Customer Reviews

The Over the Hill Gang

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Nasty and corrupt Mayor Nard Lundy (Edward Andrews) is challenged by idealistic Jeff Rose (Ricky Nelson) in an upcoming election. Lundy has Sheriff Clyde Barnes (Jack Elam) rough the young upstart up some. Rose's visiting father-in-law, retired Texas Ranger Captain Oren Hayes (Pat O'Brien) sends an urgent telegraph to three of his former command (Walter Brennan, Chill Wills and Edgar Buchanan) to come to Boulder immediately and help him clean up the town.
THE OVER-THE-HILL GANG is a 1969 made-for-television movie that was popular enough at the time to lead to a sequel a year later. For old movie fans it's hard to beat the appeal of this veteran character actor laden movie. It's fun to see them play off each other and confront a situation that their advancing years have forced them to deal with more with guile than brute force. What's not so much fun is seeing them saddled with this tired, predictable plot.
Brennan and Buchanan shine brightest in this one; Brennan as the gun slinger who's lost a bit of speed on his quick draw and Buchanan as the scout who's eyesight has deteriorated to the point that he's drawing his guns on stuffed and mounted bears. With a better script, and a more delicate and penetrating examination of what it feels like to suddenly find yourself old and in the way, this one could have been a classic for the ages rather than an amusing piece of fluff.
The print transfer to dvd is so-so. Some of the night scenes are muddy and it's hard to make out what's happening. The dvd also comes with the Little Rascals' short "Hooky Spooky."
Fans of old movies should enjoy the veteran character actors in this, although they may agree that the folks in front of the camera in THE OVER-THE-HILL GANG deserved far better.

In this film a group of retired Texas Rangers(Walter Brennan,Edgar Buchanan,Pat O'Brien and Chill Wills)take on a corrupt small Nevada town relying on their brains not brawn.Also co-starring Ricky Nelson,Kris Nelson,Edward Andrews and Jack Elam.It's a great family western comedy!!

The technical part of this review refers to the Brentwood Home Video or BCI Eclipse version.

From the Aaron Spelling stable of TV movies comes this tale with Ricky Nelson (and his wife Kris Nelson) as an idealistic couple. Ricky is running for Mayor of a small western town against Edward Andrews who plays a corrupt town boss. Jack Elam is his Sheriff and Andy Devine is his Judge, both firmly entrenched in his back pocket.

Pat O'Brien comes to town as Ricky Nelson's father-in-law, a retired Texas Ranger who rounds up his old partners (Walter Brennan, Edgar Buchanan and Chill Wills)!!! Throw in Gypsy Rose Lee as the owner of the local saloon and you got yourself a pretty good (for TV) rip-snorting western. You know how it's going to play out, but watching the all these stars in action makes up for a sub-par script.

Unfortunately the transfer is from a well-used print that looks like it was recorded in long play mode. At times, scenes taking place at night are almost unwatchable. But the chance to see these stars of westerns in their later years is a treat you should not miss if you're a fan of the western genre.

Brentwood/BCI put in their usual extras, six chapter stops, a DVD dictionary, trivia game and a short subject (Hal Roach's "Little Rascals"). This movie is also in a 10 pack of westerns at about triple the price for this one film from Brentwood Home Video called "The Wild West" and is available from Amazon.com.

This dvd has been a long time coming. Our favorite actors in one movie.The wife and I loved the movie and the actors. Raymond and Michele Chico

There is a little wry humor in the movie for those who think growing old is funny (I don't). The main objection I have to this film and the reason I say it isn't good family entertainment is the drinking element. Drunkenness is not funny and I don't believe a normal social life in the old West revolved around saloons. Sadly, many westerns portray that generation as universally accepting drinking (including this one). The cowboys always go to the saloon and order beer or whiskey. You have to be careful what you teach your kids is funny. If they see you laughing at drunken antics on the screen, they will act out; that's never funny. That's my two cents worth from a Christian perspective. Just remember that if your kids get in trouble and alcohol is involved you may find yourself asking the question "Is drunkenness really funny?" The only redeeming quality for this film is that the aging rangers persevere and use their wits (sort of).

This was a good movie. The first version shows a bit dark, but very funny; the second version is very clear.

I bought this movie because I remembered how funny it was when it was shown many years ago. However, the copy I got was impossible to see because the scenes were very dark and unrecognizable. This product should never be retailed in this fashion...would have given it zero stars if it was optioned!

4 giants of the movie world,Walter Brennan, Andy Devine,Edgar Buchanan and Pat O'Brien present one of the most hilarious films ever made. For collectors of Comedy Classics, not having this movie in their collection is a miss of a lifetime

The Over the Hill movies were perfect. They played great and my husband enjoyed both of them. I did not realize that it was a two for one disc until I got it. Had to return the second movie I had purchased. Descriptions could have been a little clearer but then again I was so amazed that I had found the movies in the first place. Thanks for easy shopping.

The DVD was in excellent condition and exactly as advertised. I am totally pleased