That was an excellent one.

Simply Perfect

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

"Rio Lobo" was the last film directed by Howard Hawks and, like his penultimate film "El Dorado", is often regarded as an unacknowledged remake of his "Rio Bravo". All three films star John Wayne and all three were made from a script by Leigh Brackett. All three are Westerns, although at first "Rio Lobo" does not seem like one. It starts with an extended prologue set during the American Civil War in which a group of Confederates, led by Captain Pierre Cordona and Sergeant Tuscarora Phillips, carry out a daring raid on a Union train carrying a valuable cargo of gold bullion.The main action takes place after the war in the town of Rio Lobo, Texas. Wayne's character, former Union Colonel Cord McNally, is seeking revenge for the death of a close friend killed during the raid on the train." He is not, however, seeking revenge upon the men who carried out the raid, as he regards what they did as a legitimate act of war. The men he is after are the traitors within the Union army who sold information about the bullion shipments to the Confederates. He discovers that these men are now the leaders of a gang of outlaws terrorising the town of Rio Lobo with the assistance of a corrupt sheriff. McNally joins forces with his former enemies Cordona and Tuscarora to lead the fight against the gang.Anyone with a knowledge of the conventions of the Western, especially the John Wayne Western, will be able to work out how the film progresses. This being a Howard Hawks film there also has to be a strong, determined female character of the sort Hawks loved to include in his films; critics even talked about the "Hawksian woman". Actually, this film contains not one Hawksian woman but three, in the shape of Tuscarora's girlfriend Maria Carmen, her friend Amelita and Shasta Delaney, a young woman seeking revenge for the killing of her lover by the bad guys and who becomes the love interest of the handsome Cordona. (By 1970, Wayne had probably regretfully concluded that he was getting a bit too old to expect a love interest in every movie).The film was not a great success when first released; the critics generally disliked it, and when the reviewer of the New York Times attempted to defend it the paper received numerous angry letters in protest. Since then, with the virtual canonisation of Wayne as an American icon, its stock has risen, although to my way of thinking it is not quite in the same class as some other late-period Wayne Westerns such as "Chisum" or "True Grit" or the original "Rio Bravo"; it is certainly not in the same class as that great film "The Shootist".The film has its good points. The attack on the train is well handled and I liked the title sequence in which a guitarist picks out the main theme of Jerry Goldsmith's musical score. On the acting side, however, Wayne is rather left to carry the film on his own, as the other main actors such as Jorge Rivero, Jennifer O'Neill and Christopher Mitchum are not particularly distinguished; in "El Dorado", by contrast, he received good support from Mitchum's better-known father Robert. Brackett does not self-plagiarise his script for "Rio Bravo" quite as blatantly here as he did in "El Dorado", but "Rio Lobo" still suffers from a disadvantage which had affected the earlier film, namely that its storyline is simply a variation on a well-worn standard Western plot which had been so widely used throughout the thirties, forties and fifties that it had become over-familiar. There were a few exceptions such as "The Shootist", but by the seventies it was becoming more and more difficult to say anything new in the Western genre, which partly explains (although there were other factors) its abrupt decline from the second half of the decade onwards. 6/10

After the Civil War, Cord McNally (John Wayne) searches for the traitor whose perfidy caused the defeat of McNally's unit, a shipment of gold to be stolen, and the loss of a close friend.I loved the beginning with the train robbery. Every part of it was executed perfectly, and the first ten minutes or so are probably the highlight of the film. And then the idea that the yanks and rebels could be friends was questionable but nice... and the shift from the war and the heist to tracking down a traitor, great. But it seemed to have a good deal of turns and subplots that were not quite necessary.The worst was Jennifer O'Neill, who played Shasta. I would gladly give this film another star if it was not for her. Every line was delivered so poorly. I guess Howard Hawks feared John Wayne was too old for the role... I thought Wayne was great. It was O'Neill that was the weak link. She just has no acting ability to speak of.Also, a special nod to Jack Elam, who was the comic relief. His wit and delivery (almost) make up for O'Neill, and on that count I have revised my 6 stars in 2015 to 7 stars in 2016 upon a second viewing. This may not be the best known Hawks-Wayne collaboration, but it certainly has its strong points.

The final film is Howard Hawks The good guys vs bad guys trilogy(as i like to call it)is set during the closing days of the civil war and involves military secrets being sold the other side,a robbery in gold,and one mans quest for vengeance and justice.First of all,this is one of the greatest westerns ever made,it got brilliant acting,perfect storyline and excellently staged,fast paced action scenes.John Wayne is again reprising his role as a Man on a Mission,and he's brilliant at it(in one scene he turns the tables on his captors which results in them being sent to a POW camp),other good performances come from Mike Henry who plays the sadistic town sheriff,Jack Elam is really funny as the bitter old man who helps the duke on his quest and David Huddleston is great as the town dentist,some of the scenes in this movie are nearly the same as El Dorado(food being brought to the sheriffs office which is under siege).The storyline is excellent as it focuses a lot on betrayal and revenge,the dukes friend is killed in a train robbery and he sets out intent on finding those responsible,the idea of military secrets falling into the wrong hands was great and it gives the movie the feel of a spy thriller.There's plenty of good old western action to enjoy,including a train robbery,a house being raided and an epic shootout to climax the film,during which many a man is shot and dynamite is tossed around and a building is blown up(it quite similar to the shootout at the end of Rio Bravo),the action is very loud and it's really exciting.This is a gem of a movie,i recommend it to all John Wayne and western fans.

The basic problem with "Rio Lobo" is the script. It's dreadful. Set during the Civil War, the plot begins with a Confederate Rebel train robbery of a Union gold shipment. This twenty minute sequence is a long, tedious, drawn-out affair. Then, the plot shifts to a different focus, as character motivations make a dramatic U-turn, and we move from a Civil War setting to a Western setting.Except for Cord McNally (John Wayne), Pierre Cordona (Jorge Rivero), and Tuscarora (Chris Mitchum), characters in the last third of the film bear no relation to characters in the first third of the film. Indeed, the entire plot seems put together with loose strands that barely connect.Once we get to the Western town of Rio Lobo, at least the daytime visuals look good, with convincing production design and costumes, even if the reason we're here is unclear and confusing. Yet, though the daytime images look fine, nighttime scenes look fake owing to the use of camera filters.Casting is dubious. John Wayne looks too old for the role he plays. Rivero and Mitchum seem too inexperienced. Acting trends below average; I'm not sure any of the actors took their roles seriously. Given McNally's motivation, Wayne plays the role too sweetly and amiably, hardly the tough and intense character we would expect.The best that can be said for "Rio Lobo" is that some of the daytime camera shots are quite pleasing, in that they convey images that romanticize the Old West. Apart from that, the production is far from ideal. But the most serious weakness is a script that needed a complete rewrite.