Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #148 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-01-28
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 117 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Never let it be said that the Western is dead. Because every time its last rites are read, another filmmaker moves in and produces another fine entry to an enduring genre that’ll simply never go away. In this case, the film is 3:10 To Yuma, and the filmmaker is James Mangold, straight off his Oscar-winning Johnny Cash biopic, Walk The Line.

3:10 To Yuma is, however, a far different beast, bringing together two of the most magnetic male leads in modern day cinema. On the one hand, there’s Christian Bale as the law-enforcing Sheriff, and he’s facing off against Russell Crowe’s killer. Unsurprisingly, it’s the conflict and sparks between these two that ignite the film, and turn it into a film well worth seeking out.

For what director Mangold realises is that the trick with 3:10 To Yuma (named after the prison train that Bale’s character seeks to put Crowe’s on) is to give his two stars room to work, and injecting plenty of action and excitement into the mix. The end result, while not a top-notch Western, turns out to be a real cut above most of the current multiplex fodder. Even if Westerns aren’t usually your thing, it’s well worth giving this one a try. --Jon Foster

Synopsis
James Mangold (WALK THE LINE) directs this remake of the classic Western film. Christian Bale stars as a sheriff who vows to bring a killer (Academy Award winner Russell Crowe) to justice, but it won't be easy to put the criminal on the train to Yuma.

Customer Reviews

Quality remake
This is a remake of the 1957 film of the same name. Fortunately I saw the original last year, which is a minor classic itself. In general I don't like remakes, however this is well done and Russell Crowe again shows that when he wants to, he can be a terrific actor. Rather surprisingly I thought his performance overshadowed Christian Bale's, who is generally considered a better actor.

The story that Peter Ustinov used to tell of an actor he was working with is never more true than here. Ustinov was in the background in a shot, and the star of the movie turned to him and said "what are you doing?". Ustinov said "I'm doing nothing". The star said "Oh no your not I'M DOING NOTHING". That sort of sums of Russell Crowes performance. He doesn't do a lot, but his not doing a lot is actually very good!

The plot has been told over and over here so to keep it short, Ben Wade (Crowe) is a notorious criminal who has to be put on the 3:10 train to Yuma (where there is a prison). Dan Evans (Bale) is a struggling farmer who being desparate for money volunteers to help, knowing that Wades gang will be on their tail.

The major difference between this film and the original is the inclusion of Dan Evans son as a major character. I didn't think this did any harm, and in places it worked very well.

The single DVD has a few extras on it which are pretty good (commentary/deleted scenes). On the DVD case it says its the best western since Unforgiven. Whilst writing this review I was trying to think of any other westerns since Unforgiven and couldn't remember any... So if I've seen any they obviously didn't have a big impact. This film is by no means perfect but I have no problem recommending it.

a bit bad, a bit good, a bit ugly
Visually beautiful, brilliant performance from Crowe, but overdose on schmalz at times and going beyond suspension of disbelief at others. Ultimately a pleasing piece of entertainment without much gravitas.

Un-re-watchable
What a stinker. It begins semi-ok but I watched gobsmacked as cliche after cliche was trotted out without any regard for continuity or plot. The end is ridiculous- loads of baddies firing capguns as their leader tries to help his one-legged captor get him on a train to go to jail. He agrees to help his captor as he seems to have fallen in love with him or something. I can only imagine how bad this film looked on the actual script. Some of the "revelations" from the characters reminded me of "whose line is it anyway".