SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Alistair Olson After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

ma-cortes A hardened marshal called Bannock : Lancaster arrives in a wild and whooly town named Sabbath to look for some outlaws , but these work for the powerful owner Bronson: Lee J Cobb, then things go wrong . As his unexperienced son : John Beck and his band of gunfighters : Robert Duvall, JD Cannon , Richard Jordan , William Watson set out in pursuit Bannock .Later on , Bannock seeking the help of a timid sheriff : Robert Ryan , but he rejects him .Thought-provoking and suspenseful Western about a two-fisted as well as stoic marshal who comes into unfamiliar little town . This Lawman succeeds overall thanks to the skilled playing of its cast and Winner's typically tough style of storytelling , even though it contains some unconvincing moments . The picture packs thrills , go riding , fights , shootouts , violence and a lot of zooms . Lancaster gives a very good acting as a feared sheriff who seeks bandits refusing to sway from duty in spite of entire town turns against him . The acting honors go to Robert Ryan as a shy , reluctant but honorable sheriff .Others costarring providing enjoyable interpretations are the followings : Robert Duvall , JD Cannon , Sheree North , Albert Salmi , John McGiver , Joseph Wiseman , Richard Jordan , Ralph Waite , John Beck ,Richard Bull, and John Hillerman .And veteran Lee J Cobb delivers one of his finest performances as a tough land baron who seeks vengeance .Thrilling and pulsating musical score by Jerry Fielding , Sam Peckinpah's regular . And atmospheric and evocative cinematography by Robert Paynter , Winner's usual .This intriguing motion picture was compellingly directed by Michael Winner , though it has an unsatisfactory conclusion undermining otherwise splendid story .Winner was a prolific craftsman who made all kinds of genres as Terror : The nightcomers , Scream for help , The sentinel ; Costumers : The wicked lady ; Western : Chato the Apache with Charles Bronson ; Film Noir : The big sleep , but specially thrillers such as : Appointment with death , The Mechanic ,Firepower , The stone killer , being his greatest success the Death Wish series I , II , III starred by his fetish actor , Charles Bronson. Rating : 6.5/10 . Decent and acceptable western . It will appeal to Burt Lancaster fans.

LeonLouisRicci Notice the title...Lawman...it could well have been called...Pig...if the counter culture of the time had anything to say. But that would have been silly. But true nonetheless. Because this is a cop not unlike the men in blue of the turbulent, wild streets of the 1960's who knew no compromise and had only one thing on their minds (a job to do and complexities had nothing to do with it).This is an unusually interconnected film that has a depth of field that was fashionable and a cynicism prevalent in 1971. It has a plethora of verbiage that is only common in the best of Westerns with many quotable lines. There is a great cast and the tableaux of the time is excellent.A must see for fans of the genre and is an overlooked and under-appreciated film that is both an icon of the modern Western while also being a throwback to the psychological, multi- layered style of post-modern 1950's movies like High Noon, The Searchers, The Tall T, and The Naked Spur, to name a few.

jeffclinthill One fun way of viewing "Lawman" is to see it as a Western version of the 1953 Marlon Brando movie "The Wild One" with an alternative denouement. Both films begin with a bunch of rowdy guys in their twenties and thirties riding into a small town (on horseback in "Lawman" and on motorcycles in "The Wild One")and acting like spoiled teenagers with an arrogant sense of entitlement as they terrorize the place with their rough joviality. An innocent victim of their antics is an old man who is killed by accident. At this point in "The Wild One" J.C. Flippin steps in as the authority figure and the movie ends. In "Lawman" Burt Lancaster steps in as the authority figure and the movie begins.

dougdoepke A no-nonsense marshal is sent to apprehend roistering cowboys who've accidentally killed a townsman.The movie comes across as a revisionist western in keeping with its counter-cultural period. For example, none of the characters ends up as particularly likable, including Lancaster's and Ryan's. That way we're denied the usual hero to root for. Ordinarily, Lancaster's lawman would be expected to furnish the white hat, but here he comes across as a merciless enforcer, with no life apart from a professional one. Ryan too, as the burned-out sheriff, is sympathetic but hardly heroic, while Cobb's boss rancher transcends the usual black hat with some sympathetic character qualities. Even the scalawag gunsels show considerable regard for one another, with their own stories to tell. On a morality level, the movie is pretty complex, with no easy answers.All in all, it's an interesting story even if overdone at times, especially the big showdown that sprawls unconvincingly. Nonetheless, there's an aging Ryan and Lancaster, two of Hollywood's finest actors, lending authority to the proceedings. The supporting cast may be crowded and difficult to keep up with, still the movie definitely merits a look-see.