Tag Archives: John Wayne

Paradise Canyon Review

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It’s time for the last of the John Wayne films in this marathon. This one has a bit of a larger cast than usual thanks to everyone from the medicine show. It’s a pretty fun way to end things and John has a fun time trolling everyone as per usual. He is always ready for a fight and is the smartest guy around. I’d also say the film is going for even more of a comedic spin than some of the other installments

The film starts off with John being tasked with a mission to stop all the counterfeit money being produced in a nearby town. He dashes over and a medicine show will be a good cover so he helps out a group that was on the run from the sheriff. This group is not the most professional so it could be risky but John knows he will have to take some risks here. After all the villains are led by Curly Joe, one of the most dangerous outlaws out there!

One thing that will probably annoy you right from the start is how John is protecting Doc and his travelling band of scammers. Yes, it will help him get into town and keep a low profile but these guys are actually con artists. Doc apparently gets dunk so regularly that his daughter isn’t even surprised anymore. He’s apparently promised her dozens and dozens of times that he would stop and yet instead he still gets disorderly and skips out on the bill.

Yes, the characters are played for comic relief but they’re still crooks. Doc should have found another way to get into town. Even to the end Doc never ends up being a good character but he is a fun antagonist if you view him that way. He even goes out of his way to antagonize the cops once he is right outside of the state lines. Definitely not something you would respect out of a more reputable character. The pair of thieves who work as his assistants are hardly any better either.

As for Linda, she’s mainly here for the inevitable romance plot. There’s not much development there, it’s just around to tick off a few boxes. As for Curly Joe, he’s fun enough. He stands out more than some of the other western villains. The guy knows that bribery is the only chance he’s really got against John once the hero gets serious. Ultimately it’s all for naught for him but the guy was doing well with his criminal enterprise for a long while so he did still know what he was doing.

John is a fun main character even if he had to compromise on his morals for a while there in order to get things working. At the end of the day he still saved everybody and really showed the villains who was boss. Curly may not have made the best sales pitch but it was still good to see John shut him down right away and even delivered some more good one liners.

As always, one of the things that really helps make these films so much fun are all of the one liners. You can expect witty dialogue across the board throughout the films. This one is no exception as everyone is rather overconfident and of course the script is good. I definitely miss these kinds of old school films for that reason. The songs can use a little work and temporarily slow down the pacing during the show but I guess the film anted to squeeze at least one show in.

The overall soundtrack is definitely iconic to me after I’ve seen so many of these though. Then the fight scenes also aged well with the good hand to hand fights as well as a little gun action. John is always able to come out on top. The pacing is good which goes without saying since the film is under an hour long. It’s not particularly hard to move at a fast pace when that’s your runtime after all. Technically the last maybe 15-20 minutes are all for the long climax so the film has its priorities straight.

Overall, Paradise Canyon is a pretty good film. The title itself doesn’t feel like it has much to do with the film at all but I suppose they just wanted a catchy title that is easy to remember. It definitely works in that respect. There isn’t a lot for me to say to really make this stand out from the others so I would just say that if you enjoy John Wayne films then you’ll like this one as well. This movie has it all, the classic frame up job, John taking on numerous enemies, long horse chase scenes, etc. They manage to squeeze all of this into under an hour as well. Now if you don’t like the old western setting or want to see something a bit more unique, then that’s the only reason to skip this one.

Overall 7/10

The Lucky Texan Review

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John Wayne has returned for another big fight. This time his adventure will deal with gold and naturally includes those who would like to steal it as well. There is no rest for the weary and in the end what will really give him a hard time is his partner this time. At the end of the day, you are only as strong as your weakest link after all and so that can get tricky.

The film starts off by introducing us to Jerry and Grandy who end up bumping into a pile of gold. They are now going to be rich and so they decide not to stake a claim on it yet since that would mean that everybody would find out about it. Instead they sell off a little bit at a time to the nearby gold depository. The problem is that Harris and Cole run this shop and they have some big ideas to rob the heroes and get rich themselves. Jerry is good at losing a tale, but Grandy is older and not quite as wise in the ways of the world. This could get tricky.

The movie does a good job of covering a whole lot within these 55 minutes. It feels like something is always happening here and the pacing is good. The writing and script are also both very solid as always which will come as no surprise to anyone who has been watching the John Wayne films. These films have a good sense of humor while always providing action and this film is no exception to that rule. The only annoying character here will be Grandy because the whole time he will have you shaking your head. He falls for the easiest traps imaginable and just makes life a lot harder for all of them.

The villains are easily able to sucker him into signing the wrong paper and then he gets shot. Additionally, by the end of the film he has the perfect witness testimony to put them behind bars but wants to make a big show out of it which ends up backfiring. Someone trips him up and the villains escape again. The whole courtroom scene was pretty fun and I definitely saw the vision but with lives at stake, Grandy had to do better. These villains will stop at nothing in their quest to be rich.

Fortunately Jerry is always ready to claim victory and is really good at chasing his opponents down. One thing you will really come to admire about his character is how easy he makes it look. He just continues to outwit the opponents at every turn and even makes getting arrested look cool. He is constantly in charge of the situation and you would want nothing more from your main character.

The villains themselves are a bit forgettable but I do have to give them some points for being smart. Working at a shop that trades in gold is a great way to be in a position to steal some. I do wonder how they had enough money to be running the shop and having all of that cash on hand though. Surely if they are this well off then they don’t need to be living a life of crime right? I mean they could just be greedy but it was surprising to see that they had actually balanced out a real job for so long. That in itself could be a bit of a twist. If the villains had also not gotten too greedy, they probably would have won in the end since they kept on stealing Grady’s horses and were well trusted in the gold business. They could have just shorted the heroes on each transaction. After all, they had no idea what the gold was worth and that’s why they were asking the villains. Just give a fake number that’s maybe 70% legit each time and eventually you’d have a fortune as well. I guess these villains were not the smartest in the bunch after all.

Yes, there is a bit of a romance that shows up near the end of the film but it really comes out of nowhere and doesn’t really do much to enhance the experience. It’s here to check off a few boxes but that’s it. The film is strong for the fight scenes and everything, not for the romance. Fortunately when a film is good on all of the fundamentals, it doesn’t matter too much that the romance is weak. The film will still survive.

The special effects in the film definitely work well and on the whole if you like a classic hand to hand fight then you are in luck since the choreography is good. This is the kind of film that everybody can enjoy without any real issues. The more you enjoy it, the more you will probably wish that the runtime could have been longer though. Still, it’s long enough to give you a full self contained story. By the time you’re done with the film, you can definitely appreciate why a lot of the old heroes would fly solo in the wild west though. Less teammates means less weaknesses.

Overall, There isn’t much more to say about this one. If you have enjoyed the John Wayne titles then this will be another good one to add to the collection. It’s always fun to see the process of obtaining gold back in the day. The wild west was really a different time and nowadays even if you found some gold, good luck finding a place to convert it while trying to be inconspicuous. There aren’t many Wayne films left for me to check out on the shortlist but you can count on at least one more review showing up pretty soon.

Overall 7/10

The Trail Beyond Review

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Time for another John Wayne adventure and this one gets intense when the lead has to fend off against armed adversaries. It’s another solid adventure with good pacing and a lot of fun to be had. It may not be the most memorable adventure but it was fun to see different backdrops like a train rather than the pure wild west all the time.

The film starts with Rod riding the train when he bumps into his old friend Wabi. Wabi isn’t the sharpest guy around and decides to play some high stakes gambling with a bunch of folks. Turns out that one of them was cheating and this quickly gets violent. A gunshot is fired and someone dies so now Wabi is on the run. He and Rod jump off the train to escape but by the time they change into Cowboy gear, they are already wanted for murder. They’re going to need to lie low but trouble has a knack of finding them. See they find a treasure map in an abandoned house where two men have been dead for generations. They take this to the nearby shop to be locked up but are seen and now the villains want it. Guess Rod might have to test out his gun skills.

Now there is some drama to be had here. There’s a girl who works at the shop named Felice and poor Wabi thinks that they are dating or at least are informally together. Unfortunately he forgot to tell her that and she immediately falls for Rod because of how manly he is. She is so infatuated that she even gets jealous when the villains hire a girl to work at the store undercover and Rod shows some interest. It feels a bit soon to get jealous since they barely know each other but hey that’s how it goes. The villains also got lucky there since their plan involved getting the girl hired and even for back then that seemed a bit easy.

Throughout the film, Wabi mainly just seems to be here to make Rod look even better. Wabi’s not as good of a fighter and it’s Rod who is doing all of the planning and thinking. Without him, Wabi would have been caught and taken don near the very beginning of the film. I also can’t feel too sympathetic to him, at least in the romantic department because it does feel like he was taking everything for granted. You do need to formally confess and get things started if you’re hoping for a relationship.

As for Rod, I appreciate that he was on business throughout the film. While Wabi worries about love, Rod is busy trying to make sure they can get to the treasure map and as a side bonus, get the cops off their trail. Yeah the opening scene becomes less important as the film goes on but the ending deals with it real quick. In a sense, you didn’t need the first scene since the treasure map plot is almost completely different but it did make for a fun opening action scene.

The soundtrack is still as iconic as ever. As soon as the music starts, you now exactly what kind of film you’re about to get. The writing and script are both solid as well so on technical elements it passes as always. The films are very consistent and you always know that you will be having a good time. I guess the most annoying character would be the deputy/ranger who was following the leads. Even after the villains kidnap him and it becomes contextually obvious what is going on, he still says that he will arrest the duo.

He basically threatens them not to untie him because he will attack them right away and Rod has to point out how dumb that would be. This guy just doesn’t have a clue and it’s what happens when you’re so focused on your orders that you forget common sense. I was definitely shaking my head at him the whole time. I know he eventually saw reason but it sure took him a while to get there and that made the villains look smarter in comparison.

Honestly the villains were pretty resourceful this time around. Hiring the girl to be at the job site, having a guy in a good position to watch if anyone puts good valuables into the safe, arresting the heroes, taking hostages, etc. They were really busy throughout the film and you could find them around every corner. The main villain himself is a bit interchangeable so he’s not particularly memorable, but he was effective. Sometimes these crooks put in so much effort you think they may as well have just worked a real job instead to save time and effort. It’s not like people are depositing treasure maps all the time so they could have been waiting years for a big score. I guess they’d just go back to robbing banks or something.

Overall, This was a pretty good film. I like to think that the title is referencing how the trains are past the usual trail and that’s their way of saying it. That said, if I was recommending this to folks, it probably wouldn’t be my highest John Wayne recommendation. I feel like he has still had a few other films that were better like with Singing Sam. This one doesn’t have a big memorable villain and we’ve seen better sidekicks before. Still, the film has quality writing and a good soundtrack so it still passes the bill where it counts.

Overall 7/10

Rainbow Valley Review

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It’s time for a little more John Wayne action! Interestingly this one I got to see in more of a natural format than the others. So it looks a whole lot older than the others and the sound quality also ends up being a bit blurry. It helps with the authenticity of course but ultimately this wouldn’t be one of the strongest Wayne titles. We do get to see him being undercover again which is always fun though.

John is seemingly wandering through the land when he bumps into a guy who was about to be attacked in a trap by some robbers. John scares them off easily enough and then finds out that this town has been terrorized by this gang for a long time. What they need is to be able to carve out a path for a new railway which will help the local economy as well as allow for the authorities to get there quicker. The villains are determined to prevent that happening. So how can John pull this off? The townsfolk can help him dig the tunnel through but otherwise the villains have the edge on guns. Well…maybe he can use them to make the tunnel.

It’s a pretty fun turnaround to have John literally making the villains do the hard work by tricking them into thinking that they’re all on the same side. It’s something that you can’t imagine most characters would be able to pull off but John has that natural confidence about him. He just has to make them think that it’s their idea and then he’s off to the races. Mainly this is done through a conversation at the bar.

Every time John says the right thing, the villains are quick to affirm how smart John is being and that they’re glad he sees it their way. John has that confident smirk the whole time and fortunately he is actually really good at bombing and detonation so he knows how to do this even without a written plan. It’s also a good thing that he worked fast since the town naturally gets the wrong idea and nearly gets together to take him down. Now that would have been rough. In their defense, it was looking bad for John I suppose.

They had wired the governor to ask for help but unfortunately had to pass it through the mail room where it was intercepted. It was not one of their best moments to put it mildly. Additionally, John was a newcomer here and seemed really suspicious. By the end of the film we get a twist about John but the hero wasn’t really in a position to unveil his true reason for being here. So he played it well and ultimately things worked out well enough.

This film definitely focused more on the gun fights than the fist battles this time around. We had long shootouts at the railway twice, and in each case it was mainly a stalemate with the villains getting the slight edge. These battles still aren’t quite as exhilarating as a classic fist fight but it definitely does take talent to get all of the characters set up like this.

As always the writing is pretty good here. You have a solid script and the pacing is on point. These elements tend to be the same for all of the old John Wayne titles so I’d be more surprised if it had changed. The films really go by in an instant but this is really the right way to handle a wester. For the most part these films are about glamorizing it to an extent and showing how much fun the wild west could be while newer films tend to take a much more grounded approach that isn’t generally as much fun.

Sure, deep down we know that living in the wild west was probably not that much fun, but the films let you forget that for a few minutes to just enjoy the story. I definitely can’t fault them for that. I would have liked a bit more action in this film but beyond that I have no real complaints. The film delivers on exactly what you would have expected from it.

Overall, Rainbow Valley is a pretty good film. It feels more dated than the rest but if you watch the smoothed version for it (Assuming there is one, but I bet there is) then it probably won’t feel any different than the rest. It’s always fun to see John taking command of a situation and showing the villains what is up. Ironically this is one of the few times where the town was ready to fight back and evidently had been doing so even before John showed up. They were unfortunately outgunned at this and tended to be on the losing side but at least they tried. That’s way more than they tend to do in any of these western films so that was a good change of pace. If you haven’t checked this film out yet, you should definitely change that.

Overall 7/10

Sagebrush Trail Review

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John Wayne still has more adventures to go through and so now we’re back here with another one. This time Wayne has to go undercover to put a stop to one of the most dangerous gangs around. The only way to trick his adversaries is to also trick his friends which ends up getting him in quite a bit of trouble. It’s a pretty fun film all the way through and fits right in with the rest.

The film starts off with John on the run as he has to clear his name once more. He ends up bumping into a guy named Joseph who introduces him to a gang that could always use a little extra firepower. John agrees as a way to sabotage the gang and along the way he also wants to help Joseph stay on the straight and narrow. It’ll be difficult though because the rest of the gang starts to suspect him early on. It makes a lot of sense because all of their plans begin to go haywire immediately after John joins up. Doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together. Will John survive this one?

So John means well but you can see how the plan isn’t particularly good. He also has to count on the gang not making the first move and just bumping him off. For example there is a scene early on where he tries to break up a fight and is knocked out for his troubles. That easily could have gone even worse for him. He’s also just not very subtle about ratting them out as he goes to the nearby store to flirt with the cashier and then drop the notes.

There is slightly more romance here than in the last few but only to the extent that we have John and Joseph flirting with the same girl. Ultimately you have a feeling on who is going to win out there. At least she is given a role beyond just being the love interest as she helps relay the messages and also talks to Joseph when he gets the wrong idea about what John is doing. So by giving these contributions to the story, that helped the heroine be important. Still not a strong romance though.

If you’re familiar with the Wayne films by now, you know what to expect when it comes to the fights. There is a lot of fun hand to hand combat all the way around. The script and writing are both solid and the film’s extremely short runtime helps make for quick pacing at all times. Adding Joseph in as a supporting character was a good way to not just have the film be focused around John for once. Joseph is a criminal through and through but the film does try to humanize him to an extent.

It’s part of why John feels bad for the guy since he is clearly not as heartless as the others. Unfortunately for him, this still comes a bit too late. This gang is a serious one after all and doesn’t take kindly to traitors. You also feel a bit mixed on the idea of the sympathetic villain like this. On one hand, he doesn’t seem to be the smartest guy around and is someone who can be easily influenced. So if he had a good role model then perhaps he would have been a good guy all along.

At the same time, as an adult he is still responsible for his actions. So even though we see that he is less evil than the others, just hanging around them for so long makes him guilty by association to all of the crazy crimes that they have been committing. It’s probably why his character arc had to end the way thast it did so the film wouldn’t send out a mixed message here.

The villains as a whole are not very memorable otherwise though. They’re still a fun group to have around though. They land pretty good blows here and there and did have the town running scared. If not for John, they would have really ended up dominating here. The leader in particular had a lot of confidence on his own and was the first to see through John’s ruse so you have to give him some credit there. He’s not the leader by chance or anything like that, it’s because he is absolutely the most skilled member of the group.

Finally, John was a solid hero as always. He could also really fight hand to hand when needed and was doing his best to see that justice was done. It’s more than the others could. The town gets a bunch of demerit points for not really doing anything though. The town has a lot of able bodied men so why aren’t they doing anything? It’s always my criticism for these kinds of films but it’s not something that would hurt the score of the film. It just means that you’ll be judging them rather hard. Sure there is a sheriff and he’s always ready in the climax once the heroes have the edge but without John around he ends up being rather toothless.

Overall, This was a pretty good film. It’s always fun to see John have to play the role of a villain for a bit. He definitely has that smug confidence that works well in the role. I always have a blast seeing him act, well essentially sarcastic with how he talks to the other characters. He is always rather polite to everyone on the surface but you can feel the contempt when he’s talking to one of the villains. I’d definitely recommend this movie.

Overall 7/10

‘Neath the Arizona Skies Review

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It’s time for the next John Wayne adventure and this time the hero has to really be careful because there’s a kid who is going to be getting him into lots of trouble. This extra weakness does help to separate this film from the others and get it to be a bit more unique. It’s a good bit of fun like the other John Wayne films, so if you like an upbeat western then you should enjoy this one as well.

The film starts off by introducing us to Chris and right away I was surprised that he wasn’t called John. Well Chris has been taking care of a little girl named Nina since her mother is dead and the father’s a no show. He needs to find the father, dead or alive so he can have full custody of her and they can get the money that is owed to her. Unfortunately the local thugs hear about this and decide to stop Chris. Chris nearly deflates the situation without a fight but unfortunately Nina messes up and appears even after Chris had told her not to leave the closet. Now it’s a race against time and Chris needs to make sure not to let his guard down. Doing so could be absolutely fatal!

The film couldn’t resist a little bit of a frame up though so while Chris is unconscious, a guy shows up and switches their clothes. It turns out this guy is the brother of Clara, a nice lady that Chris bumps into. That adds a little wrinkle to things but Chris is determined to stop this guy without letting Clara find out. While at face value that may seem like a nice thing to do, I would argue that she should know the truth right away. It’s true that her brother probably won’t try to put her in harm’s way, but it’s also a side effect of the occupation.

Clara doesn’t have a huge role here except to be the eventual love interest. As always with these old films, the romance is basically just something added as a box to check off but there isn’t a lot of development or anything like that. I would say the extra time is really for Nina’s subplot as Chris leaves her with an old friend…or intended to. The old friend is actually dead so she ends up with a nice cook who works for more of a total villain. Yeah the kid can’t catch a break but she also made things tough in the first place.

There’s one long scene near the end where she’s standing in the cold water with a scowl on her face while Chris is fighting one of the villains. Every time the camera pans to her you’re expecting a different reaction or something but instead she’s just there the whole time with no change. Ah well, I guess she was just that overwhelmed at the time. There just wasn’t much else for her to do at that point.

As always these films have really fun action scenes. It was nice to see Chris dishing out absolute haymakers to anyone who tried to go against him. He even handles himself very well in a 3 on 1 fist fight near the beginning of the film. Yeah maybe that will seem a little cheesy but you can tell these henchmen are used to fighting against people who won’t try and oppose them. So getting into a real fight it makes sense that they would not be a match. Chris is also allowed to get hit and be temporarily overwhelmed as well so it’s not like he’s an absolute terminator.

You do have the obligatory gunfighting later on as well although there isn’t a ton of that over here. I would say that the vast majority of action is close quarters here. Either way I personally find those to be more fun than the gunfights. I like a good gunfight as much as the next guy but you just feel the blows so much more when it’s an old fashioned fistfight.

The film has some fun tunes as you would expect. Mix that in with good writing as well as quick pacing and you’ve got yourself solid fundamentals. It’s why I would be surprised if any of the Wayne films ended up being downright bad. When your fundamentals are that good, it takes something huge to destroy the score, like if it suddenly involved animal violence or something like that. Occasionally you’ll see a horse fall down which is never cool but at least the films don’t really go beyond that.

Overall, This film was pretty solid. You get your classic action scenes here and Chris tends to be in charge of the situation. If you’re a side character, your odds of surviving are always more of a 50/50 so that’s part of the fun. Even this kind of film will usually have a body count by the end after all. The film is also really short as you would expect so there’s no reason not to watch it. I would even say it probably has a little more going on than the average title with so many characters in the picture. It does mean that there is less time to focus on each individual character though so we’ll see if the tradeoff is worth it for you when viewing the film.

Overall 7/10

Blue Steel Review

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I’ve seen a number of John Wayne films in my day and let me tell you, if you liked the others then you will like this one. In a lot of ways it is really not trying to be any different than the others either. It’s really going for the classic Wayne experience and I can definitely respect that. It’s the kind of title that really makes you focus because you want to be able to talk about the film later on without accidentally mixing it up with a bunch of others. Trust me, that might be tougher than you think.

The film starts with John seeking some shelter at a nearby hotel. Unfortunately during the night the place is robbed and while John was unable to catch whoever did it, he did manage to grab a star that fell off of the guy’s boot. John wasn’t quite fast enough to escape before the nearby Sheriff saw him though. The Sheriff has no proof that John stole all the money from the hotel but knows the guy is basically guilty. So John decides to catch the man who did this while the Sheriff tags along under the guise of wanting to help out. Who will catch their prey first?

I think the first thing that stands out here is the fun banter between the two characters. Neither of them are being even slightly subtle here as they throw in their shades and suspicions on each other. It makes for some pretty quality entertainment the whole time. I always like good banter and when both characters want to catch the other, well it makes everything even better. That is probably the best element of the film since not all John Wayne films are going to have that detail.

Also I do enjoy that John gets to be super smug the whole time. This is one film where he is on the offensive the whole time so he doesn’t have to hide his power level. No, he just rushes in and basically does whatever he likes. It’s definitely a fun way to go about things. Also the villains may not be super memorable but they are also confident in their own right. You will definitely get some smug dialogue out of them as well since they tend to think that the heroes are walking into a trap. Naturally John tends to be one step ahead at all times but there would have been no way for the villains to know that. They didn’t realize that John is basically the toughest opponent that they could have gone up against.

The main heroine doesn’t look very good here. She does help to exonerate John early on which is good but she gets kidnapped on multiple occasions. The worst offense is when John goes to save her but she isn’t ready to just hop out on a dime. When your life is in danger you have to move quickly and without hesitation. She clearly missed the memo on that one and it’s just a rough look. I would have liked for her to have had a gun or been ready to fight at least. In the days of the wild west, everyone ought to be armed.

As for the sheriff, I give him credit for tailing John for so long. He never quite gave up on his quest even as Joh looked more and more heroic. I appreciate him not taking the approach that he could let John go just because he seemed like a good guy. No matter how heroic he was, if the lead had robbed the hotel then he would need to go to justice. So his sheriff was never wavering in his duties.

Beyond that, like I said this is a fairly standard film. I’d just say that’s not a bad thing when the standard is good enough. I always have fun with these films and this one was really no exception. It was entertaining to watch all the way through and has a lot of replay value. While you sometimes wish the films could be a little longer to flesh things out, it absolutely does work well at adding on the replay value. You could rewatch this one at any time and still have fun. It’s also a bit more light hearted than the average Wayne film (Which is saying something) with all of the slapstick and gags going on. None of them ever take you out of the immersion either. They just fit in really well.

Overall, Blue Steel is a pretty fun film. It’s got solid action and writing which are always two of the most important elements to any film. It’s also short with good pacing so it doesn’t take long to get to the good stuff. If you haven’t watched this one yet, then I definitely recommend checking it out. We even do have some pretty solid gunfights here to watch as well. The romance at the end feels a bit rushed and unnecessarily but otherwise everything really landed here.

Overall 7/10

Riders of Destiny Review

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It’s time for one of those westerns where the main character has a reputation already. His name is Singing Sandy and I have to say that it leads up to one of the best western scenes. We have Sandy start singing as he walks towards his opponent and it felt like a Baki meme moment where everyone suddenly starts putting together who he is. The singing is just that distinctive and it was a nice touch to the film. I feel like this one would have otherwise been a lot more forgettable.

This is one of those titles where the villains are the mustache twirling types. They’re not subtle at all and basically just run over the town because there is nobody around who is actually ready to fight back. They probably should have been taken out a long time ago if the townsfolk were actually prepared for a battle and were willing to move forward. Instead they’re all doormats until Sandy shows up. I know sometimes all you need is one hero to come in and turn the tides but it does make the town look rather weak the whole time. You get the feeling that they would lose to the next gang that strolls by if Sandy ever leaves. Maybe he could teach a bunch of them about better quick draw techniques or something.

The film does make a key mistake that I haven’t seen in a minute though which is that the villains go after a horse early on and end up murdering it. You don’t really see this much beyond the horse falling but it still adds a negative vibe to the movie. They could have easily skipped that and then things would have worked out a bit better. I also think Sandy should have just taken the two crooks out at that point instead of running off. Sandy’s one of the best shots in the west and we see this in action later on. So why not just finish them off there? Would have made way more sense and saved him a lot of time.

The film has a good amount of action going on so you won’t be bored. Another solid byproduct of the runtime is that the pacing is always really good because the film is so quick. Not like there is much time for the film to drag on when it’s less than an hour long right? The romance still feels a bit rushed but that’s par for the course in these kinds of movie. The westerns always gotta squeeze in a romance somewhere even if it has no business being in the film. I guess it just works towards the wholesome ending.

Singing Sandy certainly gets to enjoy a lot of banter with the villains using his passive aggressive nature so that’s always fun. So while I would prefer an active approach, it can always be entertaining. You just have to consider the circumstance which is that the main villain owns all of the water except for the well that the heroine’s dad owns. He is trying to get that land for a full monopoly and in the meantime is ripping off all the townsfolk. Why bother playing nice with the villains at that point?

Just take them out and the town will be happy. The farmers grumble a whole lot the whole film but don’t do anything about it. This guy is going to drain them dry and eventually they’d die while being homeless. The tolerance just goes too far to crazy proportions.

It’s also different from other westerns in that the power gap doesn’t feel crazy. There are a ton of farmers running around and only a few villains in comparison. So it seems to me that it would be an easy thing for the farmers to band together instead of their daily meetings waiting for the government to send someone to help.

In short, most of the side characters almost feel like NPCs here. Even the main heroine randomly asks her father if he’s going to give into the villain’s demands after a speech and he just reminders her that (like he said about 10 minutes ago) they will be fighting against the villain to the very end.

I’ll end on a positive though that the duel between Sandy and the main villain’s top hired gun was actually really good. The singing was handled perfectly like I mentioned in the intro and there was a lot of drama here and then the lethal gunfight. Sandy’s confidence also shone through which is part of what made him a great main character. The only character who was really a good fighter.

Overall, This film probably ends up blending in with a lot of the other western titles but ultimately I would say it’s not bad. The singing angle does at least help to make it stand out a little bit. I wouldn’t say the songs/music are all that good to be honest but they do fit in with the genre at least. You hear the song and immediately think of a western film so that part is effective. Now if the film could have just had some better villains we would really be set.

Overall 6/10

The Lawless Frontier Review

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It’s time for the return of John Wayne. He is riding with a vengeance this time as he arrives to really turn the tides in a tricky situation. It’s a pretty good all around title with a memorable main villain as well as a decent supporting cast. It ends up being one of the better John Wayne films. He’s had so many that you will probably still end up mixing them around a bit as the years go on but I can say that they did a good job with this one.

The film starts by introducing us to a legendary crook known as Pandro. He’s masquerading as a mexican and is so infamous that the guy is worth $5000 dead or alive. He also bumps off John’s father so he is now on the lookout for revenge. This crook decides to target a local girl named Ruby and so her father takes her into town to be safe. John knows that this is now his chance to take Pandro down but the tricky thing is that the local sheriff isn’t particularly smart and may end up getting in the way. How can John defeat the villains while being limited by his own allies?

I did like the fact that the sheriff was generally incompetent the whole time but still talking a big game. It makes for a fun character to have around and also made sure John’s job wasn’t too easy. This guy doesn’t even know how to properly secure his prisoners which becomes a problem later on. I half blame John too since he knew this wasn’t a good lock but decides to take a nap anyway. It’s still on the sheriff of course but John probably should have just stayed up. If not for the sheriff’s meddaling, we do see that John makes short work of Pandro in all of their encounters. Pandro is just completely out of his depth and isn’t that durable either. John easily knocks him out the first time and in the second instance the domination is even more extreme.

Despite all of that, you will at least remember Pandro because there was actually some depth to his character. He wasn’t just a random villain with a gun. He actually had a gimmick with the whole disguise part and was very over the top. It’s a way to ensure you don’t forget him and so I give the movie a whole lot of credit there. It would have been easy to have just made him generic or something like that.

As for the heroine Ruby, she was okay but did find herself constantly getting into trouble. Not much she could do about falling into the lake but it would have been nice to have seen her learning how to shoot or something. I feel like growing up in the wild west should make everyone learn how to use a gun quickly because you never know when you might need it. There are villains lurking around every corner after all.

Her father Dusty did a good job of playing defense though. His plan to outwit Pandro and his gang was pretty good and he also came in clutch during the climax. He’s the kind of guy who never gives up. Meanwhile John is a good hero as you would expect. Very down to business and is always ready to lend a helping hand. He’s the exact kind of hero that you want on your side when you are in a situation like this.

The soundtrack is very familiar if you’ve been watching the other John Wayne films in this series. They always use the same tunes over and over again but fortunately they are always very good. Nothing to really dislike about them at least. They are dramatic, if a bit overbearing. I’ll always take that over the music being too low or being generic. They don’t really make soundtracks like this anymore.

The pacing is good and the writing is on point. This is a very simple film that nails the fundamentals and that is always the right way to go about things. I don’t really have any issues here. Even though the film is very short, it still manages to cover a whole lot of ground. Even after the climax is seemingly over, the film is able to squeeze another one in right afterwards. Now that is absolutely impressive.

I’m thinking the movie did that because the initial climax actually doesn’t have much action. We get a long walking sequence and then the villain ends up poisoning himself. It actually works well as a real twist of what the climax would usually be like, but I could see some people being upset at that which is why it would make a whole lot of sense to try and get around that. Throwing in a more standard kind of climax works well there and also matches the tone of the intro scene more. The film literally starts off with a big gunfight after all so you want to end with something a little more up to that speed.

Overall, If you like a good western then this is a good film to check out. The action scenes are on point and the movie is not afraid to hit you hard with the soundtrack. John makes for a good character and the dialogue is solid from start to finish. It’s a charming film with no real weaknesses and that’s part of why the Wayne films have so much replay value. You can watch them at any time and expect to enjoy yourself. In a way the films could stand to be longer but perhaps that would break the balance of the movies. In which case, this would actually be the perfect amount.

Overall 7/10

The Dawn Rider Review

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John returns for another adventure and this time it’s more of a revenge thriller. Get ready for some classic Western hype. By now if you’ve seen John Wayne’s other films then you should understand the drill. If you haven’t seen any before, just think of this as a quick adventure film. It has a fun tone throughout and music that may be a tad generic but is catchy all the same. It’s a good film to watch.

The movie starts with John riding into town and seeing someone being forced to dance as he is shot at. John gets involved and immediately shows why he is the top gun in town. He outdraws the guy and then beats him up physically. Still, John manages to make friends with the guy and it turns out the other one being shot at was a villain anyway. It’s a small world and it turns out this guy works for John’s father but just as they arrive, the father is shot. Some hoodlums had done a heist and then they get out of there. John intends to avenge his father no matter what. How can he track these villains down though?

It’s nice to see John on the offensive right from the start here. He was definitely not going to back down easily and with his skills there are very few who can hope to stand against him. The film only lasts as long as it does because John has to find these guys but the fights themselves are a little quicker. One guy does put up a reasonable fight while they wrestle around but the victor is never in doubt. John is not somebody who will ever end up submitting. He would sooner die than be defeated here and that’s why he is such a living legend. You cannot underestimate him at any cost.

The main weakness that the film has is the villains are really not notable. Taking down John’s father was a big deal of course but aside from that they are just ordinary joes. Nobody to write home about or anything like that. They just exist to be absolutely devastated by John’s impressive gun combos. Another reason they last longer than they should is because they are easily able to convince Ben (The guy John became friends with) to turn against John. Now I didn’t mind this as much as I usually would since they’ve only been friends for a short while. Ben betraying him works well enough but it still does ensure that you don’t really like Ben much as a character.

The guy is just too easy to sucker the whole time and he also severely lacks in confidence. The guy feels like he needs a ring in order to propose instead of just going forward and doing it. Not really what you would like to see from a lead like this. Meanwhile the film does try to stick some romance into the picture by the end but it’s definitely more on the rushed side. The time skip at the end really comes out of nowhere.

You are hoping for a happy ending with a film like this of course but you will feel like the romance was still too out of the blue. You just didn’t need it here at all. It’s the kind of romance that is just here to check off the boxes instead of adding onto the plot. A weak romance like that will never succeed in feeling all that believable. Beyond that, the writing was solid as always. I enjoyed the script and how smug John always tends to act. He works really well as the main lead for that reason.

Meanwhile the soundtrack is fun enough even if there are no new tracks here. It’s the same tunes you’ve heard a million times but fortunately they are good tunes so it does work out well enough. The pacing is good too so the film has no main weaknesses. I think the best thing about a western like this one is the high replay value. You could re watch it at any time without any issues. The story beats will feel familiar but that’s because they are similar in all of the films so it helps stop you from thinking that you’ve just seen the exact same film.

Overall, The Dawn Rider is a pretty fun film. John really did well on the attack although as an older film it doesn’t feel as much like a revenge thriller as it probably would nowadays. It still keeps a high level of energy and all but you don’t feel the rage that you might expect. I suppose that might have been hard to picture for a film like this so the most important thing is that it’s a good film. I would definitely recommend checking it out whenever you have some time. You will get to see the power of a solid gunman in action.

Overall 7/10