Gunpoint
Reviews
John Chard
It never pays to even the odds! Gunpoint is directed by Earl Bellamy and written by Mary and Willard Willingham. It stars Audie Murphy, Joan Staley, Warren Stevens, Edgar Buchanan, Denver Pyle, David Macklin, Nick Dennis and Royal Dano. Music is by Hans J. Salter and Technicolor cinematography by William Margulies. It's early 1880s Colorado and lawlessness is rife, mostly perpetrated by The Drago Gang who were able to enact their crimes and escape afterwards to the sanctuary of their New Mexico sanctuary. One man, however, is not going to go down without a fight, the sheriff of Lodgepole, Chad Lucas (Murphy). There's a school of thought that Audie Murphy's 1960s Westerns are far weaker than his 1950s ones? Which with one or two exceptions is rightly the case. The decade brought a wind of change in the Western genre, for soon Spaghetti would offer something new on the menu and revisionism was not far away either. With most of Audie's 60s output hindered by budget restrictions and a battle against the changing tide, one has to just hope there's enough on offer to not waste your time. Gunpoint is a right mixed bag that shows the best and worst of Audie's genre output of the decade. Murphy is just fine in is characterisation, his fans suitably catered for, while around him is a stoic and reliable group of Western performers. There's some nifty stunt work on show, plenty of action (property destruction, horse pursuits, shoot-outs etc), and the location photography out of Utah (St. George/Snow Canyon State Park) is gorgeous. While there's also a splendid old fashioned locomotive to enjoy as well. Narratively it's not high end, though a turn of events suggesting our hero to shockingly be a bully of sorts - which gives him emotional conflict - is a smart addition. Unfortunately the good in the production is off set by poor rear protection and polystyrene props etc, which while still carrying nostalgic value, comes with a hint of sadness of where these productions had landed at. Still, this is far from a waste of time, it holds all the requisite genre tropes for fans of Audie and the "B" Westerns we loved so much in the 50s. 6.5/10
John Chard
It never pays to even the odds! Gunpoint is directed by Earl Bellamy and written by Mary and Willard Willingham. It stars Audie Murphy, Joan Staley, Warren Stevens, Edgar Buchanan, Denver Pyle, David Macklin, Nick Dennis and Royal Dano. Music is by Hans J. Salter and Technicolor cinematography by William Margulies. It's early 1880s Colorado and lawlessness is rife, mostly perpetrated by The Drago Gang who were able to enact their crimes and escape afterwards to the sanctuary of their New Mexico stronghold. One man, however, is not going to go down without a fight, the sheriff of Lodgepole, Chad Lucas (Murphy). There's a school of thought that Audie Murphy's 1960s Westerns are far weaker than his 1950s ones? Which with one or two exceptions is rightly the case. The decade brought a wind of change in the Western genre, for soon Spaghetti would offer something new on the menu and revisionism was not far away either. With most of Audie's 60s output hindered by budget restrictions and a battle against the changing tide, one has to just hope there's enough on offer to not waste your time. Gunpoint is a right mixed bag that shows the best and worst of Audie's genre output of the decade. Murphy is just fine in is characterisation, his fans suitably catered for, while around him is a stoic and reliable group of Western performers. There's some nifty stunt work on show, plenty of action (property destruction, horse pursuits, shoot-outs etc), and the location photography out of Utah (St. George/Snow Canyon State Park) is gorgeous. While there's also a splendid old fashioned locomotive to enjoy as well. Narratively it's not high end, though a turn of events suggesting our hero to shockingly be a bully of sorts - which gives him emotional conflict - is a smart addition. Unfortunately the good in the production is off set by poor rear protection and polystyrene props etc, which while still carrying nostalgic value, comes with a hint of sadness of where these productions had landed at. Still, this is far from a waste of time, it holds all the requisite genre tropes for fans of Audie and the "B" Westerns we loved so much in the 50s. 6.5/10
Movie Recommendation
The Naked Spur1953-01-30A bounty hunter trying to bring a murderer to justice is forced to accept the help of two less-than-trustworthy strangers.More...
Bite the Bullet1975-09-26At the beginning of the 20th century, a newspaper organizes an endurance horse race : 700 miles to run in a few days. 9 adventurers are competing, among them a woman, Miss Jones, a Mexican, an Englishman, a young cow-boy, an old one and two friends, Sam Clayton and Luke Matthews. All those individualists will learn to respect each other.More...
The Tin Star1957-11-06An experienced bounty hunter helps a young sheriff learn the meaning of his badge.More...
Happy Gilmore1996-02-16Failed hockey player-turned-golf whiz Happy Gilmore — whose unconventional approach and antics on the green courts the ire of rival Shooter McGavin — is determined to win a PGA tournament so he can save his granny's house with the prize money. Meanwhile, an attractive tour publicist tries to soften Happy's image.More...
Geostorm2017-10-12After an unprecedented series of natural disasters threatened the planet, the world's leaders came together to create an intricate network of satellites to control the global climate and keep everyone safe. But now, something has gone wrong: the system built to protect Earth is attacking it, and it becomes a race against the clock to uncover the real threat before a worldwide geostorm wipes out everything and everyone along with it.More...
Knives Out2019-11-27When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan's dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan's untimely death.More...
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice2016-03-23Fearing the actions of a god-like Super Hero left unchecked, Gotham City’s own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis’s most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it’s ever known before.More...
Interstellar2014-11-05The adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.More...
Oldboy2003-11-21With no clue how he came to be imprisoned, drugged and tortured for 15 years, a desperate man seeks revenge on his captors.More...
Extraction2020-04-23A hardened gun-for-hire's latest mission becomes a soul-searching race to survive when he's sent into Bangladesh to rescue a drug lord's kidnapped son.More...
19172019-12-25At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers.More...
I, Daniel Blake2016-10-21A middle aged carpenter, who requires state welfare after injuring himself, is joined by a single mother in a similar scenario.More...
Candyman1992-10-16The Candyman, a murderous soul with a hook for a hand, is accidentally summoned to reality by a skeptic grad student researching the monster's myth.More...
Mystic River2003-10-07The lives of three men who were childhood friends are shattered when one of them suffers a family tragedy.More...
Avengers: Infinity War2018-04-25As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment - the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain.More...
Winter's Tale2014-02-13A burglar falls for an heiress as she dies in his arms. When he learns that he has the gift of reincarnation, he sets out to save her.More...
Green Book2018-11-16Tony Lip, a bouncer in 1962, is hired to drive pianist Don Shirley on a tour through the Deep South in the days when African Americans, forced to find alternate accommodations and services due to segregation laws below the Mason-Dixon Line, relied on a guide called The Negro Motorist Green Book.More...
Asterix & Obelix Take on Caesar1999-02-03Set in 50 B.C., Asterix and Obelix are living in a small but well-protected village in Gaul, where a magic potion concocted by Druids turns the townsfolk into mighty soldiers. When Roman troops carve a path through Gaul to reach the English Channel, Caesar and his aide de camp Detritus discover the secret elixir and capture the Druid leader who knows its formula, and Asterix and Obelix are sent off to rescue them.More...
Call Me by Your Name2017-07-28In the summer of 1983, a 17-year-old Elio spends his days in his family's villa in Italy. One day Oliver, a graduate student, arrives to assist Elio's father, a professor of Greco-Roman culture. Soon, Elio and Oliver discover a summer that will alter their lives forever.More...
Dallas Buyers Club2013-11-01Loosely based on the true-life tale of Ron Woodroof, a drug-taking, women-loving, homophobic man who in 1986 was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and given thirty days to live.More...
Similar Movies
The Ox-Bow Incident
1943-03-11A posse discovers a trio of men they suspect of murder and cow theft and are split between handing them over to the law or lynching them on the spot.Stagecoach
1939-03-02A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo, and learn something about each other in the process.The Good, the Bad and...
1966-12-22While the Civil War rages on between the Union and the Confederacy, three men – a quiet loner, a ruthless hitman, and a Mexican bandit – comb the American Southwest in search of a strongbox containing $200,000 in stolen gold.Blackjack Ketchum Des...
1956-04-01A former gunslinger comes to the aid of ranchers battling a murderous land baron.Pony Post
1940-12-01Atkins is the boss of one of the Pony Express relay stations. He has been causing trouble and is replaced with Cal Sheridan. Atkins now gets the Richard brothers to raid one of the relay stations and they kill Norma's father. Cal sees that the horse of one of the raiders has a broken shoe and Norma sets out to find that horse.Open Range
2003-08-11A former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt lawman.Shane
1953-04-23A weary gunfighter attempts to settle down with a homestead family, but a smouldering settler and rancher conflict forces him to act.Young Guns of Texas
1962-11-30A man searching for a stolen army payroll is joined by several men after the reward money. One of the pursuers, after killing a ranch foreman, elopes with the ranchers' daughter. Enraged at the shooting of his foreman and convinced that his daughter was kidnapped, the rancher leads a posse after his daughter. When Apaches attack the thieves and their pursuers, the rancher's posse is forced to side with his daughter's new husband and his friends.Shotgun
1968-03-01In a small western town our hero Durango delivers his prisoner to the jailhouse and then goes to the local saloon where the lady saloon owner Joanne has eyes only for him. But Durango only has eyes for his bride-to-be Lucy. Four masked men attack Lucy's father's farm and steal Lucy's dowry. They kill Lucy and her parents after the father strips the face mask from one of the bandits. A pocket watch is stripped from one of the bandits by Lucy's father and this is the only clue that Durango will have to revenge his love... With Joanne's help can Durango avenge himself?¡Three Amigos!
1986-12-12A trio of unemployed silent film actors are mistaken for real heroes by a small Mexican village in search of someone to stop a malevolent bandit.The Great Train Robbe...
1903-12-07After the train station clerk is assaulted and left bound and gagged, then the departing train and its passengers robbed, a posse goes in hot pursuit of the fleeing bandits.Guns of the Timberlan...
1960-02-01Logger Jim Hadley and his lumberjack crew are looking for new forest to cut. They locate a prime prospect outside the town of Deep Wells. The residents of Deep Wells led by Laura Riley are opposed to the felling of the trees, believing that losing them would cause mudslides during the heavy rains. Conflict between the town's residents and the loggers is inevitable.Tom Horn
1980-03-28A renowned former army scout is hired by ranchers to hunt down rustlers but finds himself on trial for the murder of a boy when he carries out his job too well. Tom Horn finds that the simple skills he knows are of no help in dealing with the ambitions of ranchers and corrupt officials as progress marches over him and the old west.Pale Rider
1985-06-28A mysterious preacher protects a humble prospector village from a greedy mining company trying to encroach on their land.The Salvation
2014-05-22In 1870s America, a peaceful American settler kills his family's murderer which unleashes the fury of a notorious gang leader. His cowardly fellow townspeople then betray him, forcing him to hunt down the outlaws alone.Cheyenne Cowboy
1949-02-02Cheyenne Jones comes to the Blue River Ranch and asks for a job as a cowpuncher. Actually, Jones's real name is Buck McCloud and he's the new owner of the spread, having inherited it when his uncle died a year earlier. He's roaming the range incognito while trying to identify who's behind the cattle rustling that is afflicting his new business.Will Penny
1967-12-19Will Penny, an aging cowpoke, takes a job on a ranch which requires him to ride the line of the property looking for trespassers or, worse, squatters. He finds that his cabin in the high mountains has been appropriated by a woman whose guide to Oregon has deserted her and her son. Too ashamed to kick mother and child out just as the bitter winter of the mountains sets in, he agrees to share the cabin until the spring thaw. But it isn't just the snow that slowly thaws; the lonely man and woman soon forget their mutual hostility and start developing a deep love for one another.High Noon
1952-06-09Will Kane, the sheriff of a small town in New Mexico, learns a notorious outlaw he put in jail has been freed, and will be arriving on the noon train. Knowing the outlaw and his gang are coming to kill him, Kane is determined to stand his ground, so he attempts to gather a posse from among the local townspeople.Butch Cassidy and the...
1969-09-23As the west rapidly becomes civilized, a pair of outlaws in 1890s Wyoming find themselves pursued by a posse and decide to flee to South America in hopes of evading the law.The Wild Bunch
1969-06-19An aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is disappearing around them.