SmugKitZine Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story

Holstra Boring, long, and too preachy.

Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

darbski **SPOILERS** Great movie. Set the stage for a run of really good westerns starring Eastwood as a hard bitten, cynical survivor type, who's "Been There; Done That".Just a small point about this story, though. Besides Reno, who stole his saddle, they didn't have much on anybody. Sure, they TRIED to kill Cooper by lynching, but he survived. It would have wrecked the storyline, but, he shoulda took the bribe. If his case ever got to court, a good lawyer woulda got 'em off.

TonyMontana96 Another Clint Eastwood western and another outing that offers a rather good time. This 1968 western is nowhere near classics like Leone's Dollars trilogy, but it's nevertheless a well-made, well-acted picture. The film starts off confusing, lacking much in terms of depth, but once it progresses it's much better with some terrific sequences involving one where Eastwood walks into a bar and finds one of the men who tried to wrongly hang him, and the brilliance within that scene is most exciting. There's some solid dialogue, impressive direction from Ted Post and some good writing, as well as nice cinematography. The picture also has some really good performances; Eastwood is terrific as usual as Jed Cooper, Pat Hingle is a strong presence as no nonsense judge Fenton and Ed Begley is an impressive villain, playing Captain Wilson. One performance that doesn't work is Inger Stevens who play's Rachael Warren, a weird, expressionless woman who consistently stairs at all the men who are to be put to death, and she simply wasn't very compelling, and rather unnecessary here.There are parts that are a bit harsh, showing detailed hangings, lingering on the moment too much, some of these men didn't even murder or rape anyone, so seeing them go on and on with one of these scenes was a mistake, and during that scene there was a lecture about God from one of the doomed men, who annoyed the hell out of me, I was anticipating someone to shut him up already. After that the picture gets back on track yet again with some really good, slow building sequences, one in the dead of night and one somewhere before that. I also enjoyed the chemistry between Hingle and Eastwood, there scenes together was very entertaining, where they disagree with one another and even something simple as a discussion radiates the screen. However the film has a lame love story that thankfully doesn't last long between Jed and Rachael, because it was slow, boring and took me away from the main storyline, it's another five or ten minutes that could have been changed. Overall though Hang Em High may have its flaws, but it showcases two great performances from Eastwood and Hingle, Solid direction from Ted Post and some truly exciting moments that fans of the genre will surely enjoy.

inspectors71 Okay, the whole thing reeks of a cheap knock-off of a Spaghetti Western (if that's possible), but there are some recommendables here in Ted Post's Hang 'Em High!Although it's a standard revenger, with Clint Eastwood as a former marshal, wrongly accused of rustling, and subsequently hanged by a lynch mob, only to survive the assault. Eastwood shows some inkling of being something more than a zombot, an actual actor. Pat Hingle is the judge who uses Eastwood when he recovers. Inger Stevens, easily the most ethereal beauty in 1960s moviedom, is the ubiquitous (only in moviedom) hooker with a heart of gold. Ed Begley is the leader of the lynch mob, and he is none too pleased as Clint starts dropping the not-so-much-baddies as stupidies. Throw in Ben Johnson, Arlene Golonka, James McArthur, Bruce Dern, and a bunch of other great character actors, and the cheapjackery of capitalizing on Sergio Leone's works begins to dissipate a bit.I don't like Hang 'Em High so much as I find it reasonably watchable. I'm enough of a movie nut that, if it's on, I'll sit down to see a good performance here or a nice touch there. But just for a few moments. Then I'll move on.After one viewing, so should you.

Adam Peters (45%) With a plot thinner than good old Clint himself, its fairly standard direction, and characters we've all seen many times before in many different movies, this is some largely overrated wild west set fluff. It is a well made production, and the performances are fine, but the movie boils down to Clint arresting (yes arresting) a bunch of men that tired to kill him, he does, they get hung or shot, the end. The BBFC awarded this film an 18 certificate, I cannot see why myself, besides some men being hung nothing else is even worthy of a PG. Fans of Clint should give this a go, but I doubt I'll ever want to watch it again.