniel Craig is the stranger with no name, Harrison Ford the rich bad man that runs the town and then the spaceships arrive. Very good fx and good action scenes make this a fun movie.
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
I was quite skeptical about this movie. What were they thinking about mixing two completely unlike genres, cowboys, Apaches and aliens together? Well, my mistake. The end result is both a good western and a very credible sci-fi movie. So, out of an apparent weird mix came out an original movie under a plausible story line (Sorry, no spoiler, I will not go into the details of the plot).
I really liked the performance of Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, and Olivia Wilde. All three main actors have in common to be associated with their roles in previous serial movies or TV series, where they played the lead or a key role. In this movie they managed to deliver a performance quite different from the character we are used to, particularly Harrison Ford and Olivia Wilde. I think this is her first key role other than "House" in which you can appreciate the quality of her acting. I hope she gets more opportunities like this to show us her talent.
As for the special effects, they are quite realistic, and it is notable that the insect-like aliens are not hidden with low lighting like in so many alien movies. The amazing thing is that the SFX are not based completely on computer animations (GCI). The film was shot using good old puppets and animatronics for the close-ups, combined with CGI for the battle scenes. Even some of the alien ships were scale models. My only quibble is that one of the alien features resembles a lot the character Kuato in Total Recall [DVD] (no spoiler again). My respects to director Jon Favreau, a great combination of old and new technology.
I really liked the performance of Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, and Olivia Wilde. All three main actors have in common to be associated with their roles in previous serial movies or TV series, where they played the lead or a key role. In this movie they managed to deliver a performance quite different from the character we are used to, particularly Harrison Ford and Olivia Wilde. I think this is her first key role other than "House" in which you can appreciate the quality of her acting. I hope she gets more opportunities like this to show us her talent.
As for the special effects, they are quite realistic, and it is notable that the insect-like aliens are not hidden with low lighting like in so many alien movies. The amazing thing is that the SFX are not based completely on computer animations (GCI). The film was shot using good old puppets and animatronics for the close-ups, combined with CGI for the battle scenes. Even some of the alien ships were scale models. My only quibble is that one of the alien features resembles a lot the character Kuato in Total Recall [DVD] (no spoiler again). My respects to director Jon Favreau, a great combination of old and new technology.
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I hate sounding like a broken record this summer, but thats what i have become of late. A string of blockbusters that are hard to genuinely engage with culminates in Cowboys and Aliens. But despite it's flaws and on a positive note, it is better than some of its competitors of late.
The premise is quite simple and yet not to my memory have these genres ever met in a grand blockbuster film. Does Wild Wild West count? Ford and Craig as cowboys fighting aliens in the vast deserts and mountain ranges with a motley crew behind them including the stereotyped Indians. Whats not to like.
It is a movie that makes you go 'Grrrrrrr' because with a decent script in place and another 1 or 2 set pieces involving the aliens it would have been bound for greatness but the biggest most significant factor that stops Cowboys and Aliens from being a true great is simply the chemistry, or the apparent lack of chemistry between Ford and Craig. 'Bond' and 'Indy' really should have been given some meaty, tense dialogue but it fails to materialise and as a result cuts the tension levels like a knife through butter. The other players in this sci-fi mash up are all par for the course and dont do anything to raise our interests.
However this is not a disaster, Favreau seems to get a good handle on an action scene like he did in the Ironman series and the aliens themselves are a fairly original, grotesque creation. Thier reasons for being there however are not.
The film never really gets boring but it doesnt soar either and without the tension needed to invest in the movie it only just scrapes the inevitable 3 stars.
The premise is quite simple and yet not to my memory have these genres ever met in a grand blockbuster film. Does Wild Wild West count? Ford and Craig as cowboys fighting aliens in the vast deserts and mountain ranges with a motley crew behind them including the stereotyped Indians. Whats not to like.
It is a movie that makes you go 'Grrrrrrr' because with a decent script in place and another 1 or 2 set pieces involving the aliens it would have been bound for greatness but the biggest most significant factor that stops Cowboys and Aliens from being a true great is simply the chemistry, or the apparent lack of chemistry between Ford and Craig. 'Bond' and 'Indy' really should have been given some meaty, tense dialogue but it fails to materialise and as a result cuts the tension levels like a knife through butter. The other players in this sci-fi mash up are all par for the course and dont do anything to raise our interests.
However this is not a disaster, Favreau seems to get a good handle on an action scene like he did in the Ironman series and the aliens themselves are a fairly original, grotesque creation. Thier reasons for being there however are not.
The film never really gets boring but it doesnt soar either and without the tension needed to invest in the movie it only just scrapes the inevitable 3 stars.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
expertly executed
At first glance, the concept of combining a traditional Western with an alien invasion film may seem far too silly to ever work, yet director Jon Favreau makes Cowboys & Aliens... Read more
Published 12 days ago by bizmandan
Unusual mix of genres
"Cowboys and Aliens" is a bizarre, but fairly effective combination of the Western and Sci Fi film genres. Read more
Published 15 days ago by L. Davidson
Harrison Ford still cuts the mustard
A brill movie but it should of been called Cowboy, Indian and Aliens because the Indians had a big part in this film. Daniel Craig played a great roll as the moody tough cowboy. Read more
Published 16 days ago by Grip
Excellent bank holiday entertainment
Intriguing plot mix that we thought worked very well. At just ten quid it proved an excellent family entertainer for the weekend. Read more
Published 21 days ago by Story Fanatic
cowboys
Wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this film but in fact it made excellent weekend viewing. I received the dvd very quickly after ordering. Would use this site again
Published 27 days ago by tiffany
Daft beyond belief and in parts actually rather good - but not a...
I bought this DVD on a whim just to see if the idea of blending western and sci-fi genres could be made to work. Read more
Published 29 days ago by A. J. Sturgess
Two hours of my life I won't get back
I am convinced the producers, director and scriptwriter did their research at Blockbusters - rent "War of The Worlds", "Alien", any western (but particularly sphagetti ones) and a... Read more
Published 29 days ago by Keith Lawson
Enjoyable, light-hearted pulp sci-fi
What would happen if some aliens were to come scout out the Earth during the wild west era? This film has a solid stab at finding out, taking the iconography and archetypes of a... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Kerome
"..TOP ACTION SCI-FI.."
Although it wasnt one of the best films of the year cowboys and aliens still has a high entertainment value, the cast is pretty good Harrison ford looked a bit more comfortable... Read more
Published 1 month ago by S. Drury
absolutely brilliant
i love this film.
if you're after a deep story to keep you guessing then maybe this isnt for you, BUT.... Read more
if you're after a deep story to keep you guessing then maybe this isnt for you, BUT.... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr. Martin Bull
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