MovieChat Forums > Rio Bravo (1959) Discussion > Extremely overrated

Extremely overrated

posted 14 years ago by lepermessiahtr
48 replies | jump to latest

what's wrong with this movie you ask?

biggest problem: PACE

this flick is so tedious! nothing happens, everything is predictable, the romance subplot is like a cancer sucking out what mild entertainment could have been in this movie if it wasn't so slow and generic

NO surprises whatsoever, after 15 minutes you can predict every last thing that will happen in this movie (not that there actually IS happening a lot)

chance, the main character, is an unlikeable bastard - yet he never gets his comeuppance - failing to make the audience care about your main character at all is usually the death of your movie

and of course there's the SONGS, I mean WTF?! is this supposed to be a serious film or an Elvis fun western; not to mention the music in this hack piece is generic and bland as hell

final verdict: avoid it like the fvcking plague, rather watch any movie Sergio Leone has ever made, Rio Grande fails so bad compared to good westerns it's not funny

one of these "you have to be American to like this" movies, next to unwatchable

[–] AssetsonFire 13 years ago

Biggest problem: YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHICH MOVIE YOU WERE WATCHING

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jk_field 13 years ago

I didn't like it either. I've seen a lot of westerns and this one was REALLY hard to sit through. I wouldn't have minded the pace so much if the story and dialogue weren't so mundane. This is no "Red River" and certainly not John Wayne's best. Rio Bravo is just plain dull. If anyone could tell me why this is considered such a great film, please enlighten me.

[–] TheZoolooMaster 13 years ago

Heretic!

[–] crouss 12 years ago

I was looking forward to this after reading that it's one of Tarantino's favorites, John Carpenter's favorites, and in Ebert's Great Movies list.

Watching it, I kept waiting for the pace to pick up, but it never did. I was bored silly. Tried hard to stick with it, but after an hour and a half, I had to turn it off. The making-of doc on the blu-ray was more interesting than the actual film.

I don't dislike John Wayne and do like westerns, but this was really a yawner outside of the fact that young Angie Dickinson looked gorgeous.

[–] thbryn 12 years ago

after 15 minutes you can predict"
-----------------------------------

Some of you people expecting Hitchcock? It's a freakin Western with pop elements.
Martin and Nelson were big stars and Wayne and Brennan old pros who together put together maybe the first film of it's type. Something that would have mass appeal rather than the genre standard.

[–] donald-vanvliet 12 years ago

I didn't like it either.

As a European I knew virtually nothing about John Wayne - it's the first and only time I saw him in a movie - and on this movie alone it's hard to grasp why he is a legend (good sounding voice though)

I just saw an old man in a costume playing "cowboy&injuns", it even looked a bit ridiculous (the way he carries his rifle everywhere and how he walks around is absolutely non threatening or imposing, quite the opposite I would say...badass cowboy I didn't see it).

The pace was indeed slow, but also, the action took place in only a few locations, making it seem like a community theater production that was accidentally filmed :

90 % of the time it's John and one of his slackerbuddies walking from the prison to the hotel and back.

Sometimes they got crazy and walked to the barn at the end of the street (sometimes they even used a horse for that ridiculous short distance).

Anyways, I don't understand why this is often considered as one of "the" westerns ?!

[–] hvandyke-1 12 years ago

I have to agree with the original post. I love old westerns like 3:10 to Yuma, High Noon, Shane, Winchester 73, The Naked Spur, and many others from this time period. But I just did not get Rio Bravo. So many filmmakers I admire love it so I watched it and was I really underwhelmed.

[–] Prismark10 11 years ago

I heard so much about this film, I watched it again recently and I did find it overly long with serious pacing issues.

Its that man again!!

[–] buddyboy28 11 years ago

I stopped reading your post when you said you'd rather watch any Sergio Leone film instead.

- - -
Fill your hand you son of a bitch!

[–] bon22 11 years ago

I, too found it overrated; enjoyable, but overrated. What I found most annoying was Angie Dickinson's role, it felt like a glomped on love story subplot that didn't fit in with the film. Dickinson's character and wardrobe were too contemporary for the Old West. I also felt the Ricky Nelson character was glomped on to appeal to the younger audience.

[–] spookyrat1 11 years ago

The only thing I agree with from the OP's nasty little rant is his concerns about pacing. I would argue that at 141 minutes Rio Bravo overstays its welcome by around 10 to 15 minutes. A little more judicious editing IMO (e.g. Dude's story) would have solved the pacing issue, while still maintaining character development and the main narrative concerning another brave stand in the name of the law.

I don't think you can claim that Rio Bravo is "extremely overrated" when it has had such a resounding influence on other movie-makers.

The siege template Hawks sets up with a motley crew holed up for one last stand has become an industry stand by over the years. One of the most recent examples of course being Arnie's unsurprisingly titled The Last Stand (underrated IMO), where like Rio Bravo, the character interplay becomes as important as the action itself.

Hell the formula proved so successful, Hawks and Wayne dealt us up a couple of near remakes in El Dorado and Rio Lobo.

[–] buddyboy28 11 years ago

I'm not sure how they could reduce Dude's story really.He's rarely on screen without the Duke so if his story was cut down they'd be a lot missing from their friendship and the camaraderie between the guys in the office.If anything I always felt that Duke's scenes with Angie Dickinson could've been edited down a bit as they had nothing to do with the main plot or the relationship between the sheriff and his men.But I respect your opinion.Have you seen El Dorado? It's a faster and tighter film.For some it's an improvement, for others it's inferior.

- - -
Fill your hand you son of a bitch!

[–] spookyrat1 11 years ago

I wouldn't want to see Dude's relationship with the Duke compromised either.

One of the very pleasant aspects for me of many John Wayne westerns (even the poorer ones like Cahill: US Marshall which I just saw again recently) in particular is the dialogue he shares with the supporting characters, like Dude and Stumpy.

I'm thinking for instance there were a number of albeit shorter scenes with Dude emphasizing he was a drunk. We know that very early in the movie. Why repeat the dose?

I like Rio Bravo and think it's a very influential good film. I don't think it's great, though I respect that a lot of other people do. For me, it's kind of an epic length (141 minutes) movie without an epic story. An analogy might see a small painting fixed to an over-large canvas.

My personal opinion is that trimming a little fat here, and there could have conceivably created a leaner, better, faster paced 2 hour plus film, whilst still maintaining those important character relationships we all love in the Duke's films.

[–] buddyboy28 11 years ago

Yeah.Like I said I respect your opinion.I agree with what you said about The Duke's banter with his co-stars,that's one of the many reasons why his western work so well.His ability to share the screen with his co-stars and share the moments.

You didn't say if you'd seen El Dorado and what you thought of it?

- - -
Fill your hand you son of a bitch!

[–] spookyrat1 11 years ago

Have seen it a couple of times but not any time recently. I liked it.

Would like to see it again so as to compare a little more closely with Rio Bravo.

Should occur some time in the not too distant future hopefully.

[–] sanziano 11 years ago

The Style is pure Hawks, a fantastic chamber western but i admit that the omission of the romance between John and Angie, the mexican fellows and the younger gunner would have made this an even greater movie.
It's the same defect i recognize to My Darling Clementine.