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If "Bite the Bullet" sentimentalizes the independence and force of ordinary men without glamor who have to struggle for a prize in a hard, bitter, and lonely environment, it also examines the cruel or inhumane treatment often inflicted on animals…

"Bite the Bullet" is an all-star Western about a 700-mile horse race that takes place in the middle of 'Nowhere, USA' at the turn of the last century, for a chance to win the grand prize of $2000…

At the head of the line is Gene Hackman, an ex-Rough Rider who believes in caring for lame animals, and despises cruelty to horses, ladies in distress, lost kids and lost causes…Hackman has got the heart, and at the film's climax, he is the sleeper—the one to beat…

His old-timer friend from fighting days at San Juan Hill is James Coburn, a natural-born gambler who certainly can't afford to lose… He just bet everything on this race, and got seven-to-one… Coburn and Hackman have a great chemistry together, and their friendly rivalry imposes the name of the game…

Also riding: Candice Bergen, who has 'two thousand reasons' to compete in the race; Ben Johnson who desperately wants to win the prize to be a man to remember; Ian Bannen, the tough Englishman who comes 5,000 miles to beat the best; Mario Arteaga, the cool Mexican who needs the money for his loving family in spite of suffering from unbearable toothache; and Jan Michael-Vincent who brings the lower calibrations of judgment, antagonism, and rage to his interactions... This punk kid certainly has a knack of provoking a man to violence… He soon will be in his own best way to learn some life lessons from 'real' cowboys...

Brooks' movie has the courage to show how beauty can flourish in our treatments for animals… He accomplished a film that is beautifully photographed and expertly put together… Brooks leaves a whole host of abiding impressions through his nine riders' true character

Bite The Bullet, a most unusual western from the pen and the direction of Richard Brooks. It concerns a rather strange camaraderie that develops between the seven participants in a horse race out west.

This is not a race for speed, this is a test of endurance for seven miles through the desert in the American southwest. The seven participants are Gene Hackman, James Coburn, Ben Johnson, Candice Bergen, Jan-Michael Vincent, Ian Bannen, and Mario Artaega.

All these people have their own reasons for wanting the $2000.00 prize offered by the newspaper sponsoring the event. Hackman and Coburn are old friends already and Coburn's hoping Hackman will throw the race his way because he's up over his head in bets he can't pay off should he lose. Ben Johnson's an old timer just wanting to be remembered for doing something important in his life. Ian Bannen is an English Lord who thinks it's all jolly good sport. Candice Bergen is both striking a blow for women and sending money to her jailed husband. She works for madam Jean Willes when not racing. Jan-Michael Vincent is a punk kid with something to prove and Mario Artaega is just a poor guy looking for a stake to feed his family.

It's about the animals as well, this is not the Kentucky Derby for a mile and a quarter. The horses have to be looked after if they make it through a rough 700 miles. They kind of bind the characters together in a strange way.

Bite The Bullet is not long on plot, but very deep in characterization and it works here just like it works in the Sam Peckinpah classic, Junior Bonner. Even those that don't endure develop wellsprings of character they never thought they had. It's a good film and the ending shows something about character and friendship.

"Bite the Bullet" has a lot to chew on, and boasts a fine cast held firmly under control. Hackman gives his usual unobtrusive acting lesson, Coburn twinkles but not too much, and Bergen gives the first decent acting performance of her career (after Hackman chewed her out for her lack of professional skills and she requested his help).

Questions of greed, competition, teamwork, loyalty, betrayal and humanity are all given a good and non-medicinal airing. There's enough action here for the inert, and enough philosophy for the grownups.

There's been discussion in these reviews of the director's use of slow-motion. Slow motion is not used here to make intellectual points, it is an instrument of emotional expression. When one character in real time passes another in slow motion, it conveys to us how they both feel at that moment, and doesn't need to carry any other freight. As an expressive device, it works.

The question of animal abuse has also come up in these pages. In "Bite the Bullet" the horses are always photographed as heroes, often visually overwhelming their riders. Gene Hackman is shown from the beginning as a fighter of cruelty against animals, and every abuse he witnesses he then tries to remedy. The education of the Jan Michael Vincent character is a case in point.

Furthermore, this picture makes you care about the animals, unlike the traditional offhand Hollywood cruelty. Dozens of horses were killed to make the last reel of the Errol Flynn "Charge of the Light Brigade" and the film itself couldn't care less. You can see trip wires being used wholesale as late as in "Khartoum", and when those horses went down, they broke legs and were immediately shot, not pretend, for real.

Hollywood's excuse has always been that horses are expensive and they don't kill them thoughtlessly. Stunts are performed by circus horses, which presumably don't come to harm. We're told the only horses that get killed are old and already destined for the glue factory. Whether this justifies trip wires or not is up to you, but that's what they say.

"Bite the Bullet" comes off as sensitive and responsible by comparison. This is no snuff film. The Oscar-winning sound design makes you really care when the horses are supposed to be in distress.

A lot worse things happen to the human characters in just about every action-adventure film of the last twenty years. Is the "yuck" factor we're now trying to get used to more or less disgusting?

All in all, "Bite the Bullet" is a worthwhile film with content, humor and beauty. There's thousands of worse ways to spend your time than watching this movie.

Sensational Western excellently acted , marvelously photographed and well screen-written with fine eye by Richard Brooks . It deals with some aging riders as Hackman , Coburn and Ben Johnson who get chance redeem themselves along with a young gunslinger , a Brit lord , a Mexican and an ex-whore . The film was based on a real , endurance race at the turn of the century ; it was inspired by the 1908 , 700-mile cross-country horse race from Evanston , Wyoming to Denver , Colorado. It was sponsored by the Denver Post , which offered $2,500 prize money to the winner . At the beginning of the 20th century, a newspaper organizes a grueling horse race : 700 miles to run in a few days . A bunch of ex-rough riders and a gunfighter enter a horse race in the desert . The motley group of disparate adventurers are competing , among them a woman , ex-prostitute (Candice Bergen) , Miss Jones, a Mexican , an Englishman (Ian Bannen) , a young gunslinger (Jan-Michael Vincent) , an old one (Ben Johnson) and two friends , Sam Clayton (Gene Hackman , though Charles Bronson turned down the leading role) and Luke Matthews (James Coburn) . All those individualists learn to respect for each other and develop a grudging and growing friendship .

An overlong and dangerous horse race is the subject of this stunning and grand adventure , an epic in every sense of word . Impressive and breathtaking ending with the finalists terminating the grueling race . Exciting , funny and well acted , especially by Gene Hackman and James Coburn as two tough , two-fisted riders . Special mention to Ben Johnson as a veteran rider in his last feat . Colorfully photographed in Technicolor and Panavison by Harry Stradling Jr in Valley of Fire State Park and its Coyote Pass and Deah Valley (Nevada), Chama, New Mexico , Lake Mead, Taos , Nevada, White Sands National Monument, Alamogordo, New Mexico . Exceptional and thrilling soundtrack by Alex North (Cleopatra, Spartacus) , now a classic score .

Directed and screen-played with magnificent style by Richard Brooks . He was a fine writer/director so consistently mixed the good and average which it became impossible to know that to expect from him next . Firstly he worked regularly as a Hollywood screenwriter . After that , his initial experience of directing was one of his own screenplays called ¨Crisis¨. The Richard Brooks films that have the greatest impact are realized during the 50s and 60s as ¨Cat on a hot tin roof¨, ¨Something of value¨ , ¨Elmer Gantry¨, ¨Sweet bird of youth¨, ¨In cold blood¨ , ¨Lord Jim¨. Brooks was a writer and director of Chekhovian depth , who mastered the use of understatement, anticlimax and implied emotion . His films enjoyed lasting appeal and tended to be more serious than the usual mainstream productions . Richards formerly directed another good Western titled ¨The professionals ¨ also with various tough stars as Burt Lancaster , Lee Marvin , Jack Palance and Robert Ryan , including the same musician , Alex North , and similar outdoors . The ¨Bite the bullet¨ is an authentic must see , not to be missed for buffs of the genre . A magnificent movie , hardly noticed for its theatrical release ; however , being nowadays very well considered . Rating : Above average because of its awesome acting , dialog , score are world class.

In 1906, a 700-mile horse race in the Western wilderness is sponsored by a newspaper. The racers include two former Rough Riders (Gene Hackman & James Coburn), a part-time prostitute (Candice Bergen), a punk "Kid" (Jan-Michael Vincent), an aged cowboy (Ben Johnson), a Mexican with a toothache (Mario Arteaga) and an English gent (Ian Bannen).

"Bite the Bullet" (1975) was written & directed by Richard Brooks, who said the movie is based on several historical cross-country races subsidized by newspapers and cities from 1880-1910. The most well-known was a 1908 race from Evanston, Wyoming, to Denver backed by the Denver Post with a $2500 prize, which was his main inspiration.

While this was a big budget production with a kick-axx cast it's not often cited on Best Westerns lists, probably because the long race makes it a one-of-a-kind Western that's not about a suspense-building story, but rather an episodic adventure with character-defining vignettes. Speaking of which, it helps if you utilize the subtitles to keep up with the sometimes mumbled dialogues.

Unfortunately, the escaped convict subplot seems shoehorned into the last act. It's like Brooks tried too hard to concoct an "exciting" ending, but ended up almost ruining the movie.

The film runs 2 hours, 12 minutes, and was shot in Nevada (Carson National Forest & Lake Mead), New Mexico (White Sands) and Colorado.

GRADE: C+/B-

Coburn is good, but Hackman is really one of the best. It's movies like this that really let you know what people can do. Well done from beginning to end. Makes me want to see more of the world from horse back.

Things I liked: Life was hard and they let you know it - Hookers and chemicals were everywhere - every one of the major characters was given screen time to develop into real people - beautiful animals.

Things I had difficulty with: Your horse dies in the desert, you should die in the desert, at least make the young buck walk out - the jail break scene was forced - does the Mexican live or die

For whatever reason, critics in the 70s were quick to pronounce dead the western genre whenever a new western opened, but that didn't stop the decade from producing some of my favorites in the category. _Bite the Bullet_ is a fine example. Where other westerns of the decade seemed to pursue the avenue of re-invention, Richard Brooks' gritty movie about a turn-of-the-century horse race/endurance test opts for sweet revival. The cast of characters are the usual suspects: company men vs. real cowboys, kid-looking-for-a-reputation, ballsy hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold, tough-and-noble-oppressed Mexican, and old-hand-on-his-last-hurrah. They all combine to tell a supremely entertaining and satisfying story. As a bonus, we get the chance to consider seriously what impact America's win-win mentality has on the moral character of its people.

At the heart of the picture are the splendid performances by Gene Hackman and James Coburn as old buddies from Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders days. The friendship between their characters is the movie's moral glue, and it is portrayed without smearing or stickiness. In these two characters we not only get all of the integrity of upright and rugged individualism inherent in the Western Code, but we get a nice dash of Butch and Sundance to boot.

And I think Candice Bergen makes for a great tomboy. It actually makes her sexier.

When a newspaper sponsors 700-mile endurance horse race, a group of adventurers is attracted by the grand prize of US$ 2,000.00 for the winner.

Among the participants are the former Rough Rider Sam Clayton (Gene Hackman), who fought in the Spanish-American War, and protects the animals from cruelty; his friend Luke Matthews (James Coburn), who has also fought in the war, and now is a gambler; the ex-prostitute Miss Jones (Candice Bergen) that has a hidden agenda to run the race; a Mexican (Mario Arteaga), who has toothache, and needs the money to help his poor family; the young bully Carboa (Jan-Michael Vincent) that does not respect anybody; the anonymous Mister (Ben Johnson) that wants to be famous; the Englishman Sir Harry Norfolk (Ian Bannen) that has traveled a long distance expecting to win the race.

Along the days of competition, greed and betrayal affect the contestants' performances. But in the end, the survivors learn lessons of friendship and teamwork.

"Bite the Bullet" is an unusual western with a good adventure and interesting characters. Candice Bergen is in the top of her beauty but her character disappoints in the end, double-crossing and causing the death of the participants. Unfortunately the lame conclusion is too dramatic and unreasonable, since in accordance with the competition's rules, each horse plus horseman and gear should not weight more than a certain wight. When Sam and Luke unsaddle their horses and lead them to the finish line, it is not clear whether they have broken any of the foregoing rules and did not win the race. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Risco de uma Decisão" ("The Risk of a Decision")

By the 1970s, the western genre was virtually exhausted and many of the westerns made around that time were either cheaply-made, badly-dubbed European offerings, or depressingly violent revenge westerns (e.g The Hunting Party, The Revengers, The Deadly Trackers, The Last Hard Men, etc.) Bite The Bullet, however, is a happy exception. Not only does it resist the '70s urge to show gore and brutality, it also manages to come up with a plot that is actually quite novel. It also marks an example of the "third-time-lucky" adage for Gene Hackman.... for this was his third western of the '70s, and the first of real quality (his previous two - The Hunting Party and Zandy's Bride - being pretty terrible if truth be known).

At the turn-of-the-century, various riders gather in a Wild West town to compete in an endurance horse race of some 700 miles or so. Among those seeking the glory and the romance are English gentleman Norfolk (Ian Bannen); young show-offy hot-head Carbo (Jan-Michael Vincent); a rugged old man in search of a final moment of honour (Ben Johnson); a poor Mexican with serious dental problems (Mario Ateaga); feisty female entrant Jones (Candice Bergen); former Rough Rider Luke Matthews (James Coburn); and introspective horse-lover Sam Clayton (Gene Hackman). As they ride through forests, deserts and mountains toward the finishing line, the riders get involved in various adventures and tragedies. Some lose their horses along the trail; others are even less fortunate and lose their lives.

Bite The Bullet is a very good western, with convincing performances from its all-star cast and luscious cinematography from the great Harry Stradling Jr. The opening quarter of the film is fairly slow, with time given over to the character introductions and a little probing into the motivations of each rider. However, this proves worthwhile later as the fate of each rider gains significant power because the audience has come to understand - to know, if you like - the various characters. On the whole, the period detail and the dialogue seem impeccable. Alex North's score is good, and adds an extra dimension to the proceedings. The only flaw worth mentioning is that the film's structure - perhaps inevitably - is rather episodic.... every few minutes, the narrative jumps to another rider and follows their adventures for a scene or two before jumping again to another character. There was probably no way to avoid this, but it is occasionally tedious and frustrating for the viewer (because just as they are "getting into" the plight of one rider the action cuts away to the plight of another). Aside from this minor flaw, Bite The Bullet is a highly impressive film and easily earns a spot on the top-ten-westerns-of-the-'70s list.

I saw this when it first came out and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Viewed again recently on disc, I can now see the flaws that kept this film off lists of "classic Westerns." The most obvious moment of misjudgment comes in the big chase scene at the end. It's totally misplaced, and probably was intended for the middle of the picture, then delayed to provide more screen time for the female lead. It does not lead well into the finale, and now stands as one of the worst continuity lapses of all time. Worse, there seems to be some sequence that got lost in order for this scene to be placed where it is. At any rate, the ending is mystifying in small details, but enough to leave one feeling oddly unsatisfied.

Others have noted the second-rate editing throughout the film; but continuity errors of this sort are the director's responsibility. One feels that the director realized that he had bit off more than he could chew, and rather than put it back on the plate to chop it up into smaller, more manageable pieces, let it sort of drool out between his lips hoping no one would notice.

And this story would have worked on a lower budget, with a shorter run time, made in the late 1950s. Admittedly the photography is grand, and there are marvelous set-pieces throughout - but they don't add up to the great Western this story could have been.

You don't have to see more than a few minutes of this movie to start picking out the plot holes. What a disaster.

Bergen's character, for instance, enters the race, not to win, but because she knows that the race goes right near where her husband is in prison. She wants to break him out, and she wants to use the race to help her. Her plan is to do the race day after day until she runs across the chain gang that has her husband. Then she will overpower the guard and vamoose with the hubby.

Stupid, stupid, stupid plan. But it works. She rides hundreds of miles at break-neck speed and wondrously comes upon the chain gang with her husband at the exact time she passes. She never has to deviate from the race course!! The chain gang is right in the path of the race!! There is only one guard!! She gets her husband out. Wow.

Neither horses nor riders are outfitted for a marathon race. Horses are used like automobiles. As long as the rider can sit, the horse can keep galloping through the desert. However, get a horse near the finish line, and all of a sudden, it's about dead. Too bad the race didn't end 300 yards earlier when the horses were frisky.

I absolutely love cowboy movies, and I like every actor in this movie, but this is a load of garbage.

Perhaps it makes sense if you have never seen a horse or a desert or a race, but this is a stinker.

Horses can't be run hour after hour. Deserts are both deadly hot and freezing cold. Marathon races are not done at full speed.

Geeze, there was even bad acting by the snake. What the heck is that snake doing trying to snuggle up to a sleeping Vincent in the middle of a hot desert day? It was probably an amateur snake that had never been a snake before. A more professional snake would have argued with the director. Real snakes seek heat when it is cold and hide from it when it is hot. If they are out in the hot sun, they are hunting, and they don't hunt things larger than what they can shove down their throats whole.

And finally, if you are ever in the desert and you and your horse are dying of thirst, you aren't a horseman if you drink before you take care of your horse.

This is not a "fact-based" story as some gullibly believe. There was a race once that went the same distance, but that is the only connection.

Hackman, Colburn, Bergen, Johnson, Vincent: fine actors. Anything they have done is more watchable than this turkey.

This movie gets one cow plop out of ten. Great actors. No plot. Bad camera work. Badly edited.

In my mind this is almost a perfect movie. Writer-Director Richard Brooks delivered in my mind his best work since his 1960 blockbusters ELMER GANTRY and THE PROFESSIONALS. We have Brook's trademark crisp dialogue driving the epic about an endurance race set in the waning days of the american west. In place of Burt Lancaster and Lee Marvin professionals we have James Coburn and Gene Hackman as the soldiers of fortune thrown into the circumstance of this race. They both give superior performances. Ably supporting them in what should have gotten him a second supporting actor Oscar is Ben Johnson. If there is any quibble at all with the film it is the casting of of Candice Bergen as the prostitute turned contestant. She simply looks too well preserved to have lived the life her character has placed before the audience. One interesting note about the film had the exchange of actors functioning in basically the same part over the course of the film. Paul Stewart who is uncredited starts the film out as the wealthy rancher Parker until about a quarter of the way through the film when with an ingenious use of a looped line Dabney Coleman appears as Parker's son taking over the character's function from that point on.I remember seeing this film in it's initial engagement at Radio City Music Hall and it is still a fresh and rewarding experience. It is a shame that the upcoming DVD release will have no special features. I know Mr Coburn recorded a commentary for THE MAGNIFICENT 7, Ms. Bergen did THE SAND PEBBLES, and Mr. Hackman did the FRENCH CONNECTION discs. It would have been great to hear stories from these fine actors about this shoot. At the very least it would be nice the have Alex North's Oscar nominated score isolated on the disc.

Richard Brooks' Western horse race movie (ORIGINAL SURVIVOR PLOT) in the old west with Ben Johnson competing. Old John Ford Style new-America (after or before D. Bowie song) about ....well.you know. WINNING!

A 6 out of 10. Best performance = J. Coburn. Wild and wandering Western horse race competition AND Jan-Michael Vincent before he pretended he was important. Anyway, it's intriguing, racing, cheating, and Candy Bergen (Babe) is "not selling her female charms" because she wants to win the race for like...5 Grand in 1890 or something. But she's cool..Some of these characters respect horses.......which are the main characters. Check it!

Ambitious Revisionist Western with Great Dialog delivered by some Seasoned Pros and a few Newcomers. Backdropping it all are some very Picturesque Vistas of the Changing West circa 1906 where a 700 Mile Horse Race is Big News.

Writer-Director Richard Brooks has Crafted an Interesting and Thought Provoking "New" Type of 'Sensitive" Western with attention to more Empathy about Horses and Man's Plight in a Harsh and Insensitive World.

One could say that Brooks' Answer is to "Bite the Bullet" and Soldier On because there's Not Much One Can Do. Gene Hackman, James Coburn, and Ben Johnson are the Wisdom Wielders and Jan Michael Vincent and Candice Bergen are of the New Breed. Mario Arteaga is along for some Ethnic Flavor. All are Effective in Their Western Attire and Ride Horses like They do it Every Day.

There is a Lot of Horse Riding, Obviously, and the Race takes up most of the Long Running Time and it all Looks Sharp and Believable as They Ride Toward Victory, or not, Taking time out now and then to Philosophize.

Overall, it is a very Good Exercise in Seventies New Found Freedom of Expression and the Professional Cast and Crew make it a Cerebral Counterpoint to Most Westerns.

The Ending seems Rushed and there are Jarring Jump Cuts that are Jagged and the Film Loses Something because of Rickedy Montage. But, the Movie Manages for the Most Part to be a Different Diversion from the Usual Genre Fare.

A good cast, some nice photography and an interesting story about a 700-mile horse race make "Bite The Bullet" kind of underrated western. You don't hear it mentioned much in "Favorite Westerns" lists.

The only drawbacks for me were a little too much language and that grundgy-70s feel to it that movies in that decade had to them, even in westerns. Having grown up with "Shane," and a bunch of westerns on TV, I still wasn't quite used to what I heard here when this came out 30 years ago. Nowadays, this is mild stuff.

This is a fairly long film at 131 minutes but it moves fast. Gene Hackman plays the tough-but-humane hero. The rest of the contestants in this race are all interesting, too. Each is given a little profile of themselves and include Candice Bergen, James Coburn, Jan-Michael Vincent, Ben Johnson and Ian Bannen.

In addition, there are some memorable scenes such as a horse literally dropping dead; a man poisoned, a woman with a "different agenda" an old man hanging on and a bad-turned-good kid. It's a nice mixture.

Much to admire in Bite the Bullet, but the plot, setting, and editing are so ungainly as to undermine the overall cinematic experience.

What's right about the film shouldn't be underestimated. Like a lot of 70s films, Bite the Bullet has a conscience. The representations of that conscience may make you wince, but the story treats its characters justly and insightfully. The Hackman character's recurrent decency to animals and humans creates a counter-narrative to all their suffering that bears good fruit as the story develops. The actors are all-star and well-cast--Hackman is in his prime, Coburn is best as a supporting actor, Ian Bannen was among 20c England's most likable talents, Candice Bergen looks like she looks, J-M Vincent shows good movement and range, and Ben Johnson gracefully reprises the old-timer from The Last Picture Show. The dialog and cinematography are often fine enough that individual scenes feel ravishing.

Despite all these good vibes, the scenario's too big even for cinema. So many characters, stunt doubles, changes of landscape, and minutes strain attention. In the final plot-turn the soundtrack painfully echoes comedies like The Great Race while the actors go hammy. Suddenly one sees the undisciplined, indulgent, undiscriminating side of the decade. The finish-line scene appropriately comments on the race's inevitable exhaustion, but I had to fight to keep my finger off the fast-forward. Anyone not so devoted might wonder why they spent quite so much time watching or how a director might expect anyone to care about so many many people for so long.

This movie is geared for those 12and older. This movie is a modern day western, cowboys, hats, horses, and guns. Bite the Bullet is action packed. It even has a flavor of humor in the film (it is not just all serious). I was surprised to find that Gene Hackman was playing a cowboy (and doing it well). I am used to his modern day soldier or city slicker roles. James Coburn can play just about everything well. Candice Bergen is just eye candy for your guys. The musical scores are perfectly complementary with what is going on in the movie. It is a little long in places, but over all, the movie provides a night of good entertainment. I give it five thumbs up.

Bite the Bullet includes poignant performances by a charismatic Gene Hackman, a totally hot Candice Brgman, a cavalier James Coburn and a young, angry Jan Michael Vincent. This is my favorite movie! The cinematography is intoxicating. A collexion of amazing horses of every color and conformation galloping, racing, leaping across the rugged California desert for hours! A portrait of human greed pitted against animal rights and compassion. The heroes in this movie are dark and the villains are sad. The backdrop for the unfolding drama is a 700 mile endurance horse race, but within this is framework is explored war, desperation, prostitution, rape, death, heroin overdose, greed, betrayal, trains, selflessness, heroism, friendship, the human/animal bond and good 'ol triumph of the spirit. But most of all pretty, pretty horses.

On February 18th of 2025, the mighty actor Gene Hackman passed away. I have a tradition to pay tribute to a deceased cinema deity by watching/reviewing one or two of their lesser known (but hopefully worthwhile) movies. For Gene Hackman, however, I want to expand the tribute. He was such an indescribably brilliant and versatile actor. Since he's listed in my top 5 of greatest performers of ALL times, he deserves a full month of homage. Rest in peace, Mr. Hackman, and thanks for the many great movies.

In "Bite the Bullet", Gene Hackman plays a type of character that you don't often encounter in his overall repertoire, namely a good person! Not just the hero or a normal character, but a genuinely good person. Walter Clayton has a big heart for animals, defends women against aggressors, joins his outnumbered buddy in fistfights, listens to the last words of a dying cowboy, and is the only person who isn't racist against the only Mexican participant. In most of his movies, his persona is the exact opposite. Of course, this also isn't your typical western...

I must admit I enjoyed Gene Hackman's role a lot more than I did everything else about Richard Brooks' film. The basic plot is enticing and fun, for sure, as it handles about a 700-mile endurance horse race in which the participants can win the phenomenal - for 1908, at least - amount of $2,000. Cool idea, but so sensitive for clichés and stereotypes. And indeed, rivalry quickly turns into camaraderie, greed turns into solidarity, machoism turns into collaboration, and overall fun action turns into moral values. More annoying, even, is that there are several long and tedious sequences in which pretty much nothing happens. The landscapes are stunning, the music is good, and the cast is impressive (with, next to Hackman, also James Coburn, Jan-Michael Vincent, Candice Bergen, and Ben Johnson) but "Bite the Bullet" nevertheless could - and should - have been half an hour shorter.