That was really good. The plot was tight and controlled, the characterization was awesome (seriously, each character had such a distinct personality and was played really well by their respective actors), and some of the stunt work is impressive even today. There's one scene near the climax where a guy is between two horses bridled to a wagon, and he falls down between the horses, going between three other pairs of horses as well as wheels of the wagon. And all that was done without the possibility of CGI trickery. You had to put some real work and risk into making an exciting action scene back then, and they did it. I was very impressed throughout with the skill of everyone involved. I think this might be my favorite western.
There's no other western I can think of that focuses so brilliantly on the old western transportation of the stagecoach. One would almost think of it as the Greyhound bus of another time. John Wayne makes a great entrance here and I really liked how the movie sets the characters up of who's going to be on the stage.
I know a lot of people rate Stagecoach highly, but it left me pretty cold, honestly. I recognize its influence on later westerns - everything from Lucky Luke to Hateful Eight has poached from it, even Doctor Who's The Space Pirates has someone doing Andy Devine's cartoonish yokel voice - and maybe that's part of the problem. It's all so familiar without really being the best example of this story. John Ford has essentially put all the western archetypes on the same cramped stagecoach (or in various cramped way stations) to see what happens. Unfortunately, John Wayne is among them and True Grit aside, I cannot stand him. He's such a bad actor (and not a great person), and this movie propelled him to stardom so it has a lot to answer for. Some strong stunt work during the Apache attack, but generally, had trouble getting into it, and I thought of bailing out of it several times (as I've done before with other John Wayne classics). Pretty prescient, however, to have the banker character say the USA needs a businessman as president. He was as wrong in the 1800s and in 1939 as he is today.
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Comments 1 - 15 of 16
Jurassica
John Carradine has the skinniest face in the history of faces.Darkness_prevails
Ford directs quite a picture. Well worth the watch.Paravail
That was really good. The plot was tight and controlled, the characterization was awesome (seriously, each character had such a distinct personality and was played really well by their respective actors), and some of the stunt work is impressive even today. There's one scene near the climax where a guy is between two horses bridled to a wagon, and he falls down between the horses, going between three other pairs of horses as well as wheels of the wagon. And all that was done without the possibility of CGI trickery. You had to put some real work and risk into making an exciting action scene back then, and they did it. I was very impressed throughout with the skill of everyone involved. I think this might be my favorite western.ClassicLady
Great cast. Love Andy Devine, Thomas Mitchell, Donald Meek, and John Wayne. It's the first time I've seen John Carradine in a movie. Terrific movie.Dieguito
A real action Western!DisneyStitch
There's no other western I can think of that focuses so brilliantly on the old western transportation of the stagecoach. One would almost think of it as the Greyhound bus of another time. John Wayne makes a great entrance here and I really liked how the movie sets the characters up of who's going to be on the stage.Romeika
Perhaps the predecessor to all road movies :)Siskoid
I know a lot of people rate Stagecoach highly, but it left me pretty cold, honestly. I recognize its influence on later westerns - everything from Lucky Luke to Hateful Eight has poached from it, even Doctor Who's The Space Pirates has someone doing Andy Devine's cartoonish yokel voice - and maybe that's part of the problem. It's all so familiar without really being the best example of this story. John Ford has essentially put all the western archetypes on the same cramped stagecoach (or in various cramped way stations) to see what happens. Unfortunately, John Wayne is among them and True Grit aside, I cannot stand him. He's such a bad actor (and not a great person), and this movie propelled him to stardom so it has a lot to answer for. Some strong stunt work during the Apache attack, but generally, had trouble getting into it, and I thought of bailing out of it several times (as I've done before with other John Wayne classics). Pretty prescient, however, to have the banker character say the USA needs a businessman as president. He was as wrong in the 1800s and in 1939 as he is today.The Charlatan
Solid western, supporting performances from Thomas Mitchell and Donald Meek are a treat.Gusvergara
what a movie!Jacquerie
Freely available on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/movie?v=MskUuuxncAodaisyaday
http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi1486724121/tommy_leazaq
Last 10 min was kinda letdown but the rest was incredible..PS: 1000th check..
DeathShrike
I was positively horrified to find that I enjoyed this film quite a bit.demagogo
The humour was just too fucking awful.Showing items 1 – 15 of 16