MovieChat Forums > Appaloosa (2008) Discussion > Not a good film too rushed.

Not a good film too rushed.


Everything moves so quickly storywise to the point where no event is fully captured correctly. The killings are unrealistic, how can they kill so easily, and not be afraid or regretful? Why is there only courageous people in this film? Wait I'm wrong there I forgot that Zellwegger in fact admits that she is afraid. (The men are not frightened)

The movie would've made a better 10 episode mini series. (With the same cast)
Good things of the movie.
-Jeremy Irons
-Viggo Mortenson
-A promising first half hour of the movie.

Bad things are.
-Zellwegger
-Poor plot
-Not a good western for a western film
-Boring. Not even managing to be interesting as a drama. (I'd hardly call it a drama)
-Ed Harris is unlikeable in the film.

Overall this movie could've been way better.

Best Westerns I've seen thus far.

-The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
-Once Upon A Time In The West
-The Assassination of Jesse James
-Unforgiven
-Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
-True Grit
-A Fistful of Dollars
-Dances With Wolves
-Tombstone
-3 10 To Yuma
-Maverick (watch this one)
-For A Few Dollars More
-Shanghai Noon

I have yet to see.
-The Searchers
-The Wild Bunch
-The Proposition
-The Homesman (new film)
-The Hateful Eight (To Be Released by Quentin Tarantino)

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If you read the book, you'll know that this was a very close adaptation. All of the books in this series were quick reads.

Bad things are.
-Zellwegger

-Ed Harris is unlikeable in the film.


I agree with Zellwegger 100%. But, Harris' character wasn't a warm and fuzzy, lovable guy. He was cold and hard. He wouldn't shake hands because he felt like there was no reason to let someone get a hold of him. The scene where he confronts the two guys peeing in the bar was a good way to show his character. They grabbed for their guns and he just pulled and shot. He wasn't the fastest draw, but he was unflappable.

Best Westerns I've seen thus far.

-Unforgiven


Absolutely, 100% HATED this movie. IMO, it was nothing but a politically correct movie highlighting violence against women. I AM NO CONDONING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AT ALL. I'm just saying that the reason for the killings was weak. IMO, Pale Rider and Open Range were much better westerns.

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I liked the fact that it highlighted areas of western film and reduced them to the legends that they were. The real west was not made up of hard men who'd kill without batting an eye. (Another reason I didn't like Appaloosa) Killing someone isn't easy in the movie the same is true in real life. Real western legends actually didn't kill so many people. Billy the Kid likely killed 5 people. He's considered the most famous outlaw. Then the finale. At first I thought really he's going to kill all those people? But the more I thought about it, I thought if I was there I'd be more concerned with being shot then trying to kill the guy. Most of them probably never even used a gun before. Amazing ending, and Clint Eastwoods character comes full circle. Sad movie.

You have to understand something whores were basically worthless. They were seen as less valuable than horses. So you have to put yourself in their shoes. At this point they're afraid, and angry that one of their own was cut up, and it meant absolutely nothing to the lawmen.

I love the fact that the movie pokes fun at the romanticized west. Which I'm not a fan of.

Understand what you mean about Ed Harris. The problem is if I don't care about a character. I'm not going to want to see his entire story. Overall I thought I would like this movie. It seemed like it had the perfect ingredients to make a western. It's not that I hate it. It's the fact that it was forgettable. Nothing especially different. IMO

Comparing Ed's character to another unlikeable character. Daniel Day Lewis as Plainview in There Will Be Blood. What an interesting character. Not an anti hero, simply just a bad guy.

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You have to understand something whores were basically worthless. They were seen as less valuable than horses. So you have to put yourself in their shoes. At this point they're afraid, and angry that one of their own was cut up, and it meant absolutely nothing to the lawmen.


Not true. Whores were money makers and that is why the tavern owner was so pissed. What man was going to want to pay a lot of $ to screw a whore with a messed up face? That's why Little Bill told the cowboy to give the tavern owner or horse or two as reparations.

Wives, on the other hand, were worthless. They could be beaten as the husband saw fit because she was his "property."

The ONLY thing I liked about that movie was that the final gun fight took place inside at close quarters. Most gun fights were more like that than the standard, "Stand in the street and draw" that we see all the time.

Real western legends actually didn't kill so many people.


Are you talking outlaws or hired guns? Because gun-slingers were common; they just tended to stay away from other gun-slingers.

It's not that I hate it. It's the fact that it was forgettable. Nothing especially different.


One thing to note is that all of the Westerns that you've listed as liking have all been big, well-known movies. Appaloosa flew in under the radar. I wonder how long it was in theaters before it came out on DVD. Not because it was so bad, but because it wasn't intended to be a huge blockbuster. Harris called it a labor of love. He really loved the book so he wanted to put it on the screen and do it justice.

That's fine that you don't like it; I'm just saying you are seemingly comparing apples and oranges.

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Apples and Oranges, if you're going to make a western you commit to it really. It's a label you can't escape. An apple should be an apple when you bite into it, not an orange. Also when I said that comment I meant by film standards. As a film it's poor, and the pacing is bad. I haven't the read the book I bet it's good if Harris wanted to make it a film. Too bad it was him that did.

Famous outlaws didn't kill many people. I know gunslingers were common.

Whores were worthless period. Sure they make money, and the proprietor was angry that he lost one of his investments, but whores could be replaced. You say wives were worthless, but so were people back then. There was still law and order.

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We'll have to agree to disagree. If you spend $100 million on a movie, you should expect it to be a lot better than a $20 million movie - and that is what Appaloosa was - a $20 million movie.

With regards to the book, I can't say. I enjoyed it, but it also took about 3 hours to read it. It wasn't jammed full of info like a Tom Clancy book, or detailed every last thing going on like other books.

But, I don't know how they could have made the movie any other way and not been faithful to the book.

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So we agree to disagree then.

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I love this film. Viggo and Harris are great. Lance is Lance.

My favorite western.................High Plains Drifter

P.S.........You didn't like Rio Bravo or The Shootist?

Short Cut, Draw Blood

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Other idiot OPs have complained that it's too slow. This idiot OP complains that it moves too quickly.

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