A Difícil Vingança

terrible western screenplay with lousy storyline and deadbeat plot, bad directing and bad acting. this western should not be made into production because it's worthless. pretentiously tried very hard to be cool but turned out to be so hollow. first, we got a close up of the guy urinated with a projectile urine line in the very beginning when it showed 'Dakota Territory, 1883", then we heard the title song kept singing in the background, then the song went on vaguely, then when the so-called 'Cincinnati Kid' open the door, the volume of the song suddenly became louder. well, did you see what wrong with such stupid arrangement? no? well, let me to tell you: it's like that there's a phonograph (record player) playing the album inside, the volume was blocked by the door, so when the door was opened, the volume suddenly came out of the opening; such arrangement of directing was just....!@#$! then the guy kept drinking out of a bottle, then three bounty hunters came and sneaked up, two of the low-level no-brains started shoot at the cabin built with lumbers, they shot the door, the glass windows...and the leader said when the shoots ended: "alive worth $500 more....now you killed him". give me a break, will you? shooting at a lumber/timber cabin from afar thru the windows and the door would kill the target? and later when the so-called Cincinnati drinker/drunk came to town, he found the robbers in front the post office then he started shooting WITH HIS TWO GUNS at very close range, his shootings were so lame, the way he held his guns was so funny, and his two guns kept shooting, at such close distance, his double guns....? well, i just can't go on to tell you how bad this movie is

Using most of the character names as was used in the original Tom Tyler film (Monogram) and the remakes starring John Wayne (Lone Star-Monogram) and Bob Baker (Uinversal), it would appear that such an outright theft should have also been noted when the writing credits appear on this film...but try as I may I fail to find one line on any frame of this film that mention this film was base on an original story and screenplay by Wellyn Totman, and also on subsequent screenplays by Robert N. Bradbury and George Waggner. Evidently, the use of previously-written copyrighted material, without crediting any of the original story or screenplay writers is no problem in Canada. A simple based-upon-by nod would have been honest, at least.

This movie is good in the way a Steve Austin action movie can be good if you know what to expect. It feels like a parody of a western because all the stereotypical elements are there but it treats itself seriously. That's why some will like it and others completely hate it so it makes it difficult to recommend to anyone.

I personally found the clothes and sets a little distracting because everything felt slightly wrong for pre-1900. The low budget probably limited what could be custom made so you just have to overlook it. The music was also wrong in a few places, some points have an almost comical tone and don't match the situation.

If you are the type to get bothered by details then this movie would be difficult to get through, otherwise it's a good average western themed movie. I just don't consider it a good western.

"When my father died he was trying to tell me something, Dos Equis." When fugitive John Mason's (Slater) father is killed by a group of masked bandits he decides to hunt them down and get his revenge. Things get complicated when he realizes that the bandits are closer to home then he thought. I have said a few times now that I don't know what happened to the western genre. After "Dances With Wolves", "Tombstone" and "Open Range" the genre seemed to fall off drastically and is now limited to very low budget cheesy made-for-TV movie type movies. I was looking forward to this one mainly because of the cast. I thought finally a descent western that I will like. While this is a great many times better then 90% if the recent contributions, this felt the same as the rest. This could have easily been another made-for-TV movie if not for the cast. Nothing really original and this is not the return of the great westerns I was hoping for but this is easily one of the better ones in recent memory. Which isn't really saying that much I know. Overall, worth watching and entertaining but it is a little slow and still a B-rate western. I give it a B-.

In this day and age when the genera of the true Western movie is becoming a rarity, it's difficult to see any which are memorable. Some good examples are 'High Plains Drifter, The Wild Bunch and Unforgiven' where a gunman is remorseful of his past. To that group is this new addition called " Dawn Rider." Growing up I remember the same title on another movie, but nothing as memorable as this offering. Director Terry Miles who also co-wrote the story relates the western tale of a man (Christian Slater) who returns home to his father who unfortunately is killed in a hold-up. His son, being a former Pinkerton detective, silently ponders who might have been responsible. At the same time the son is tracked by a shadowy, but persistent lawman (Donald Sutherland) and his posse who have an outstanding though dubious arrest warrant for him. In addition, the rider has set his eyes on a woman (Jill Hennenssy) who becomes a nurse and friend to him, unaware she is set to marry another man. The rider has a persistent problem in that a group of cowboys in white masks is making themselves known as a ruthless band of killer robbers who are planning for their final confrontation with the law, while the rider remains vaguely unaware how close the danger really is. The movie appears to have been hewn from an authentic western photograph. Indeed, the rustic town is rough-cut, thread bear with all the black and white images of early Americanna, complete with colorful names for the citizens and multiple uses of buildings. The movie itself is believable in mannerism, costumes and even dialog. Slater does well to carry the film to it's inevitable conclusion with Donald Suttherland giving a convincing performance with a surprise ending. Excellent Film. Recommended. ****