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  Specs
  • Widescreen 2.35:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  • Dual Layer ( )
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital Stereo
  • French: Dolby Digital Stereo
  • German: Dolby Digital Stereo
  • Italian: Dolby Digital Stereo
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  • Theatrical trailer

The War Wagon

Universal/Universal . R4 . COLOR . 97 mins . G . PAL

  Feature
Contract

This is another of those curious westerns where a crooked ex-felon is granted ‘good guy’ status because the sheriff is more crooked than he is.

John Wayne is at his swaggering best as he plays Taw Jackson, a fella with a gold claim who just finished three years in the big house. When he comes back to town he swears to get even with the guy who set him up to take a fall and what done took his claim. The guy what done took this claim is Pierce (Bruce Cabot) who has hired Taw’s old nemesis (actually, a grudging friend) Lomax (Kirk Douglas) to kill him for an exorbitant amount. Naturally, the old friend is gonna cash in until Taw says he’s got a way to get all his gold back from Pierce in a wild hijacking of the war wagon. This is Pierce’s armoured carriage (with a 20-man entourage of guns) that will be carrying half a million dollars worth of gold (coincidentally) in a week or so. And so, cobbling together a gang of villians to pull off the caper, Taw and Lomax set about wreaking vengeance and getting rich in the process.

With some decidedly dodgy parts that include Howard Keel playing a Native American and Kirk Douglas sporting the gayest wild west outfits I’ve ever seen, this film is still a bunch of fun and the actors all seem to enjoy playing their parts. The War Wagon even manages to find room for a small romance among the dust and ends up running kinda like an old west version of The Italian Job. That is, the ending doesn’t justify crime whilst also seeing all loose ends are neatly tied up. It’s a bit of fun and as far as John Wayne western vehicles go, this is one of the better ones I’ve reviewed.

  Video
Contract

Video quality is pretty much what you could expect of a film in this genre and age bracket. Presented full size at 2.35:1 and enhanced, the magnificent desert backdrops all look superb. The picture is mostly sharp and clean, although there are numerous aliasing instances with hat brims. This could hardly be helped, but it does get a little distracting after a while. There are also some moments of shimmering, but these aren’t too frequent and usually involve gingham shirt fabrics. Naturally there are artefacts and one unbelievably horrible repaired film instance at 27:02 in which a full-on film tear travels right to left across screen for five frames. Nasty stuff.

  Audio
Contract

Dolby Digital stereo delivers the sound for this 1967 western adventure and it does the trick quite suitably here. Dialogue is all fairly clear, which includes Mr Keel’s 'Native American' accent. There are your ornery and grizzled old prospector’s voices in here as well and they also sound darn tootin’, dagnabbit!

Sound effects are the usual fare here. Plenty of gunshots and whining ricochets off rocks, plus breaking liquor bottles and stage punches and they all get a share of the stock sound effects pie. However, they suit the comic feel of the film and are easily overlooked. The music, on the other hand, is a little harder to look past. With Ed Ames’ Ballad of the War Wagon hitting us in lyric or musical form at every available action scene, we could get a bit sick of it given time. For the most part, though, the music is fine and gives us a comedic or menacing or whatever effect as required.

  Extras
Contract

Well, pardners, there’s just the trailer to keep us happy ’til sun-up. It’s delivered in 2.35:1 without enhancement, consarn it, and some of the edges are pretty soft as well. Mr Douglas and Mr Wayne both have a chin-wag to the good folks at home during this ‘un too, speaking on what the film’s about. A bit dodgy, but worthwhile as an inclusion.

  Overall  
Contract

If you’re trying to find a good old-fashioned fun western in which no-one bleeds all over everything when they get shot, this is the one for you. Plenty of folks go down alright, but not a one sports an injury. Whilst being a typical John Wayne western, it is also a lot of fun with Wayne and Douglas working well together and convincingly as friends. The story is okay and while not being brain surgery, is still engaging enough to hold your interest. Try and look past the embarrassment of a white dude playing a Native American and enjoy the film for what it is; harmless Saturday afternoon fun at the movies.


  • LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=3021
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      And I quote...
    "When the war wagon rolls... the screen explodes! (According to the trailer)."
    - Jules Faber
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Nintaus DVD-N9901
    • TV:
          Sony 51cm
    • Receiver:
          Diamond
    • Speakers:
          Diamond
    • Surrounds:
          No Name
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard Optical
    • Video Cables:
          Standard Component RCA
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