Search - The Bravados on DVD

Great film if intact

a movie fan | Orangevale, CA USA | 04/18/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"An excellent film with an unusual and dramatic canyon background, which requires widescreen. Yet again, we have a great film listed without any data on aspect ratio. I don't know whether Amazon is becoming negligent or the studios are remaining devious, but there seems to be a recent epidemic of this and I would defer purchase until the disc details are made public."

A big story with a big impact

Steven Hellerstedt | 07/04/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"There's going to be a hanging in Rio Arriba, and Jim Douglass (Gregory Peck) has ridden a hundred miles to see it. You see, the four men - Stephen Boyd, Albert Salmi, Henry Silva and Lee van Cleef - about to be hanged committed a great crime that changed Douglass's life forever, and he's there to see justice carried out. When the condemned men escape, Douglass makes it his personal mission to deliver justice to the bad guys.

I love revenge movies, and the premise of Henry King's THE BRAVADOS holds great promise. One avenging angel - Gregory Peck - versus four scurvy killers. The best revenge movies go to the chase as soon as possible, and reveal character and motivation through the chase. Unfortunately THE BRAVADOS takes forever to kick into gear. The movie spends a good half hour in Rio Arriba, an eternity in movie time, introducing characters and establishing motives. Some of the characters don't really belong in the movie, either. It's in Rio Arriba that we meet Josefa Velarde (Joan Collins), a beautiful young Elizabeth Taylor type who met, loved and declined Douglass's proposals a half-decade or so ago. Collins wasn't a terrific actress, and some of her high emotion scenes in this one are painfully amateurish. Even a talented actress wouldn't redeem the role, though. Every time Josefa appears the movie grinds to a halt. THE BRAVADOS prove the rule that women and action movies don't mix.

On the trailer Gregory Peck tells us that THE BRAVADOS is `a big story with a big impact.' I'd call it a potentially big story that never gets on track. We learn a big surprise or two near the end, ones that should have taken our breath away. Instead they kind of limp over the line, somewhat naked in their improbability. Peck proves capable of doing justice to a revenge-ridden protagonist. It would have been fascinating, and probably would have resulted in a much better movie, if he could have spent more time exploring the dark side of his character.

The double sided dvd contains both full screen and widescreen versions of the movie. I watched the widescreen version, which was in very good condition. Extras include a trailer for the movie and a couple of very brief - under a minute per - period newsreels.

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Grim, compelling Western with excellent perfomances

Dean C. Eaton | USA | 11/03/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"THE BRAVADOS is a moody, brutal piece of work that in many ways predates the cynical moods of later Westerns of the 60s and 70s. Gregory Peck stars a man bent on revenge against the four men who raped and murdered his wife. The outlaws (Stephen Boyd, Albert Salmi, Henry Silva and Lee Van Cleef) are in jail in Rio Arriba waiting to be hung, and Peck is there to witness the deed. The prisoners escape, however, and Peck becomes an obssessed member of the posse sent to hunt them down. This is another fruitful collaboration between Peck and director Henry King, who also made THE GUNFIGHTER and TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH together. This is NOT the Gregory Peck we know and love! He is moody, sullen, full of anger and relentless in his pursuit of the villains. The brutality of the film may come as a shock to viewers even now, but its harshness makes it a precursor to the Sergio Leone/CLint Eastwood films nearly a decade later. (The fact that Lee Van Cleef has a major supporting role makes the connection even stronger.) There is also a mean but logical twist in the tale that makes THE BRAVADOS one of the most entertaining of 1950s Westerns."

Great Revenge western with a "Peck" and a "Twist"

Brian C. Lawton | Brooklyn, New York United States | 06/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The 50's and early 60's in my opinion brought forward some of the

best of the pychological (or thinking man's) westerns and this Fox

entry into the genre never really got the respect it deserved upon

it's release but has recieved more respect among modern collectors

of older style shoot'em ups Gregory Peck plays that of Jim Douglas

who rides into a town with no reason other than to witness hanging

of four men whom he has never met before for a crime he knows they

commited only to hunt them down one by one after they break out of

jail with a hostage. And what cast with ever lovely Joan Collins as the girl from Jim's happier past who could have been his wife

and Stepen Boyd,Lee Van Cleef,Albert Salami & Henry Sylia as the

the titled "Bravados" In answer to one reviewers concern,yes the

disc contains both the wide and Full screen versions of the film

and the sound is excellent quality to promote that great opening title soundtrack.



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