The Bravados

It says quite a bit that any depth and profundity makes it through direction so terribly uninspired. The script is, actually, incredibly good --- nay, brilliant: the moral bait and switch threatens to undermine the very ideal of the western, and the fact that the end seems Hollywood cookie-cutter (Peck gets a family, a girl, a hero label) twists the knife just that painful bit more. But the acting and camerawork were just plain painful.

Decent flick marred by heavy handed Christian moralizing.

good movie

There are many problems with this film: Peck seems to be trying to imitate Gary Cooper (which makes for a disappointing performance); the church in Rio Arriba is way too big for the town; Van Cleef is killed off way to early; Collins is reduced to a wannabe mother (instead of playing the role in the tradition of Marlene Dietrich as Altar Keane in 'Rancho Notorious'), and so on...But the twist at the end is satisfying and Stephen Boyd as Bill Zachary does have some proper dark moments.

This is a grade-A snoozefest of a Western. It gallivants through the tropes of a revenge story with little flair or, dare I say, bravado (ho ho h...sorry). None of the characters do a whole lot to leap out of their one-dimensional cliches and the landscapes don't even look that intriguing. I hope Gregory Peck Westerns have better stuff to offer to the genre than this.