Reviews (41)

A GREAT 1960'S WAYNE WESTERN!
Paired with Robert Mitchum, El Dorado is essentially a remake of Howard Hawks' earlier Rio Bravo (with writer Leigh Brackett updating her own script). John Wayne, instead of sheriff, plays an aging gunman, who is getting too wise for the game. Robert Mitchum, as the drunken sheriff, takes over the role of the drunken Dean Martin, and James Caan is the fresh faced greenhorn last played by Ricky Nelson (thankfully, Caan doesn't sing). Hawks and Brackett take their time in setting up this story, giving Wayne and Mitchum plenty of backstory, before the stand-off in the town of El Dorado.

In this movie, Thornton is offered a job by land grabber Ed Asner to take out the Sheriff of El Dorado and run the rightful landowners off their land. Thornton refuses and instead goes to El dorado to help his friend against the other gunmen Asner hired led by Nelse McCloud played by regualr Wayne Co-Star Christopher George.

Caan plays Mississippi a young man who cannot use a gun and is given a sawed off shotgun as his weapon. Arthur Hunnicut plays Bull and essentially takes over the role that Walter Brennan played in "Rio Bravo".

The movie has a great deal of action as well as humor as Wayne and Caan and Hunnicutt attempt to sober up the sheriff. Wayne and Mitchum had great chemistry together and even though the Duke was aging, still commands the screen in this movie.

Lots of fun.

The best Wane flick
This is my all-time favorite John Wayne flick. Most lists I see list "The Searchers" as the best, but I disagree. This is essentially a reworking of "Rio Bravo", but you get better co-stars here with Robert Mitchum and James Caan. Plus you don't have the unrealistic sing-a-long that occurs in the middle of "Bravo"

In this movie Cole Thornton (Wayne) is a hired gunman in town to help out in a range war. Before he goes out to meet his new boss, Bart Jason (Ed Asner), he meets his old buddy J. P. Harrah (Mitchum). Harrah convinces Thornton that he'd be fighting for the wrong side.

Later, Thornton is in another town, where he meets up with Nils McCloud (Christopher George), who is off to El Dorado to take the job Thornton turned down. McCloud tells Thornton that Harrah is now a hopeless drunk, so of course, this being a Wayne flick, Thornton has to ride to the rescue.

Along the way he is accompanied by Alan Bedillian Traherne ("Yeah, that's why most people call me 'Mississippi'.") and Bull (Arthur Hunnicut). The end is a shootout worthy of the name.

A Very Entertaining Western
EL DORADO has a lot of good elements such as an interesting story, gripping suspense and above all excellent acting. Besides John Wayne in the role of a professional gunfighter and Robert Mitchum as the sheriff of El Dorado, the film has a strong supporting cast which includes James Caan, Charlene Holt, Paul Fix, Arthur Hunnicutt, Michele Carey and John Mitchum. The latter is the younger brother of Robert Mitchum. In this movie John plays a bartender. He has more than 200 movie and TV appearances to his credit as well as stints as a singer and song writer.

Robert Mitchum can play a drunk trying to cope with a hongover as well as anybody in movies. Howard Hawkes is best remembered for his direction of SERGEANT YORK.

I always thought that EL DORADO deserved a high rating even though it failed to receive any Oscar nominations in 1967. The Academy award competition in that year was dominated by BONNIE AND CLYDE, THE GRADUATE and IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT.

ONE OF WAYNE'S BETTER 1960'S WESTERNS
El Dorado is basically a remake of 1959's Rio Bravo with Robert Mitchum playing the Dean Martin Role and James Caan playing the Rick Nelson role as a young gunman. The Trio are joined by Mitchums deputy "Bull" in trying to protect a family of rancers from an evil land baron trying to run them off their land.

It's classic Wayne with lots of humor mixed in with the action. Wayne and Mitchum were very good together and Mitchums scenes playing the drunken sheriff are very funny.

Ed Asner plays the evil land baron with Christopher George as his hired gunslinger who wants to challenge the older Wayne to see who is faster on the draw.

Not as good as Rio Bravo but better than Rio Lobo which was basically yet another re-make of the same plot.

Decent remake
I got the feeling that Hawks was sitting around one day wondering what movie to make next when he happened upon the Rio Bravo script and, as a joke, suggested making it all over again. The movie execs, sniffing money, said why not and so El Dorado was born.

Wayne reprises the Wayne part, Mitchum the Martin, Caan the Nelson and Hunnicutt the Brennan. Wayne is noticeably older and paunchier and doesn't quite have the chemistry with Mitchum that he had with Martin but it's not a bad effort. Hunnicutt's deadpan delivery is almost as amusing as Brennan's moaning and shrieking. James Caan is a better actor than Nelson if perhaps not so easy on the eye.

Buy both movies, watch both and love both. ... Read more

Reviews (126)

Non-Stop Entertainment
A film destined to be a cult classic. Benicio Del Torro and Ryan Phillippe star in this action packed, violent, dark comedy. The two play people who were tired of the normal life and chose to go off the beaten path. Sooner or later this leads them to kidnap Juliette Lewis, who is carrying a very prominent business man's baby. Now, the two of them are getting deeper into Mexico with two hit-men, Nicky Katt and Taye Diggs, the Police, and a Bagman (James Caan) after them. This is a deeply ejoyable disturbing film that shows true grit in its' greatest form. The performances from every single actor are stunning. Especially Benicio Del Torro's. And with a director Christopher Mcquarrie, also writing the script, who won the Oscar for writing the Usual Suspects script. This movie couldn't be better. Watch this movie. You'll love it.

Usual Suspects meets Pulp Fiction
This is a good film with superb performances by Benicio Del Toro and Ryan Phillippe who are two desperate guys looking to make some easy cash. Juliette Lewis plays the pregnant kidnap victim who is held for ransom and James Caan stars as the bagman. James Caan does a terrific job and plays his part well.

Benicio and Ryan play down and out criminals who happen to pick the wrong person to mess with and that is when all the trouble starts. There are numerous gun battles and a lot of blood but the scenes are believable.

The film reminded me of a cross between Pulp Fiction and Usual Suspects. There was not near as many twists and turns and being compared to those two fine films is a compliment.

What kind of made this movie different is that you really do not have a hero or a villian. I found myself not really pulling for anyone to make it or die. I think it was intentionally made that way. Nobody was a really a good guy and nobody was the bad guy. I guess in reality they were all bad guys!

There are also many extras on the DVD.

The've got to be kidding...
What's the point of all the mayhem? I guess it really boils down to how one can really, really exploit a simple story line and then make it into a bloody trail and blow it to ridiculous proportions. In the middle of it all, I can only look at the time in my DVD player to find out how much time has elapsed (when is the piece going to end?). I did almost turn it off, but do not want to review something I really didn't completely finish. I couldn't even write a good review, because I'm now spending time writing this review. Just say I'm so dumbfoundingly left speechless.

Just don't waste your time on this one...there's too many movies where one can spend a relaxing afternoon. Life's too short for this one.

Horrible
Usually even with a bad script, you can't go wrong with a high calibre cast. Taye Diggs, Benicio, James Caan, Juliette Lewis... all some of my top actors. But even so, McQuarrie manages to mess this one up. I blame the direction moreso than the storyline. I think the storyline could have been fixed with better direction. As presented, the story was very hard to follow not only in terms of cohesiveness but also in being able to keep my interest. I only watched it to the end out of sheer curiosity. I can't recall in recent memory seeing a movie with such potential fall on its face. Oh wait, there's Kill Bill 2 which actually is better than this one. I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone. Instead do what I did and watch "Eight Heads in a Duffel Bag" which also was better than this one!

Worth it for Sara Silverman
This film opens with one of the best and most original scenes in years: a crazed, vulgar party girl (Silverman) calls out Ryan Phillipe, believing that her boyfriend will fight for her. She goes on a horrific tirade, until Phillipe becomes fed up and punches her in the face. It's probably the only cinematic example of this common phenomena--loud girls starting fights that their reluctant boyfriends have to carry out; but it's subverted wonderfully. However, everything is downhill from this initial colorful scene. The rest of the movie is a slow, often ponderous and wholly convoluted story of two men abducting the pregnant surrogate mother of a shady millionare. Watch the sequence before the credits, don't worry too much about the rest. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Great Start, disapointed with ending.
The whole movie up the end was great, but just when I think this hit man is finally gonna get his chance to a normal life style, he dies. His death was a big blow for me as I waited up late to watch it and then the ending was like a real bad disapointment for me. He fought so well and then went out like nothing. Bad ending, I was mad!

Why didn't this film get noticed in the theaters?
Now and then movies turn up on the shelves of a video store with a case that has good graphics, a cast that looks first rate and a brief description of an interesting story line. On the off chance that you just missed the ads of the theatrical release, you rent it, watch it and make a discovery. Such is the case for this fine little film. With a cast that includes James Caan (in one of his better roles!), Matthew Modine ( in an out of character part), Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Joey Lauren Adams, this is a tale of a hit man who pursues his career because he has no family and has never felt as though he belongs. Without sacrificing the considerable suspense the writer of this script provides, suffice it to say that his ultimate hit assignment results in a turnaround of his value system and offers a restored vision of what life can be like when true 'family' is discovered.
The photography is sensitive, creative, and moody. The story involves the behind the scenes information of the stunt man's lifestyle. The performances are uniformly fine. No soft pedaling here, the life of high crime is brutally presented. But the direction and acting make this realistic depiction of mob mania a credible background for the talents of those involved in telling a gripping tale. Very much worth your time.

Engrossing
This was not the best love story I've seen, not the best movie about a hit man and not the best movie about the mob. But it was a good movie. Surprisingly entertaining.

Matthew Modine plays a hit man, without feeling who falls in love with the stunt man he is supposed to kill. The stunt man is marked for death because of an accident the mob holds him responsible for. But the emotionless hit man falls in love with "the marks" daughter and soon understands what he has been missing in life.

This movie had some high powered stars, James Caan, Matthew Modine and Cuba Gooding Jr (who plays a federal agent acting as a drug dealer). Lots of good acting and a nice portrayal of the metamorphosis of a person.

I had never heard of this movie and took a chance based on the cover and the local rental store, a nice find I must say. Not a lot of twists and turns but some action and it was enjoyable and interesting.

Non-Stop thriller
This movie is very good.
Heres the premise.A hit man (Matthew Modine) is sent to Hollywood to take the life of a stuntman (James Caan, Misery), but falls in love with his daughter (Joey Lauren Adams, Big Daddy) in the process, deciding to switch jobs and become a stuntman himself. Meanwhile, the daughter, who's also a doctor, is smuggling illegal medicine with the help of a "rogue" FBI agent (Cuba Gooding jr., Jerry Maguire).
It also stars Lillo Brancato Jr.(A Bronx tale)

Cuba gooding Jr. does a great job as the FBI agent.This is a non stop thriller. Its rated R for Violence and Language. If you want a fast paced thriller, get this.You wont be disapointed. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

wise investment
this collection is a must have if you grew up watching arnold. great choice of movies,any arnold fan should be very pleased. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

An early Coppola Cult Classic!!
This 1969 Movie was way ahead of it's time,it reminds me alot of a more recent Movie "Thelma and Louise".What was also impressive was the beautiful scenery shooting around the Carksburg West Virginia area.It's a cult classic by all means!!

Unjustly Forgotten Classic
This movie isn't without its faults -- find me one that isn't -- but as one of the earliest movies about a woman taking her life into her own hands, it stands as one of the all-time greats. Compare this to the much better known "Thelma and Louise," in which two women, merely bored, take off on their own and wreak a path of destruction for no other purpose than to prove they can. By contrast, Shirley Knight's character is suffering real and believable angst for a concrete purpose, and actually does something about it. Even minor characters are three-dimensional, and it's interesting to see James Caan and Robert Duvall before they settle into the predictable stock roles that continue to dominate their careers. Watch the credits closely -- this was one of George Lucas' first movies.

Overlooked early Coppola effort
A brilliant character study of a pregnant woman who runs out on her husband and hits the road with no destination in mind. Years ahead of its time with its feminist viewpoint, this early Coppola film is sadly one of his least viewed. Shirley Knight is excellent as the troubled woman and James Caan is perfect as killer, a brain damaged ex-football player who Knight ends up befriending. The Rain People is a good example of 70's cinema when characters mattered more than special effects or action-packed plots. ... Read more