Darn good movie - The War Wagon (1967) Discussion

[–] Professor Bates 19 years ago

This fine western combines the best aspects of a comedy caper with John Wayne and Kirk Douglas in their prime.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] knight_hawk2002 18 years ago

Very good movie, it was a hit at the box office but since then it has went unnoticed.

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[–] amiNotAwake 18 years ago

The reason this movie has gone unnoticed is because it is essentially a mildly entertaining western. I can't belive anyone could call this movie great. If you want a great John Wayne western watch "Rio Bravo" or "The Cowboys".

Don't get me wrong I do like this movie. I just feel that it could have been so much better.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] philly_g28 18 years ago

oh come on... its a highly entertaining movie. If you want a movie you can watch in a film studies course, THEN you can suggest Cowboys and Rio bravo. They're both Hiiiighly tuned movies in terms of style, etc. But for entertainment puroses, the average schmuck who wants to sit there eating doritos and watching the Duke kill some baddies, then watch the war wagon. it's not thought provoking, its not going to win any academy awards... but it is HIGHLY entertaining.

in fact... i much rather prefer the more entertaining and dumbed down story of El Dorado to the more dramatic and stylistic Rio bravo. Both have the same story, same characters, same plot... but El Dorado didnt drag on to the same extent.

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[–] wtl471629 17 years ago

I agree that it was a very good western even though not a great one. Wayne and Douglas were great together. As good as Wayne was I still thought Douglas was the one that stole the show. A good movie indeed.

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[–] mrbobbyh 14 years ago

I thought it was pretty darn good, too. The chemistry between Wayne and Douglas was great. I also like the group that formed to pull of the caper. Lots of memorable little moments in this one.

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[–] AWaite4 12 years ago

Yeah, we used to call this one a 'popcorn movie'. Good for Saturday afternoon at the Lyric or the Capitol. Don't take your girl; go with your buds.

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Tenser, said the Tensor.
Tension, apprehension, and dissension have begun.

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[–] assman200 10 years ago

I still enjoy this film quite a bit.

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[–] FlushingCaps 10 years ago

Just watched it tonight for first time ever.

While I love many Westerns, some of the ones people rave about bore me because they seem to wait forever for the key scenes to occur. I don't care for ones where I am supposed to be so concerned for someone who hasn't done anything to make me care about him/her.

The War Wagon is one of the funniest Westerns I've seen, especially among ones starring John Wayne. The banter between Wayne and Kirk Douglas, especially in the first 20 minutes or so was fabulous.

It is, as many have stated, a caper film as well, and they did a great job of giving us hints at the plan without revealing too much. Unlike some more recent caper films, they don't have so many plot switches that I got confused.

I didn't see John Wayne as the bad guy, he was just trying to get back at the guy who stole his ranch, shot him, and had him sent to prison. He didn't kill him--the guy's own hired guns took care of that.

Between the action and the humor, I thought this ranked among the most enjoyable--translate that "greatest" Westerns I've ever seen. I DVD'd it off AMC a couple of weeks ago, and will certainly add this to my DVD collection to watch again whenever I want.

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[–] 10 years ago

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[–] MAGolding (1097) 7 years ago

I see Daw Jackson as the bad guy.

As far as we know Pierce is only guilty of one attempted murder, one murder (whoever Jackson was framed for killing), obstructing justice, etc. at the beginning of the movie before Daw Jackson comes into town. Some of Pierce's gunmen discuss murdering Daw Jackson, but he has many more who are not in those scenes. It is quite possible that many of Pierce's guards are honest men who think that they are working for an honest man guarding gold shipments.

For greed and revenge Daw Jackson started a gun battle in which he could expect that a number of persons would be killed. A person who commits a crime like robbery is guilty of murdering all the people who die during that crime.

What is the vilest of crimes that the most evil villains in many old westerns do? Starting an Indian war for the purpose of financial gain. Daw Jackson, for reasons of financial gain, got a Kiowa band involved in a robbery and shootout, thus risking starting a war with the Kiowas, in which tens or hundreds of people, including women and children, could be killed.

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[–] PeterBlues 7 years ago

funny how the subtitles to this translated in the way "ya" and "'em", this movie looked like right out of a western comic book, i didn't recognise howard keel until he started talking, keenan wynn has an impressive beard, my favorite part was when the kid is starting to make a move on his wife, kid: "wife? i thought she was your daughter!" wynn: "well she ain't!". the scenes between wynn and the kid were the funniest, like when wynn sees him with the wife again and the kid replies "well do you expect me to wait up in the mountains or something?". the john wayne and kirk douglas part reminded a bit of the terence hill and bud spencer relationship with the kind of "prince charming" and the "grumpy" part.

like a gangster girl stole my old heart,
lured by your naughty spark,
at the door keep on promise wont let you in,
but caught in your glowin eyes of mystique,
want with you play,
but afraid youll push me away,
an irresistible smile, pulled some unfair feminine tricks,
like seeing movement of an ancient painting,
giving my heart a luxury trip in reality,
before i knew it you sneaked over the threshold at high speed,
please don't rob me of a play,
my book will be emptier without you to participate,
as i fell right down the basement pit,
you broke in but the one making a fortune was me.

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