The War Wagon | | Cast : | John Wayne, Kirk Douglas | | Director : | Burt Kennedy | | Studio : | Universal Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | May 27, 1967 | | DVD Released Date : | April 12, 2005 | | Language : | French (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), Spanish (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | NR (Not Rated) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | May 13, 2005 | | Summary | From The Book 'Badman' | Content
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This 1967 John Wayne western ultimately rests on a western written by Clair Huffaker orignally entitled "Badman". As with many of Huffaker's paperback westerns this book was very suitable for the motion picture industry.
As usual the book and the movie have some variances in that the character's name in the book is Jack Tawlin where in the movie his name is Taw Jackson. He is a legend as gunmen go, but now wants to be simply peaceable. But due to his fellowmen, his brother, and the sheriff he becomes involved with a daring holdup scheme. As any who have see the movie know this is not the story portrayed on the screen.
For me, the movie is even better than the book. And right from the beginning when Dimitri Tiomkin's soundtrack kicks in we know this is going to be something special where western movies are concerned. And Howard Keel's portrayal of the sage, wisecracking Indian, Levi Walking Bear, is a gem; also, the combination of John Wayne and Kirk Douglas is a smooth blend of two accomplished actors. With just the right mixture of seriousness and comedy this western sails along for 1 hour & 41 minutes of great screen adventure to our enjoyment.
THE WAR WAGON is one of my favorite John Wayne westerns in specific, and film westerns in general. Watch it and it may become yours also. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 29, 2005 | | Summary | Good tale of the old west | Content
| This is a good western. John Wayne stars as Taw Jackson, a
cowboy who has been robbed and put in jail by a member of the
local government elite. Frustrated the corrupt government
officials and judges, he decides to get his property back by
taking it back.
A natural leader, Wayne assembles a crew of men to take back
his property. He provides incentives to each man in the
enterprise rather than paying them a wage and in doing so
he liberates the natural capitalistic urge in each man. The
capitalistic urge in each man allows him to both overcome
the tremendous difficulty involved in recovering the property
and gives the men an edge over the men being paid straight
wages to guard Wayne's property.
Wayne also gathers together true individuals for the task and
although they have difficult spots working together, Wayne's
leadership ability forms them into a winning team.
Wayne hires Lomax, a firearms expert full of self-confidence
and skill. He finds an Indian and gives him a job as well
(not all indians in the old west were hostile.) He also hires
a party animal named Robert Walker whose live-hard/play-hard
style is combined with expert knowledge of bombs. And then
there is Keenan Wynn as an expert horseman. All will play a role
in Wayne's plan to get back his property.
Beyond being just a western, this is almost like training film
for entrapanures. It teaches how to build an enterprise, how
to hire and manage a superstar team and how to reward them.
There is also lots of gunplay, funny jokes and even a good
natured bar brawl.
There is also good music in the film. Recommended for everyone.
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| Rating | | | Date | April 29, 2005 | | Summary | LESSER KNOWN WAYNE WESTERN OF THE 1960'S | Content
| Perhaps because it was not directed by Howard Hawks, John Ford, or Andrew McLaglen, War Wagon isn't quite as held in the same esteem as many of Wayne's films of the 1960's. Still, as a nice little western caper it's pretty good and gives us the pairing of two legends Wayne and Kirk Douglas who also starred in "In Harm's Way" a couple of years earlier. Wayne is Taw Jackson who was framed and jailed, and had his ranch stolen from him by a devious banker named Frank Pierce, played by frequent Wayne Co-star Bruce Cabot. Pierce highers gunman Lomax (Douglas) to kill Jackson but Jackson offers a better deal...help him rob Pierce's Armored war wagon of half a million dollars instead. Lomax goes along but keeps Jackson on a short leash.
They recruit several other members to help them pull off the job including Fletcher (Keenan Wynn), Billy (Robert Walker) the drunken, nervous demolitions expert, and in a hilarious role, Howard Keel playing half indian/half Jew. Keel has one of the films greatest scenes when he's first found bound by a band of Mexican bandits who are shooting empty liquor bottles off of him. Lomax comments to the affect of "I suppose that's your friend" and a exhasperated Wayne just sighs, "Well....." Just Classic! Bruce Dern has a small but role as one of Pierce's gunmen. Dern of course would have the pleasure of shooting Wayne just a few years later in "The Cowboys" which earned fim much hatred among movie fans for many years. There are several humorous moments in the film, typical of most of Wayne's 1960's movies where humorous interplay between the characters was such a hallmark. Wayne and Douglas had very good chemistry and its a pity that they didn't do more films together.
Underrated and really quite good. |
| Rating | | | Date | February 02, 2005 | | Summary | Douglas: Mine hit the ground first. Wayne: Mine was taller. | Content
| Solid straightforward shoot `em up western starring John Wayne as a man who just got out of prison after being framed and having his ranch stolen by a crooked gold merchant. Determined to get his ranch back Wayne enlists the help of quick drawin' Kirk Douglas and a few others to rob The War Wagon, a steel plated wagon that's owned by the bad guy, armed with a gatlin gun and protected by a flock of seagulls, I mean, 32 mounted gunmen.
Douglas is a good pairing with Wayne and even steals a few scenes. I especially enjoyed watching him jump into the saddle. My only complaint about the film, besides that fact that John Ford or Howard Hawks did not direct it, is the poor usage of the gatlin gun. You have this build up for most of the film then it's only used for a few short bursts. Wayne used a gatlin gun more in ROOSTER COGBURN. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 20, 2004 | | Summary | Last Western Film for Dimitri Tiomkin | Content
| For film music lovers, this film is important. It was the last western and the last Wayne film with music by Dimitri Tiomkin. Tiomkin later settled in England and composed for two other films before his death.
The music for this film is the quintessential Tiomkin complete with a song in the main title. This was typical going back to "High Noon". |
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