MovieChat Forums > The Cowboys (1972) Discussion > A different ending would've made this so...

A different ending would've made this so much better

posted 9 years ago by rochesternypizzaguy
5 replies | jump to latest

I posted the substance of this as a review, which I plan to delete, because it's not really a review, it's a comment. In general, I don't think it's fair to judge a movie based on some alternative, imaginary ending or script. But just imagine that in this movie, the Duke beats the hell out of Bruce Dern, Dern's men abandon him, and the cattle get to market. Mr. Andersen realizes that this is no life for these boys, so when they get home he sends them back to school and tells them to get off the trail, for good, find a wife and settle down. They become his spiritual sons and he becomes a second father to them all. Wouldn't that have been better than little kids killing people?

[–] vandydan 9 years ago

Sorry son but some men just need killin! ( In my best John Wayne voice)

[–] rochesternypizzaguy 9 years ago

(In same voice) Yeah, but not by a buncha, greenhorn kids who're ... still wet behind the ears.

[–] porfle 9 years ago

I think that ending would've been much less effective.

[–] silvercometred1 8 years ago

No.

[–] CoriSCapnSkip (2760) 8 years ago

John Wayne made the brave decision to allow his character to die three quarters of the way through the film. He was offered a rewrite allowing him to live, but felt it made the story less powerful.