Rijndri Load of rubbish!!

Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Clarissa Mora The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

gornadmiral While many people may claim a book or movie is a must to read or view, the reason driving such as claim must be that the story treads ground that is not frequently done, and does it well. Such is the case here. This story should be MANDETORY viewing for high school or college age kids as an example of what it means to be a man, or what it means to be a woman. Early on it is filled with examples of what is 'thought' to be the best model of a man (the characters played by Chuck Conners, and Charlton Heston) - as rough riding, tough cowboys, and of a woman (Carol Baker) whose beauty is the main determinant. As the movie plays out it becomes apparent that Peck is the only 'true' man as his behavior repeatedly demonstrates, and Jean Simmons is the 'true' woman. By the end of the movie, there is some shift as 2 men from rival sides (Heston and Burl Ives) each demonstrate a flawed, but improved behavior compared to the bulk of the men. For Heston (who has now fought a lengthy fist fight with Peck, and finally learned what Peck was trying to teach him) now questions his prior way of thinking - yet still fights on the wrong side out of loyalty. Ives has a sense of honor (as he guns down his son for behaving dishonorable/evilly), but it is honor found too late. I have reviewed few movies here, but this one (because of its themes and the way it was done) I will give a solid 10 stars. On a final note, the title is a running joke in the movie, that may be too subtle for some. Everybody has a misplaced 'concern' for Peck's 'city slicker' getting lost - even to the point of calling him a liar when they thought he was lost when he wasn't. What needs to be remembered here is not just that he was navigating by 'compass and crude map', but that he was formerly a sea captain, and had the ability to navigate distances far more vast than some 2-3 day jaunt, in an environment with fewer landmarks. This point was never directly made in the movie, though it could be inferred.

jf-90133 Certainly one of the best western movies ever. I won't add to the spoilers (there have been enough of those already). But I will add that the original book of the same name by author Donald Hamilton is a must-have... it's just as good and is in fact different by a bit - enough to make it a great read and fill in more background details such as the backstory about the dueling pistols. The book is out of print, so you'll have to find a copy and it will not be cheap. Look for about $30 for a paperback copy. As you'll see, it's well worth every cent.

Robert J. Maxwell Gregory Peck is a ship's captain who moves to the Old West to marry his girl friend, Carol Baker, and is swept up in a family feud -- Burl Ives versus Charles Bickford -- over water rights for the cattle.Baker is Bickford's daughter, and Bickford's Stud Duck is Charlton Heston. Peck's arrival immediately generates a strong loathing in Heston, who believes Peck to have one foot in fairydom because he turns down an opportunity to mount an enraged horse and because he claims to have navigated the vast prairie with a compass, while everyone at the ranch believes the newcomer to have been lost. "The lostest thing I ever saw," says Heston.The name of Peck's character is James McKay. Heston is Steve Leech. I ask you, the discerning viewer, which are we to consider the "good guy" in this rivalry -- the character named McKay or the character named Leech? Someone wrote a ludicrous scene in which Burl Ives forces his fast-draw son, Chuck Connors, to shoot it out with Peck using a pair of old-fashioned dueling pistols. It ends with the discomfiture of one of the contestants.There are a lot of insults flung around, particularly aimed at masculinity. There is an epic fist fight that observes all the conventions of the Western movie of the 50s -- no blood and no bruises afterward. Curiously, Peck and Heston became good friends and remained so over the years, although Peck was "a card-carrying member of the ACLU" and Heston was the poster boy for the National Rifle Association.There is the requisite shoot out at the end. It's dramatic and nicely shot. The ending is sad but peaceful. We must assume that some sort of compromise is going to be reached because both gangs ride off into the sunset together.The photography and location shooting are marvelous. If it's not a vista of endless short-grass prairie, it's milk-white buttes and wadis veined with lavender. Very nicely directed by Anthony Mann. Peck had an argument with him during the shooting and the two didn't speak together for years. I'm inclined to think that the conflict was precipitated by the director. In his memoirs, Charlton Heston refers to Mann as an intransigent wild man.

Sergeant_Tibbs I'm always appalled at how little William Wyler I've seen. I adore The Best Years of Our Lives and Roman Holiday, but Ben-Hur is underwhelming. Now with The Big Country winning my heart, he really deserves better. I'm a sucker for a good subversive Western. The myth of the American frontier in cinema is fascinating to me and any film that develops the ideas inherently has my attention. The Big Country is credited as the first pacifist Western as Gregory Peck refuses to fight until the last moment or acknowledge the seriousness of any conflict. He's an unconventional hero. One who teeters a line of cowardice. But this just makes him all the more endearing as a three dimensional character. Granted, the film has its caricature characters on the side, but the script has such a dry wit. Burt Ives won an Oscar for his role and coming in an hour into the film, there wasn't much spotlight left to share, but he certainly has his moments. It's a grand epic in visuals and length that I easily sunk into. It's a big country alright. Also boasts one of the best scores I've ever heard. Can't believe it's not considered a greater classic.8/10