3:10 to Yuma (2007)

This Is Now My Favourite Movie Of All Time

Now I will admit something right of the bat before I get into my review. I have only recently seen this movie and turned down a number of opportunities to watch this film simply because it is a western. I will now hold my hands up and say how wrong I was and after seeing the light I have to say, this has now taken over Pulp Fiction as my favourite movie EVER!!! From start to finish this film grabs hold of you and gives you a damn good shaking. The biggest point of this film is the general authenticity of it all. It seeks to give us a western movie for the modern film going generation without alienating those classic Western fans.

The story focuses around rancher Dan Evans, a man who's been struggling to make ends meet and has had his barn destroyed by a man to whom he owes money. One day after heading into the town of Bisbee to seek revenge or to resolve the situation, Dan witnesses a stagecoach robbery led by the infamous outlaw Ben Wade. Wade allows Dan and his two sons on their way but cross paths later in Bisbee when Ben is caught by the local law and Dan is asked to be a part of the escort for a $200 pay. Dan accepts and he now joins the other team to help transport Wade to the city of Conention to catch the 3:10 train to Yuma prison in which he'll be hanged for his crimes.

The way in which the story is told for the time that it takes place comes across as authentic. You can honestly imagine something like this taking place and these types of people existing in this particular time. Aside from the main cast, Ben Wades second in command, Charlie (Ben Foster) is played brilliantly. The callousness combined with the shooting skills make him a genuinely unsavoury character who, at times you really want to be taken down early in the film as I found myself not wanting to see what he'd do to our heroes if he ever caught up to them.

I've never been known as a fan of Crowe's, but alongside Bale he really shines and delivers an intense villain who on the outside appears cruel yet cunning, but we all feel that there's some good inside. I didn't know that this film was a remake from a 1957 film of the same name but from what I've heard it seems to keep true to the original. I will be watching the original soon to see how true it keeps or whether it is something completely different.

All I know is that this film is highly recommended by myself and I promise you'll love it. August 30, 2008

You will enjoy it even if you don't like westerns

This movie was one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. The actors were all perfectly casted. As you are watching the movie you have that edge of your seat feeling. You stay connected, never feel like the movie is too slow and when it ends, you want to play it again. I am not a fan of westerns, but Russell Crowe delivers an amazing performance! His character is charming, caring, but yet still a bad guy, and you can't help but like him. I laughed and cried watching it. I would love to see a 3:10 to Yuma II, cause you just don't want it to end. You won't feel like you wasted your time and money if you buy this movie!! Far better than Jessie James and Cold Mountain! August 25, 2008

3.10 to yuma

nice try at a great film ,maybe they should stick to new idea's rather than remaking the old. August 18, 2008

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. August 18, 2008

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) August 9, 2008

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