3.10 to yuma nice try at a great film ,maybe they should stick to new idea's rather than remaking the old.
One of the Greatest Modern Westerns An absolutely perfect western, I have tried to find something I dislike about this movie and I've come up with nothing. Christian Bale and Russell Crowe are outstanding in this powerful reinvention of an already good film and story. Bale plays Dan Evans, a down-on-his-luck rancher and Civil War veteran looking for a way to prove himself to his family and earn enough money to buy his land in order to fend off the owner and his gang of thugs. Opportunity knocks when he earns the chance to transport a ruthless outlaw, Ben Wade, played to charming perfection by Russell Crowe, to a 3:10 train on its way to a prison in Yuma.
The journey is not a simple one as the outlaw outsmarts, outwits, and even seems unshaken by every member of his transport crew. While trying to keep ahead of Wade's fellow outlaws, the group also faces Indians and vigilantes.
The best stories are those in which the characters change and grow as the story unfolds. This is definitely true of this movie and Bale and Crowe show their characters' evolutions flawlessly. In the touching moment when Bale confesses the true motivation for his choices, everything changes for both men.
This is one of the best films I have ever seen and may even be my favorite western of all time.
The Best Of Westerns, Crowe, and Bale While the premise of this western is fairly straightforward, it is anything but simple thanks to two actors who give us their absolute best.
Russell Crowe, playing a role he was born for, is Ben Wade, a charming, debonair, magnetic thief and murderer. Christian Bale plays Dan Evans, a dismembered Civil War veteran and small-time rancher on the verge of losing everything. When the two men's worlds collide, Bale has a chance at making some money if he can only get the captured Crowe on the 3:10 train to Yuma.
Though Crowe is technically the villain, you can't help but root for him when he clashes with everyone but Bale, whose desperation to provide for his family and capture some self-respect in the process is heart breaking. The audience can't help but hope against hope that Bale becomes the man he so acutely wants to be. At times it seems even Crowe's character is rooting for Bale, thus making his role as "villain" all the more ambiguous.
The sheer acting of these two men and the charisma they emit makes the movie speed along. It has moments of terrible violence, light-hearted comedy, pure drama, and suspense that will make you feel as though someone is sitting on your heart.
I completely recommend you watch this movie. If you are a fan of westerns, Crowe, or Bale, you will not go disappointed, because 3:10 to Yuma is an example of the best of each. If you're a fan of none of those things, I dare you to check it out anyway, because I bet you'll be won over by the time you're finished.
~Scott William Foley, author of Dr. Nekros: The Tragedian (Volume I, Episode I)
Not bad for a western I'm not a big western fan. And for me it took a moment to get into this film despite it starting off with the burning down of Evan's family barn. I do find it interesting to have an Australian and a British actor cast as leads in an American Western. What won me over is the character arch for these characters. I didn't see that Wade just suddenly liked Evans and wanted to help him out. I saw a man who wanted to be caught-who wanted to be taken back to Yuma. I got the sense that he was tired of the life. In Evan, I think he saw who he wished his own father could have been and wondered if Evan had the conviction he thought he had. I think he was moved by Evan's desire to finally be a man his family could be proud of-not just some wounded veteran who couldn't feed or provide for his family. Once I recognized this layer connecting the men, I became intrigued. Sure there are a couple places where you have to suspend disbelief-but I didn't mind it so much. I think I'll now check out the original and compare. Bottom line, I highly recommend this film.
A Terrorific Morality Play James Mangold uses the west as his prop, not to make a silly western, but, rather, to make a character study. There are many characters worth following and analyzing. Some are developed better than others. The four that stand out as most deserving of the audiences attention are Dan Evans, a rancher down on his luck, with one leg, and representing the past as he resists the coming railroads; Ben Wade, the intelligent and sadistic leader of a ruthless gang; William Evans, son of Dan, dissapointed at his fathers mediocrity and a worshiper of Ben Wades' legend and no bs attitude; finally, Charles Prince, the evil second hand of the Wade gang, who has a little too much affection for Mr. Wade.
Ultimately, these four characters and their intertwined journeys make this movie the high quality, entertaining flick that it is. Dan and Ben are natural enemies. Dan is an old school moralist, with uncompromising principles. Ben is a hobbesian, taking what he wants and destroying anything that gets in his way. Yet, Wade is too intelligent and multifaceted to be pinned down into the cliched killer--Prince handles this role just fine. Ben shows signs of wishing for a family, wishing for something larger and more honorable than himself to believe in. While Dan for all of his moralistic bombast sees the fearlessness of Wade and wishes to imitate his kinetic energy and courage, even if this means turning into a killer. William, who is just 14, seems torn between respect for Ben Wade and love for his father.
As these characters interact with each other, the hammer molds a beautiful frame off the anvil.
Dan takes a job as a hired man to take Wade to the 3:10 train to Yuma, where Wade will be hung. Wade obviously wishes not to meet his fate in Yuma, nor does his gang. Charles Prince, with his homoerotic obsession for Wade, will do anything to stop the transfer. In the end, we find out that whether or not Wade gets on the train is irrelevant, but it does make for a shockingly thought provoking western.
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