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A nice departure from the mainstream, "good guys wear white hats", product typical of the genre. First released in the 1970's, the movie followed in the experimental trend of the day begun with the "Spaghetti Westerns" starring Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, etc.

Both the protagonist and antagonist are throwbacks to an earlier time. Charlton Heston is somewhat dismayed and bewildered by the technological changes thrust upon him while James Coburn's character simply disregards them. The two men become locked in an ego battle that disregards all those around them except to the extent others are useful in pursuing their own personal goals. Both characters are incredible "hard men", physically, mentally, and emotionally and this aspect of their personalities plays out in single-minded, intense violence and cruelty.

The plot is nothing new, however. Coburn plays an escaped convict bent on avenging himself against Heston, the lawman who captured him. Coburn manipulates a gang of mostly dimwitted but dangerous criminals who kidnap Heston's daughter. Heston then chases them across hill and dale in an attempt to save her.

This is a minor 70s Western, directed with rather too much stolidity by Andrew V. McLaglen. Heston hasn't quite got the form in the genre to pull off the ageing lawman role, although you can certainly see his ornery old Republican role being practised before your eyes; Coburn is good as the psychotic halfbreed outlaw looking for revenge, but he needed a director who encouraged him to loosen up more and go loco.

The film does score points, though, in its nastiness. There is a genuinely sadistic universe on show here, as if in the last days of the Wild West the outlaw and the marshal both were reduced to being little more than collections of violent spasms, each twitch aimed at causing some torment to another human being, and each situation causing more twitchin'.

In the early 20th century, a bandit named Zach Provo, a half Indian, (Provo well played by James Coburn , who was sent to prison during the latter part of the 19th century) leads a band of outlaw convicts on a jailbreak . Provo (Sean Connery and Robert Shaw were considered for the role) along with with 6 others to exact vengeance on Sam Burgade (a tough-guy splendidly performed by Charlton Heston) , an upright lawman , whose daughter (a very young Barbara Hershey) is abducted and threatening to gang-rape her . Provo seeks vendetta on Burgade because he not only captured him but was also responsible for the death of Provo's wife, at least in Provo's mind . At the beginning , the wild bunch holds up a train and attempt a bank until a bloody vengeance . The misfit group is formed by cutthroat guys (Jorge Rivero , Larry Wilcox , Thalmus Rasulala , Morgan Paull , John Quade ,Robert Donner) who kidnap the daughter and threat to rape but it goes wrong . This is the story about some men making their last stand and carrying out a merciless revenge .

This decent Western packs lots of action , shootouts, and explosive violence , including some tasteless images . Go riding , crossfire and fights provide some welcome distraction . Taut excitement throughout , beautifully photographed and spectacular bloodletting filmed in slow moving ; it was shot "in the style of Sam Peckinpah" . Rich in texture and including intelligent screenplay full of incredibly violent scenes . However , it has some appalling and disgusting rape frames entirely out of place . This motion picture is set in 1909 Arizona which is arguably right at the end of the old wild American western frontier era period if not it already having ended by the 1890s , as there is an occasional elegiac tone lamenting the passing of the West . This Western picture was based on the novel "Gun Down" by Brian Garfield ; and it was made and released about five years after its source book that had been first published in 1971 . Vibrant as well as brilliant all-star-cast displays exceptional performances . Charlton Heston is perfect as a veteran ex-sheriff with his own ethic codes . This is Charlton Heston's last name rhymes with Western , four years after this 1976 film, Heston would co-star in 1980's Mountain Men , another good western . James Coburn is terrific as a convict sets into motion plan of revenge on old Marshall . Furthermore , good secondaries such as and Jorge Rivero , Larry Wilcox , Thalmus Rasulala , Morgan Paull , John Quade , Robert Donner and Michael Parks as reform-minded Marshal. Enjoyable musical score , Jerry Goldsmith is credited with "Music" on the film's credits, the credit is misleading as he composed no original score for the film, instead it was tracked with cues from four other westerns he scored: 100 rifles (1969) ; Río Conchos (1964); Morituri (1965) and Stagecoach (1966) , which is why he did not receive a credit like "Original Music composed & Conducted by". Colorful and evocative cinematography in Panavisión by Duke Callaghan , Peckinpah's usual , and portions of this film were photographed at Old Tucson Studios, Tucson, Arizona .

This actioner motion picture was professionally directed by the veteran director of Westerns Andrew V. McLaglen , though Jack Smight and possibly Stuart Rosenberg were considered for the director . This was final cinema movie western directed by Andrew V. McLaglen who was a veteran of the genre . McLaglen though continued to direct a few more westerns for television. Andrew V. McLaglen, the veteran director of Westerns, is son of great actor Victor McLagen and known John Ford's disciple . Andrew holds the distinction of directing the most episodes of "Gunsmoke" . Furthermore , he holds the honor of filmmaking the most episodes of ¨Have gun , Will travel" (1957). And is one of the few directors to have directed both Clint Eastwood and John Wayne . He's a Western expert (McLintock, Shenandoah, Bandolero, Chisum, Cahill, Way west) and warlike specialist , such as proved in several films ( Return to Kwai, Wild Geese , Dirtdozen: the next mission, Sea wolves, Breakthrough ) . The Last Hard Men is a real must see for fans of the genre in Peckinpah style . Rating : Nice , acceptable and passable , 6 .

Fans of Andrew V. McLaglen movies (McLintock!, Chisum, and The Wild Geese come to mind) won't mind the dark, nasty, gory The Last Hard Men with James Coburn and Charlton Heston. It's standard revenge stuff until you notice that it's way more violent and sociopathological than something fluffy like McLintock! or the all- purpose, crowd-pleasing Chisum.

What the six years from Chisum to The Last Hard Men wrought. McLaglen had no trouble dabbling in a bit of gore here and a skosh of savagery there, but The Undefeated and Chisum were rated G. TLHM brings you lots of close-up impalings and incinerations and splashy gunshot wounds, sometimes in slow-mo! It seems that ol' Andy McLaglen was watching a lot of Sam Peckinpah and Sergio Leone in the early 70s!

The biggest change might be McLaglen's treatment of women. In McLintock!, John Wayne woos Maureen O'Hara by stripping her to her undies, dragging her through molasses, showering her with feathers, spanking her with a stove shovel, and boinking her as the lights come up.

To quote Judith Crist, "What girl could resist?"

In The Last Hard Men, Barbara Hershey, a woman I find much more real and appealing than the actressy O'Hara, gets pummeled by Coburn, leaving her gasping on the floor of Heston's home, with a sprig of hair across her face, daring not to brush it away for fear of getting hit again.

Jump to Coburn releasing two of his henchmen to chase down Hershey, as her dad, Heston, watches from a distance. They catch her and rape her while Coburn taunts Heston with "They're xxxxxxx your daughter!"

The switch from chauvinism to sadism, from the early 60s to the mid- 70s, couldn't be a pleasant one for the likes of Hershey's character.

With that said, I sat engrossed in The Last Hard Men when I saw it as the lead up to The Enforcer in December, 1976. It was just the sort of intense, brutal movie that I grooved on in my late teens. I learned to really like Charlton Heston and James Coburn, so much so that I have searched out movies with these two actors, long before I really noticed them.

I got my prurient kicks some years later seeing Barbara Hershey nekkid in the imbecilic The Entity, but the more I think about it, I realize she was more appealing, sexier when she was fighting back against the thugs in the western.

Cripes, where am I going with this?

I miss Heston and Coburn. I miss Wayne (and the PC police in California can pound sand with their complaining about John Wayne being a hater).

I think I liked The Last Hard Men not in spite of its sadism, but because of it. Kind of like The Professionals and The Dirty Dozen.

Does that make any sense?

The Last Hard Men finds James Coburn an outlaw doing a long sentence breaking free from a chain gang. Do he and his friends head for the Mexican border from jail and safety. No they don't because Coburn has a mission of revenge. To kill the peace officer who brought him in and in the process killed his woman.

That peace officer is Charlton Heston who is now retired and he knows what Coburn is after. As he explains it to his daughter, Barbara Hershey, Coburn was holed up in a shack and was involved in a Waco like standoff. His Indian woman was killed in the hail of bullets fired. It's not something he's proud of, she was a collateral casualty in a manhunt.

Lest we feel sorry for Coburn he lets us know full well what an evil man he truly is. Heston is his usual stalwart hero, but the acting honors in The Last Hard Men go to James Coburn. He blows everyone else off the screen when he's on.

Coburn gets the bright idea of making sure Heston trails him by kidnapping Hershey and taking her to an Indian reservation where the white authorities can't touch him. He knows that Heston has to make it personal then.

Coburn's gang includes, Morgan Paull, Thalmus Rasulala, John Quade, Larry Wilcox, and Jorge Rivero. Heston has Chris Mitchum along who is his son-in-law to be.

The Last Hard Men is one nasty and brutal western. Andrew McLaglen directed it and I'm thinking it may have been a project originally intended for Sam Peckinpaugh. It sure shows a lot of his influence with the liberal use of slow motion to accentuate the violence. Of which there is a lot.

For a little Peckinpaugh lite, The Last Hard Men is your film.