La loi de la haine

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.

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 .

Charlton Heston is Burgade, trying to retire, with his daughter Susan (Barbara Hershey). when chain gang prisoner Provo (James Coburn) escapes, he comes gunning for Burgade. along with a whole group of fellow prisoners. chris Mitchum, son of robert, is in here as Brickman. mexican muscle man jorgé rivero is Menendez. Larry Wilcox (CHIPS !) is Shelby. Provo manages to kidnap the daughter Susan, so Burgade gets a posse together and goes after Provo and his gang. the usual western, tracking, trailing, threats, shoot-outs. it's good. most of the film is the sheriff tracking Provo and his gang. Directed by Andrew McLaglen. he worked with John Wayne on seventeen films! Story by Brian Garfield. filmed in various beautiful locations around Arizona.

This hard-hitting, often violent western in the Peckinpah/Leone tradition is surprisingly directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, whose previous westerns (particularly those that starred John Wayne) were mainly in the John Ford mode. It is both surprisingly traditional (good guys/bad guys) and incredible up-to-date as well.

Heston portrays a former captain of the Arizona territorial police who has been in retirement for a year, having turned over the law enforcement reins to a reform-minded sheriff (Michael Parks) and finding his ways of enforcing the law being taken over by autos, telegraphs, telephones, and the railroad in the first years of the 20th century. But soon he is confronted with a menace from his past--a half-breed outlaw (Coburn) that he put away more than a decade before for a train robbery that killed four guards. In a subsequent shootout, Coburn's wife was killed; and so Coburn is out for a most nasty sort of revenge. It involves the kidnapping and, eventually, the rape of Heston's daughter (Hershey) by him and his gang. The result is a taut and violent pursuit through the mountains and deserts of southern Arizona.

THE LAST HARD MEN, based on Brian Garfield's novel "Gun Down", is violent in many places, including the showdown between Heston and Coburn, and the rape scene involving Hershey and two members of Coburn's gang (Quade, Paull) is probably every bit as questionable as similar scenes in STRAW DOGS and DELIVERANCE. But that doesn't detract too terribly much from the film's psychological approach to the western genre. McLaglen is able to handle the bloody story with significant panache, and Heston's performance as an aging lawman was probably the best one he ever gave in any of his 1970s films. Coburn makes for an especially cold-blooded heavy, and both Parks and Chris Mitchum (as Hershey's intended husband) do good turns as well. The music here is cribbed from Jerry Goldsmith's scores to 100 RIFLES and the 1966 remake of STAGECOACH, but it still works here.

Wisely filmed totally on location in southeastern Arizona, and utilizing the Old Tucson set, THE LAST HARD MEN needs to be released by Fox on VHS and/or DVD soon. It is a western that deserves nothing less.

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?