3:10 to Yuma

Very nice. The writers clearly didn't have their strongest afternoon, but Mr. Director and the main duo thankfully redeem what they can. It's a shame though, I haven't seen a script with this many holes in a long time. Leaving aside my inability to pick up on Crowe's motivation for what he's doing at the end of the film (an effort to explain was made), why, for example, is everyone only fixated on the journey to the station when the villains could (in my experience of other westerns) just as easily have hit the train? Well, whatever... Crowe is talking, bullets are flying and blood is flowing, what more do you want from a western... well, maybe a little perspective. *SPOILER ALERT*: yeah btw I was quite pleased with the death of Dan at the end – finally the death of the main villain, where he didn't have time to spill his entire autobiography and salute his relatives before his last breath. (28/06/2009)

I’m not a big fan of westerns and I was mainly drawn to 3:10 to Yuma for its cast. And really, both Russell Crowe and Christian Bale are seriously excellent and whenever these two get a look in, it’s well worth it. The story is a little shaky and the characters’ motivations are sometimes really strange, but when you stop delving into details you get more than a decent watch. I think it’s a bit of a shame that Mangold kept his feet so firmly on the ground and didn’t push hard enough, especially in the action scenes. Even though it could be seen as respect for the genre. In any case, I was pleasantly surprised and although westerns really aren’t my cup of tea, I liked this picture a lot. I think that this had a lot to do with Beltrami’s excellent music. (26/10/2007)

Perhaps even fewer good westerns have been made over the past ten years than there are directors of Leone’s caliber walking the Earth. Apart from The Proposition, nothing springs to mind in the new millennium. Until now with 3:10 to Yuma. It’s kind of sad, really, because it is nothing more than “just" a good western. Nothing more, nothing less. Which isn’t to say I didn’t thoroughly enjoy those two dusty hours. I did, even though I’m someone who could’ve done without suffering the last five minutes. I consider the musical theme you can hear in the main menu and during the finale to be the biggest positive of the movie. I listened to it like fifty times already and will listen to it many times more. It makes me want to reconsider the one missing sheriff’s star in my rating. ♫ OST score: 4/5 (30/09/2008)

Very well designed sets, with the rough realities of the wild west and everything that belongs to it, and unfortunately also a quite crazy ending, which undermines the whole thing. The last five minutes are truly unbelievable. If the director meant it as irony, then I didn't perceive its sophistication. But if the final confession of the villain was supposed to be sincere, then it was very laughable. By the way, Russel Crowe as a smart bandit is captivating – even better than Christian Bale. The action is relatively dull and uninteresting, with unrealistic shootouts, several obvious dead ends where the heroes miraculously avoid being shot, just like running through a rain of bullets without any getting hit. Alan Tudyk is excellent as a psychopath, his character was absolutely unpredictable. How good of a western 3:10 to Yuma is, is something you have to judge for yourself. Some will like it, some will not. However, it is neither old-school nor renaissance, this product has too many modern, mainstream elements. (17/07/2008)

I think the only thing I’ve watched less than western is Japanese anime, so I can’t evaluate this film objectively within the genre, but what I can say is that, up until a certain moment, I was so immersed that I was considering the highest rating, mostly thanks to the performances of the trio Crowe, Foster, and Bale. But that ending! It’s the biggest WTF I’ve seen in a long time. From the moment of the dialogue in the hotel room, when I first realised where things were heading, I hoped that it would turn out differently. Unfortunately, it didn’t and Yuma lost all its credibility and seriousness, which brought the rating to an average three stars. It’s a shame. (01/12/2008)