The Cowboys (Deluxe Edition) (DVD)

Review of

The Cowboys (Deluxe Edition) (DVD)

Overall rating (1): Overall user rating The Cowboys (Deluxe Edition) (DVD)

4 offers from £3.66 to £6.77  

All The Cowboys (Deluxe Edition) (DVD) reviews

 Write your own review


 


 


Oh Boy, Hubby's film choice!

3 Mar 6th, 2009

Advantages:
Good music and scenery

Disadvantages:
John Wayne !

Recommendable: Yes 

Detailed rating:

Did you enjoy it?

Story

Characters / Performances

Special Effects

How does it compare to similar films?

more


sewbizzie

About me: Apologies for my absence, had an abcess burst which resulted in me being rushed into hospital but al...

Member since:09.07.2007

Reviews:513

Members who trust:231

Review rated by 45 Ciao members on average: very helpful

Oh boy, I think my hubby is getting revenge for me watching a chick flick last night as tonight I had to suffer a John Wayne film of his choice. His choice being The Cowboys which was when John Wayne was at his peak so I am told.

The film sees John Wayne playing the role of William Anderson who is a 60 year old ranch owner who is trying to get his cattle to market as this will be his last year due to his age. He does not have any cowboys as they have all deserted him to go in search of gold. One of his friends suggests he goes to the town school and recruit the boys to help him but he is not sure about this.

Soon he has 10 of the boys at his ranch and he is training them up to help him. During the training of the boys an older man turns up who I believe is called Nightingale and joins them. Nightingale helps with the teaching of the boys and soon finds himself as their role model. They are successful in training them and they soon set off on the 400 mile journey with the cattle to get to the market. Will they all arrive and sell the cattle and what life lessons will they learn along the way?

As I am not a John Wayne fan I was not very keen on watching this film as I thought it would be complete and utter rubbish but as it happens I was quite surprised. The story to the film was very good for a western and there was a great number of characters which gave the film a lot more depth. The young actors who played the parts of the school boys were excellent in their roles and they all looked very comfortable working with the horses and the cattle. All of them had speaking roles and I thought they came across very sincere and believable on screen.

John Wayne played his role well and I did believe in his character. I though the worked well with all of the young actors and they had a wonderful chemistry. I liked the fact that he came across as being very strict but in fact he was teaching them without the boys even knowing it. The role of nightingale was played by a very fine actor who I cannot recall the name of but he too worked well with the other actors and the horses.

The film was set in the 1800’s and everything looked very authentic and nothing seemed to be out of place. I think the Director really deserves some credit for making everything look so real. Hubby did say that the ranch which was used at the beginning of the film did actually belong to John Wayne.

The music throughout the film was for me the best part, despite not liking western films or their music. It was all written by John Williams who is also know for writing the music for Star Wars and Superman. It was all in keeping with the film and fitted very well. The music also added to the drama and tension of the film.

The film was shot on location but there was times when I did think that the back drop was added at a later date as the outline of the character seemed to be blurry around the edges but hubby told me this did not happen. Despite this there are some lovely shots of mountains and scenery which I feel added to the film for me.

I thought I was going to pee myself when half way through the film a black screen came up and we had the word ‘intermission’ come on the screen with the theme music playing. I really thought that they could have taken this out when transferring the film onto DVD. Hubby was very cheeky and did tell me to go and get him an ice cream when the music was on but the response I gave him is not allowed to be written on this site!

The DVD which we have does have some bonus material which includes:-

Commentary by Director Mark Rydell
New Cast / director reunion Featurettes ‘The Cowboys Together Again’
Vintage Featurettes ‘The Breaking of the boys and the making of men’
Trailer

I really did not make the time or the effort to watch these as I am not a western fan and had to suffer the film for long enough as it was.

The film has a running time of 129 minutes which I felt was just slightly too long as they could have compacted this down to a nice hour and a half which would have made it appeal more to me. The certificate of the film is a 12 which I feel is very appropriate as these is some moderate violence.

We bought this DVD many months ago but I had managed to get out of watching it. We paid just under £5 from Amazon which I am glad about as I don’t think I would have liked to have paid more.

Overall I would say that only real western fans or John Wayne fans should watch this film.
 

Evaluate this review

How helpful would this review be to someone making a buying decision?

Rating guidelines

Comments about this review
Gladiator007

Gladiator007

17.03.2009 20:06

wow..nicely reviewed..:)

Praski

Praski

09.03.2009 21:56

I think I would have liked this - I like a good western and an Ice Cream. Well reviewed.xx

dan_pentagram

dan_pentagram

09.03.2009 16:52

How did you manage to stay all the way through? Its sounds utterly boring though greatly reviewed :0)

Add your comment

max. 2000 characters

  Post comment
Compare Prices sorted by Price
The Cowboys [DVD] [1972]

The Cowboys [DVD] [1972]

Release Date: 2007-05-28, Rating Suitable for 12 years and over,

£ 3.66 amazon dvd 719 Ratings

Postage & Packaging: £1.​21

Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-​2 business days.​.​.

     Visit Shop  

amazon dvd

The Cowboys: Deluxe Edition DVD

The Cowboys: Deluxe Edition DVD

After his cowhands desert him for a nearby gold rush ageing leather-tough ...

more

£ 4.99 play.com (films) 337 Ratings

Postage & Packaging: £0.​00

Availability: 3-​5 working days

     Visit Shop  

play.​com ​(films)

The Cowboys [Deluxe Edition]-DVD

The Cowboys [Deluxe Edition]-​DVD

...

£ 5.43 thehut.com 25 Ratings

Postage & Packaging: £0.​00

Availability: In stock -​ Usually dispatched within 24 hours.​.​.

     Visit Shop  

thehut.​com



Compare prices
The Cowboys [DVD] [1972] The Cowboys: Deluxe Edition DVD The Cowboys [Deluxe Edition]-DVD
The Cowboys [DVD] [1972] The Cowboys: Deluxe Edition DVD The Cowboys [Deluxe Edition]-​DVD
amazon dvd play.com (films) thehut.com
£ 3.66 £ 4.99 £ 5.43
Postage & Packaging: £1.​21
more
Postage & Packaging: £0.​00
more
Postage & Packaging: £0.​00
more
 Visit Shop  Visit Shop  Visit Shop
amazon dvd play.​com ​(films) thehut.​com
Review Ratings
This review of The Cowboys (Deluxe Edition) (DVD) has been rated:

"very helpful" by (98%):
  1. silverstreak
  2. Gladiator007
  3. wildtinsey
and 41 other members

"helpful" by (2%):
  1. bella6789

The overall rating of a review is different from a simple average of all individual ratings.
Products you might be interested in
Hang 'Em High (DVD) Hang 'Em High (DVD)
Production Year: 1968 - Westerns - Director: Ted Post - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Clint Eastwood, Ed Begley, Inger Stevens, Pat Hingle, Bruce Dern, Dennis Hopper, Ben Johnson
4 reviews
Buy now for only £ 2.22
Red River (DVD) Red River (DVD)

This product has not yet been reviewed. Rate it now
Buy now for only £ 2.30
Rio Bravo (DVD) Rio Bravo (DVD)
Production Year: 1959 - Westerns - Director: Howard Hawks - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring: John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson, Ward Bond, Claude Akins, Walter Brennan, John Russell
2 reviews
Buy now for only £ 3.29
Related products on eBay