IslandGuru Who payed the critics

Helloturia I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Joanna Mccarty Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

JLRVancouver "Deadly Companions" is an early western directed by the legendary Sam Peckinpah. Brian Keith plays a former Union soldier who has taken up with a grizzled old Reb (Chill Wills) and a young gunsel (Steve Cochran), ostensibly to rob a bank. A shootout occurs when someone else hits the bank, during which Keith's character misses his target and kills a young boy. When the boy's mother (Maureen O'Hara) announces that she is going to transport the body to a cemetery in an abandoned town in the middle of Apache country, Keith's character decides to accompany her as a form of atonement. The movie starts out strongly, establishing Keith's and O'Hara's characters and setting up the 'road trip' to the cemetery, but falters somewhat as the group trek through the desert. The conclusion is good, albeit it somewhat predictable, and more 'realistic' than the typical Westerns climax. Although far from Peckinpah's best work, the film presages his masterpiece "The Wild Bunch", particularly in Keith's partially disabled veteran, the realistic gunplay, the suddenness of death, and the general melancholy of the story. All in all, a bit uneven but the good outweighs the bad (IMO), making this a watchable film from the man who, over the next decade, would direct some of the best Westerns ever made.

Leofwine_draca THE DEADLY COMPANIONS is a slow and long-winded low budget western chiefly of interest for being Sam Peckinpah's first movie. His presence is felt in the anti-hero qualities of the main characters; the hero of the piece begins the movie by shooting a kid in an accident and struggles to make amends for his misdeeds thereafter.Holding the whole thing together is old-timer Maureen O'Hara, who brings a wealth of cinematic experience to the production with her. The story follows her character as she leads her son's body through the desert in order to give him a decent burial. There are some double-crossings and macho heroism stuff en route, but the film's sense of weariness is heightened in the viewer himself, making this something of a slog at times.

LeonLouisRicci Disjointed and Uneven Western, Sam Peckinpah's First Feature Film is a Glum and Gloomy Movie that has some Offbeat Inclusions and Shoddy Camera Work. It is Certainly not a Typical Western and has some of that Odd Peckinpah Grit. The Shooting Death of a Child, a Mentally Deranged Major Character, the Leading Man is both Crippled and Scalped, some Sadistic Torture, Drunken Indians Playing Dressup with Stagecoach Remnants, Dragging a Coffin across the Desert, an Attempted Rape, a Sunday Sermon in a Saloon, and More.But it isn't put together very well and the Music Background is Awful. The Pacing is Slow and the Ending Lacks some Punch. But although most Prints are Dark and Fuzzy at times there is Enough On Screen that is Worth a View for Fans of Westerns and the Director. Just Expect a Downbeat Tone and a Mild Disappointment.

MartinHafer When you watch "The Deadly Companions", you'd be hard pressed to realize it was a Sam Peckinpah directed film unless you knew it. While it does bear some similarity in style to "Ride the High Country" and "Major Dundee", it lacks the excessive violence most people associate with Peckinpah today. It is far quieter and subtle than a typical Peckinpah films, that's for sure.The film begins with three low-lifes traveling together. This is by far the weakest part of the film, as the three really are way too disparate characters to be together. While Yellowleg (Brian Keith) acts mean, he's decent down deep and why he's with two scum-bags is a perplexing thing. Soon, there is a bank robbery in town and in the the process, a fallen woman's (Maureen O'Hara) son is killed by Yellowleg. Of course, it was an accident--he was trying to stop the robbery. And, the fallen lady really is NOT bad--the townsfolk just assumed the worst about her and her son since they didn't care to know he died before the child was born and before the lady came to town. Because the town treated her so badly, the lady vows never to bury her child in this crappy town but sets off across Indian territory to a town where she and her husband married. It's an insane trip and Yellowleg vows to accompany her--even though she hates him and refuses his help. Unfortunately, his two associates follow as well and you know sooner or later, it's them or Yellowleg.This is a decent film--not great. I liked the character study and quiet moments in the film, though a few plot points simply were confusing and made little sense (such as the identity of the man Yellowleg was pursuing for all those years). Still, the good far outweighs the bad and it's worth seeing.