A ruthless rancher heads a cattle drive.

Pretty darn exciting. Even when it slows down, there's usually still a lot of interesting stuff going on. (For instance, I wonder if John Wayne realized that all of these cowboys either are or want to be having sex with each other.) There's a heap of big problems with it, though - very uneven writing.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: C
Pacing: B
Cinematography: A
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: C

Enjoyment: B

GPA: 2.8/4 ( )

Classic 1948 Western about an epic cattle drive around 1865 of over 9,000 head over 1,000 miles--and featuring a young Montgomery Clift and John Wayne. Yes, Wayne basically plays the same character in every movie I've seen him in--but his standard personality fits this character well, a Western rancher combination of Captains Bligh and Ahab--Wayne does obsession and scary well. And Clift was terrific--as were almost all the supporting players. Quite gripping and enjoyable--and I'm not even particularly a fan of Westerns or Wayne. ( )