The Big Sky

Back in the day you could befriend Kirk Douglas by punching him in the face twice

The most impressive thing about this story is that rugged mountain-men Deakins and Boone never even sport a 5-o'clock shadow the entire 2000 mile frontier journey. But somehow Kirk Douglas pulls it off while Dewey Martin looks like a Ken doll. Moving on with this insightful review, The guy who played Poordevil was a terrible Indian and the guy who played Romaine was a very large man. Deceptive movie poster complaint of the day: Douglas never had his shirt off nor ever came near a tomahawk.

First off, "The Big Sky" is not a western. It's a story of relationships, complete with a love triangle. These conflicts are wrapped around lots of adventure and action. I really enjoyed the characters Jim Deakins (Kirk Douglas) and Uncle Zeb (Arthur Hunnicutt), they really made the movie work.

Bad Acting (Douglas, included) is the largest complaint I can lodge against this - the whole thing just felt inconsistent & bland.

Decent Western unfolds at a leisurely pace not unlike that of the keelboats which transport the fur traders in this typically Hawksian story.

85.50

85.500

Definitely a "it's the journey, not the destination" film. It's not quite a buddy pic, and it really isn't much of a traditional Western (although it does have the beautiful scenery and the Indians). It might have packed a little more punch if it had been in color (and I'm usually a staunch traditionalist). Not terrible; nothing particularly memorable.

Better acting than I expected.

Rather boring

"Worst" Hawks I've seen? And still has its charms.