The War Wagon (1967)

John Wayne and Kirk Douglas make a delightful duo in this comedic Western in which Wayne seeks revenge on a ruthless mine owner (Bruce Cabot) who had him framed and sent to prison. Upon his release, Wayne recruits Douglas in a scheme to raid and rob one of Cabot's gold-laden wagons, despite the fact that Douglas had been offered good money to kill Wayne. He joins Wayne instead (the potential profits being much greater), and they set out to ambush the War Wagon, so named because it's heavily armored, mounted with a Gatling gun, and guarded by a dozen gunmen on horses. Costarring Keenan Wynn and Howard Keel as a wise-cracking Indian, The War Wagon was a Western precursor to the action buddy films of the 1980s and '90s, serving up plenty of exciting action and constant comic relief. The interplay between Wayne and Douglas is sharp and sarcastic, and their motley crew of accomplices provides yet another source of character-driven humor. Not one of the greatest Westerns ever made, but certainly one of the most lightly entertaining. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com

Classic

The War Wagon was a hit when it was first released and is still a great film today. John Wayne and Kirk Douglas have just enough tension to really wonder if they will end up shooting each other or doing the hold up. Excellent addition to any family home film library. June 22, 2008

Look at those horses! What are they dragging?

The War Wagon is perhaps my favorite western and favorite Duke movie. There is plenty of action, some good humor, and an interesting, believable plot. Taw Jackson (Wayne) is a rancher just released from prison. He wants revenge on the man named Mr. Pierce, who sent him there and stole his ranch because it had gold on it. Wayne teams up with Lomax (Kirk Douglas) who plays a gunfighting womanizer. Together they team up with other misfits and an Indian tribe in an attempt to rob an old western version of an armored car, The War Wagon.

The other characters are Levi Walking Bear, a crazy Indian who has learned to live in a White Man's world. Billy, a drunk who is an expert with dynomite and nitro glycerine, and a crazy old man who drives Mr. Pierces flour wagons. I say he is crazy because anyone who would pull a knife with a rifle pointed at him is a little off his rocker. He 'owns' a pretty hot blonde too, he got her for 20 dollars and a horse.

Well they get the wagon, but not all the booty. You;ll have to watch and see who gets the majority of the gold, and maybe deservedly so.

Great moments are as follows, and always remember, in a tight spot, offer an enraged Indian a swig of nitro glycerine.

Lomax :"Mine hit the ground first"
Taw: "Mine was taller"

Taw "The shells belong to him. You tell him he can come get them anytime"

Lomax "You've been working saloons too long"

Taw "Me neither, prescious!"

Mr. Pierce "INDIANS DON'T BLOW BRIDGES!!!"

Billy "I'm gonna buy this place!"

March 31, 2008

The War Wagon

"Mine hit the ground first."
"Mine was taller."
John Wayne & Kirk Douglas team up a second time, this time in a western. Not the best movie that either one of them did but it's entertaining.

Taw Jackson (John Wayne) has just returned from prison to Emmett, N.M. where he had once resided. He had lost his ranch to Pierce who had gotten it, apparently, after Jackson had been sent to prison. Lomax (Kirk Douglas) has been hired a second time to kill Jackson after failing a time in the past. But this time Jackson makes offer to Lomax that's impossible to turn down: 500.000 dollars. It's being shipped by Pierce's War Wagon that's steel plated & has a Gatling gun mounted on a turret, not to mention 33 outriders tagging along.

The character interplay between Wayne & Douglas is fun to watch. For a while you're not sure if Lomax is going to help Jackson or kill him. Their plan to steal the half million is an elaborate one but the film doesn't dwell on this so it keeps moving at a good pace. Burt Kennedy directed & he had a natural flair for pacing & action, he also had a unique talent of combining westerns with comedy. The casting coup of the sixties was placing Howard Keel as the Indian. Keel had been known mostly for roles in musicals, he was an excellent baritone. Much of the film's comedy stems from his portrayal which could've been a very bad case of miscasting. This casting coup was one of Hollywood's greatest successful reaches.

The film, for its day, has a twist for an ending, but, as is usually the case, Wayne does come out on top. Hollywood would still make a few more good westerns, but not many were better than this. In some ways, The War Wagon signals the end of the Hollywood classic western.

Enjoy. March 30, 2008

Fun, but a bit much

This is a typical John Wayne western from the era when he had some control over what he starred in, and its content. As a result, he plays essentially the same character over and over again (he seems to wear the same red shirt, faded to a washed out pink, in half of the movies) and is just confronted with a different situation each time. In this instance, his character, Taw Jackson, has had his land stolen from him. He wasn't able to stop it because a hired gun shot him and put him in the hospital. The ranch he owned turned out to have gold on it, and the local rich guy, having had him shot, took over the ranch and has become even richer.

So Taw has to return from jail to take back what's his. The twist is that he hires the hired guy, Lomax (nicely played by Kirk Douglas), to help in his plot. Since the rich guy (his name is Pierce) transports the gold out of the territory in an iron-plated wagon called "The War Wagon" Wayne has to come up with a sophisticated scheme to upend said wagon and get his hands on the gold.

While the plot's interesting and the action is reasonably fun, the movie's also very predictable. When one of Wayne's partners is particularly negatively portrayed, you know he's the one who will be killed somewhere towards the end. And I had one big disappointment with this movie. Usually, with one of these old westerns, there's a rousing soundtrack, if nothing else, but here you get this very strange choral thing with silly words about the war wagon and who's following it and so forth. It's one of the most dated soundtracks I've ever heard, embarrassing even to listen to. That aside, this is a fun movie. April 3, 2007

the war wagon

One of the older movies but still John Wayne at his best January 18, 2007

More reviews at Amazon.com ...