Customer Reviews
3:10 To Yuma - By: Spider Monkey, 25 Oct 2008 
I have to start by saying that I enjoyed this film way more than I expected to. Not being a fan of Westerns or Russell Crowe, I wasn't expecting great things, but this film surprised me by keeping my entertained & completely 'in' the film the whole way through. The scenery & direction is superb, the acting is mainly good, the story, although implausible at times, was fun & interesting enough to keep me watching & the overall package makes for two hours of film viewing that is not too heavy & with plenty of fights & action sequences to boot. The actor who plays 'Charlie' is especially good & Crowe even managed to endear himself to me this time. For fans of the genre you may either love this or be disappointed depending on your take, but for everyone else this is a good film, with enough on offer to make for enjoyable viewing. A solid four stars.
Miss-fire - By: Stephen Mcguigan, 21 Oct 2008 
This movie is a complete waste of time what were the people who made this movie thinking,remake a bad movie.... Bad idea.I love westerns but this was a total waste of time. I could of made a better western with my webcam & a cap gun. Total trash--- EPIC FAIL
Ten past three - By: Demob Happy, 12 Oct 2008 
The release of 3:10 to Yuma, coinciding with that of 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford', got some critics excited about the re-birth of the Western. While two films from Hollywoodin one year hardly signifies a renaissance, Ed Harris' 2008 Western 'Appaloosa' certainly suggests there is life leftin the genre. Perhaps more significantly, films such as 'No Country For Old Men' & 'There Will Be Blood' - while not belonging archetypally to the genre - hinted at the waysin which the frontier myths could be further explored beyond the cowboy paradigm.
Directed by James Mangold, following his decent Oscar-winning Johnny Cash biopic 'Walk The Line', '3:10 to Yuma' is a glossy, hi-octane Hollywood action flick. Those expecting a subtler revision of the Western genrein the mould of 'Jesse James' or Clint Eastwood's peerless 'Unforgiven' might be disappointed. Both those films explore the notion of myth & deconstruct the traditional glamourisation of violencein the genre, but 3:10 ignores the revisionism of the latter-day Western, ratcheting up the action & the body count. While those films showed the harsh realities of lifein the American West, & the debilitating effects of violence on the human body, 3:10 sees characters recover swiftly from bullet wounds to continue their horseback pursuits.
On paper the cast looks like an exciting proposition, but Russel Crowe severely hams it up as the outlaw baddie, & Christian Bale's earnest civil-war-vet-trying-to-do-the-right-thing is sadly dull. 3:10's gun-slinging blood-thirstiness might appeal to fans of Sam Peckinpah more than those of, say, Sergio Leone or John Ford: it is neither grittily realistic nor Golden-age romantic. A remake of a 1957 film of the same name, originally based on 1953 Western short story by Elmore Leonard, there are few surprisesin a film that adds little of fresh import or imagination to the genre.
Quality remake - By: S J Buck, 05 Oct 2008 This is a remake of the 1957 film of the same name. Fortunately I saw the original last year, which is a minor classic itself. In general I don't like remakes, however this is well done & Russell Crowe again shows that when he wants to, he can be a terrific actor. Rather surprisingly I thought his performance overshadowed Christian Bale's, who is generally considered a better actor.
The story that Peter Ustinov used to tell of an actor he was working with is never more true than here. Ustinov wasin the backgroundin a shot, & the star of the movie turned to him & said "what are you doing?". Ustinov said "I'm doing nothing". The star said "Oh no your not I'M DOING NOTHING". That sort of sums of Russell Crowes performance. He doesn't do a lot, but his not doing a lot is actually very good!
The plot has been told over & over here so to keep it short, Ben Wade (Crowe) is a notorious criminal who has to be put on the 3:10 train to Yuma (where there is a prison). Dan Evans (Bale) is a struggling farmer who being desparate for money volunteers to help, knowing that Wades gang will be on their tail.
The major difference between this film & the original is the inclusion of Dan Evans son as a major character. I didn't think this did any harm, &in places it worked very well.
The single DVD has a few extras on it which are pretty good (commentary/deleted scenes). On the DVD case it says its the best western since Unforgiven. Whilst writing this review I was trying to think of any other westerns since Unforgiven & couldn't remember any... So if I've seen any they obviously didn't have a big impact. This film is by no means perfect but I have no problem recommending it.
a bit bad, a bit good, a bit ugly - By: C. W. Bell, 29 Sep 2008 Visually beautiful, brilliant performance from Crowe, but overdose on schmalz at times & going beyond suspension of disbelief at others. Ultimately a pleasing piece of entertainment without much gravitas.
