This movie was a fairly fun watch. Not great. Just dependable fun. The music, by Lalo Schifrin is occasionally rather groovy.
The plot is fairly lame. Broadly grouped with ‘revisionist Westerns’, we find Clint’s Kidd initially siding with the villains, before (kind of) crossing over.
It’s not a plot that bears much scrutiny. But it’s the McGuffin that drives what is – for all that it’s supposedly ‘revisionist’ – a very bog-standard set of Western movie tough guy clichés.
There are a couple of moments that are almost worthy of classic 1960s James Bond levels of silliness. I’m thinking of the train through the saloon scene, and Kidd’s moment as judge, jury and executioner, in the courtroom.
*one more than half expects Eastwood to have a furry white kitten in his lap.
Eastwood gives the standard full-Clint: tough, taciturn, in like Bond with the babes, and, well… scowling, etc. Robert Duvall is perfect as the arch-villain, with a crowd of suitably ne’erdowell hangers on.
The landscapes are stunning, and the acting and direction dependable if not inspired. Far from being a classic. But fun, and worth watching.
I can’t help but think that the cast and/crew, or production team, must’ve recently read some James Bond. In particular Diamonds Are Forever, with the Spectreville/Old West train scene, springs to mind…
I also found a website online that refers to the ‘phallic imagery’ of this movie. Certainly the hijacked train achieves deep penetration! And whilst such phrases as phallic imagery seem too baldly literal, it’s undoubtedly true that Clint’s persona is, like Janes Bond, an archetypal male fantasy.
