A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The first must-see film of the year.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

LAWMAN is a pretty decent American-made western, shot in Mexico by director-for-hire Michael Winner who doesn't get much chance to show off his later style, although the film is perhaps a little grimmer, a little grittier, a little more grounded in reality than usual. The film is worth watching for the cast alone, a huge group of old-timers backed up by the fresh faces of Robert Duvall and Richard Jordan.Burt Lancaster is the ageing hero, tracking down a group of men who were responsible for the shooting of a townsman after a celebration that got out of hand. He arrives in town and soon runs in with the marshal, as played by old-timer Robert Ryan (if you thought he looked aged in THE WILD BUNCH, you ain't seen nothing yet). The rest of the film sees him working his way through the various would-be villains while causing consternation with pretty much everybody else.This is solid entertainment for genre fans and even the romantic scenes with Sheree North are pretty enjoyable. Ryan and Lancaster give typically assured performances, the latter excelling as a tough guy in the Eastwood mould. The likes of Lee J. Cobb and Ralph Waite support them well. Not one of Winner's finest films, but it'll do.

One fun way of viewing "Lawman" is to see it as a Western version of the 1953 Marlon Brando movie "The Wild One" with an alternative denouement. Both films begin with a bunch of rowdy guys in their twenties and thirties riding into a small town (on horseback in "Lawman" and on motorcycles in "The Wild One")and acting like spoiled teenagers with an arrogant sense of entitlement as they terrorize the place with their rough joviality. An innocent victim of their antics is an old man who is killed by accident. At this point in "The Wild One" J.C. Flippin steps in as the authority figure and the movie ends. In "Lawman" Burt Lancaster steps in as the authority figure and the movie begins.

I have just had occasion to see this film multiple times. The primary reasons why I would heartily recommend it to any fan of serious film making are its amazingly poetic, philosophical script, and its unusually thought-provoking qualities. Much of the language is unusually flavorful and articulate, with many wonderfully memorable lines. There is a particular act of violence at the end of the picture which is specifically mentioned in other comments posted on this sight. I would prefer to avoid including a spoiler in my commentary. I will merely say, "Watch closely for it." It defies easy understanding, but I feel that it brilliantly stimulates some very intense concentration on the meaning of the whole story that has led up to it. In so many westerns, the role of the lawman is not really scrutinized, or questioned. Usually, the man is a hero. If he is corrupt, he is a villain. This movie presents an unusually laid-back subtle performance for Burt Lancaster as a man that you, the viewer, must ultimately evaluate for yourself. As with the Lee J. Cobb character, he is not evil by intention, but is he heroic? This question, and the whole film will probably haunt you for a good while after it is over. This is most uncommon in the genre.

A no-nonsense marshal is sent to apprehend roistering cowboys who've accidentally killed a townsman.The movie comes across as a revisionist western in keeping with its counter-cultural period. For example, none of the characters ends up as particularly likable, including Lancaster's and Ryan's. That way we're denied the usual hero to root for. Ordinarily, Lancaster's lawman would be expected to furnish the white hat, but here he comes across as a merciless enforcer, with no life apart from a professional one. Ryan too, as the burned-out sheriff, is sympathetic but hardly heroic, while Cobb's boss rancher transcends the usual black hat with some sympathetic character qualities. Even the scalawag gunsels show considerable regard for one another, with their own stories to tell. On a morality level, the movie is pretty complex, with no easy answers.All in all, it's an interesting story even if overdone at times, especially the big showdown that sprawls unconvincingly. Nonetheless, there's an aging Ryan and Lancaster, two of Hollywood's finest actors, lending authority to the proceedings. The supporting cast may be crowded and difficult to keep up with, still the movie definitely merits a look-see.