Five Grand

A man wanted for robbery and murder escapes from a Federal Marshal and his adventure ensues.

The movie itself is fine, the acting is fine, the gun fights and the Pinkerton man are fine.

BUT>>>>>>>> I live in California in the foothills of the Sierra and the change of location is just jarring.

One minute in the rocky desert of the Mojave the next in the Blue oak grasslands of the Sierra Foothills then up to Northern California wetter foothills then back to the Blue Oak grasslands and finally into the Mojave again. All mostly on foot and not possible in the time allotted for the plot.

The only "location" presented on IMDB is the Calico Ghost town near Barstow. Nothing about the rest.

Good movie but I was too familiar with all the location shoots to not be taken out of the story.

This movie was a new western that appeared at our library. The title "The Gunfighter" is the same as a movie staring Gregory Peck. I picked up the movie thinking it was the Gregory Peck version.

I found the plot fascinating and the scenery very beautiful. It did not have many characters but it did not feel like a low budget movie. Upon reflection, the music was good too. There were a few homages to Sergio Leone's films and I even noticed his name in the credits.

The movie was good enough that I watched it a second time just to show it to a few new people.

Actually it only occurred to me after watching it that it might have been a low budget affair since the main actor was also the writer, director, producer and make-up artist.

The DVD turned out to be of extremely high quality. I watched it on a 58 inch TV and could not distinguish this from a Blu-ray.

A low budget Western that just about holds it together and actually progresses throughout its duration. For good or bad, it seems like it's being made up as it goes along. A rating of 5, might be a bit unfair but the ultra low budget does not do it any favours.

First the good news. There's more than a little bit of tension and even some excitement in 'Five Grand'. And the scenery shots are good too. The acting, though uneven, isn't bad. But...wow, the outlaws and their trackers have to be the dumbest people ever to be a success at their calling. They let potential killers live, golden moments to escape or capture their prey slip through their fingers and always...and I mean always...make the wrong decision when it comes to saving their own lives. Oh, and there's lots and lot of hard to believe coincidences too. Way too much. I'd add a few spoilers in as examples, but I'm holding back.

It's a mess that can only be enjoyed if the viewer simply doesn't apply any logic to any of it.

Great as a period piece, the outfits, the guns, everything looked great and period correct.

Let down a bit by the acting, and the writing, saying that, it was a good trip to follow along.

The only thing I didn't follow was the leather thing he kept looking through. Maybe I missed it in the beginning for why it was being used (and it became obvious later on when he got to the cave) but nothing seemed to stand out about the two peaks and why he needed some piece of leather to confirm it. It would seem that it would stand out in your mind where you left a whole crate of gold... or maybe a better land mark index.