Customer Reviews

Bite the Bullet

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

As another customer has stated, this version does NOT include the widescreen format. I have asked Amazon to change their Web page showing the format but please be aware before you buy.

I watched this film the other night- I hadn't seen it since I was a teenager. I loved it.

It's a western that's much more than that. While it's premise is about a horse race- it's really about life's race; about games that seem bought and paid for, age vs youth, friendships and whether we let things come between them, and about why people run the race and how one man's reaction to it can influence others to change the dynamic(in a good way).

Hackman and Coburn make a good combination in this as former Rough Riders. Jan Michael Vincent had a role where he really had to shine and I think he gave the performance of his career, here. Ben Johnson breaks your heart in what is one of the most real roles he has ever offered (and probably a real testament to how the real cowboy lived). Candice Bergman is terrific, too.

This story handles a full range of issues (racial, sexual and animal rights) in a fair and real sense. Some have remarked about some of the cruelty depicted here, and the point Richard Brooks was making (I think) is, there are some real swine in this world. They view anything- be it animal or their fellow human beings, merely as a means to an end. They're either too stupid or too insensitive to know how dark they are. It's also an example of how we set examples for one another. If you allow stupid to do as stupid does- stupid will!

I won't spoil the ending- let's just say that it makes a point about what's really important, in a very effective, emotion filled way. I think you leave this film not only satisfied- but feeling uplifted.

My personal favorite of Richard Brooks and time extrememly well spent.

This terrific movie depicts a long distance horse race in an old west on the cusp of change. Advancing industries and machinery (sequence with Coburn and Hackman bouncing around in a motorbike and side-car reflects this perfectly, and is a hoot!) would soon render many aspects of frontier life out-moded. This movie covers great distances both geographically and in terms of the characters. Gene Hackman is tremendous and sits astride the narrative with a knock-out performance. His hard-bitten sweat-drenched horseman with a barb-wire soul is given extra depth by the fact that he is also a fighter for animal rights -a novel notion in that age. Coburn is Coburn; basso-profundo voice, grinning with all 95 of his teeth, he does all that is asked of him. Feisty Candice Bergen displays grit and guts to match the dudes and more than holds her own in a film with leaves you spent and involved. The look and flavour of the movie are rooted firmly in the 70's - a golden age of cinema - and the direction and set pieces involve you from the get-go. The sand, sweat and blood onscreen is palpable. And the struggles, deceptions and rivalries will bring out the true grit in any viewer. Heartily recommended for all my fellow honchos out there riding the lonesome trail with dusty denims and prairie dreams.

Bite the Bullet assembles some of the best talent in Hollywood. Gene Hackman, James Coburn and Ben Johnson are each at their finest. And who knew Candice Bergen could sit a horse so well? This grueling endurance race, based very loosely on a true story, pits Thoroughbred against Mustang, Arabian against Quarter Horse. The riders are no less a mixed bag than their mounts. The savage terrain takes its toll on man and beast, creating enemies and reluctant allies. The brutality depicted in this race was not unknown at that time and one hopes that the Special Effects Department was responsible for bringing it to the screen. Making that optimistic assumption, I recommend the movie to action lovers and those who study human nature. And I smile, knowing that my grandfather would have called it a "humdinger" of a tale!

Despite the description given, this DVD does NOT have a wdescreen version on it. Only the opening credits and a few following scenes are in widescreen. The film then changes to full screen. Interestingly the ending also seems to have been truncated/cut off, e.g., not even "The End" apppears at the conclusion!

For what it may be worth, this film, especially the desert scenes, reminds me of "Hidalgo" and might even have served as the inspiration for that film. It has an excellent 5-Star cast and story but the DVD is a bust.

If nothing else, this movie has a great cast and a very interesting storyline. It begins in the first few years of the 20th century somewhere in the West. A 700 mile race is promoted by a newspaper that sets rider and horse against each other and the elements. It also pits the wealthy and their resources against those of more modest means with obvious results. However, I feel the strengh of "Bite the Bullet" is not so much a story of classes as it is the characters themselves. With a plethora of well-known character actors, the movie takes the time to develop each of these characters in a manner that makes "Bite the Bullet" an enjoyable and very watchable movie. Obviously, as a person who loves the wide-screen version of any movie, I cannot wait for "Bite the Bullet" to come out in DVD and widescreen format. However, until that time, I feel that once you see the cast involved in "Bite the Bullet" you will enjoy watching this wonderful and underrated version an era coming to an end.

The "Format" information in the "Product Details" section for "Bite the Bullet" says that a widescreen presentation is included on the DVD. However, the back of the DVD cover insert only indicates a "Full Screen" (i.e. "Pan & Scan") presentation.

In the 1970s when westerns were typically cynical, dark and violent, Bite the Bullet went for a more traditional movie, and it works because when it comes right down to it, it's a good story. In the early 1900s, saddle tramp Sam Clayton is out of work after delivering a horse to the start point of a 700-mile horse race. At first, Clayton wants none of the race, but comes around and ends up joining the competition. One of nine riders, Clayton sets off through hellish terrain with little water. Can the riders tread that fine line between pushing both themselves and their mounts too far, and who will win? Not much action here, but I never found myself bored. Great location shooting, a good score by Alex North, and a strong ensemble cast make this 70s western an enjoyable one.

At the height of his popularity, Gene Hackman leads the ensemble cast as Sam Clayton, the cowboy looking for work who joins the 700-mile race. Clayton wants to win, but not at a cost of his own beliefs and morals. If someone's in trouble, he'll help. Candice Bergen stars as Miss Jones, a former prostitute who joins the race to earn some much-needed money, but there may be more going on than she tells. James Coburn plays Luke Matthews, Clayton's old friend who has bet every cent he has on the most reliable rider...himself. Hackman's scenes with Coburn make their past friendship more realistic and believable, you like both characters. Ben Johnson is great in a small part as Mister, an ex-Pony Express rider who's tried everything in life but believes he won't be remembered, winning the race on the other hand would immortalize him. Some of the other riders include Ian Bannen as Sir Harry Norfolk, a British sportsmen who loves competition, Jean-Michael Vincent as Carbo, a youngster trying to prove himself, Mario Arteaga as the Mexican, and Robert Hoy as Christie, the early favorite.

The DVD seems like it was just thrown together. No special features, not even a trailer, and a fullscreen presentation of a movie that would look great in widescreen. Even more frustrating, the credits are in widescreen, but the movie goes to pan-n-scan immediately after. Too bad, but the movie's a good one, an old fashioned western with a great cast, check out Bite the Bullet!

Terrific action flick about a 700-mile endurance horse race with disparate characters as competitors. The characters are wonderfully drawn, though tending toward types (Gene Hackman, the good-guy animal lover; Candice Bergman, the bad girl turned good; Ben Johnson, the tough old coot; etc.; think STAGECOACH). They compete against each other, but at the same time grow to respect each other; they are all honorable and winners. Hackman is especially good as the good Samaritan in the lead. Best of all about the movie might be the photography, which is stunningly beautiful, though the slow-motion camera work (a fad of the times that thankfully has disappeared) is overdone. Worth a watch.

Somewhere along the way, Richard Brooks' brilliant 1975 ode to the dying west "Bite the Bullet" fell through the cracks. A marvel of direction, acting, editing and cinematography, it is arguably one of the greatest westerns ever made. And yet, when we see lists of all-time western classics, including the likes of The Wild Bunch - The Original Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition) and The Searchers (John Wayne Collection), this film is oddly thrown to the side. It's not like any western I've ever seen, and yet it's an extraordinarily robust celebration of the glorious myths of our American landscape.

Partially based on a true story, "Bite the Bullet" details an early 20th century horse race, a marathon of endurance through the mountains, desert and snow of Colorado and Nevada. A motley crew of archetypes sign up to participate for the cash prize, including two former Rough Riders, a British adventurer, a quiet Mexican, an elder cowboy and even a blonde beauty in chaps who looks suspiciously like Candice Bergen. There's plenty of gambling on the favorites, a traveling brothel and endless bottles of whiskey. A top thoroughbred is bankrolled by an arrogant millionaire and appears to be the favorite, but as the race stumbles along, it becomes clear more than natural speed will be needed to cross the finish line.

Brooks, one of the greatest of Hollywood directors, had memorably tread the western landscape before with Last Hunt [VHS] and The Professionals (Special Edition), and "Bite the Bullet" was his assured swan song to the storied genre. The casting of Gene Hackman and James Coburn as the Rough Riders (The Rough Riders (Dover Books on Americana)) was a brilliant move. Hackman especially, is perfect in a largely passive role originally intended for Charles Bronson. There's a weariness and cynicism about his character, and he's a deeply tortured soul. When he finally reveals the pain of his life during a revisionist scene at a water pit stop, his rage echoes across the desert plains. It's an astonishing moment, and you realize you are watching not only one of the great actors of his generation, but one of the finest scenes in all of movie history. Coburn is silky perfect as the extrovert, all teeth and lanky limbs, winking at hardship while attempting a shortcut, usually ending up in the drink. There's not a false note in the unusually stellar cast, including Ben Johnson, Dabney Coleman, Ian Bannen, Jan-Michael Vincent and Jean Willes, all leaving memorable impressions as characters that could easily have been one dimensional. Their dialog is key, and Brooks' terrific screenplay gives the cast much to chew on.

The beauty of "Bite the Bullet" is you're never sure who's going to win the race. There's plenty of sidetracks, an ambush, a few comedic moments on a newfangled motorcycle and even a heart attack of an important cast member. Through it all, just when you think you know the outcome, the surprise conclusion sneaks up on you with gentle reserve. Only a director with Brooks' accomplished experience, honed over many years, could have balanced so many themes simultaneously, jumping from comedy to tragedy within a single scene. The Academy took notice, though not enough, nominating the film for Best Musical Score and Best Sound. But "Bite the Bullet" is a work of grace, passion and stunning skill. It is one of the most unheralded films of the 1970s, and one of the greatest westerns ever made.