Customer Reviews

Rio Conchos [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ranks with 'True Grit' as one of my favorite Westerns. Richard Bonne at his grizzled, onery best. Tony Franciosa is also memorable as Major Lassiter's (Boone) cutthroat Mexican sidekick. This movie has it all, cavalry, apaches, banditos, confederate renegades, stolen repeating rifles - hard core all the way. Jim Brown's movie debut as the loyal, strong, silent, US Cavalry Sergeant. Quite violent and ruthless for a 1964 movie. Jerry Goldsmith's accompanying musical score is also excellent.

Rio Conchos is a very good western with violence that is still a bit startling when you see it today, much less in 1964. A wagon train carrying 2,000 new repeating rifles has been stolen causing the army to worry where they went. Two soldiers team up with a drunken ex-Confederate officer and a bandit to track down the missing guns. While searching, they discover a Confederate officer, Colonel Theron Pardee, who is trying to start the Civil War all over again by giving Apache warriors the new repeating rifles. The small group must try and stop him as they battle Mexican bandits, Apache warriors, and even themselves. Rio Conchos is a grim western with a very realistic tone. The violence seems out of place for the time, but it is still very effective, most notably in the torture scene towards the end. Jerry Goldsmith turns in another excellent score, sometimes reminiscent of Bandolero. For an enjoyable yet dark western, check out Rio Conchos.

Richard Boone gives an excellent performance as Jim Lassiter, the ex-Confederate officer who joins up with the army. At the same time, Lassiter is dealing with the death of his family at the hands of the Apaches. Stuart Whitman is also very good as army Captain Haven, the leader of the small bunch. Anthony Franciosa stars as Rodriguez, the bandit who joins Lassiter and Haven. In his first movie since leaving football, Jim Brown plays Sgt. Franklyn, Haven's right hand man. Edmond O'Brien stars as Colonel Pardee, who hopes to begin the Civil War again. The movie also stars Wende Wagner, Rodolfo Acosta, Vito Scotti, and Kevin Hagen. The VHS is in pan-n-scan so it isn't of the best quality. This movie begs for a DVD widescreen release. For an excellent western with a very good cast, check out Rio Conchos!

Rio Conchos is a very action filled outing very similar to 2 other films but good in its own right. It stars Richard Boone and Tony Franciosa as 2 renegades who team with 2 soldiers played by Stuart Whitman and Jim Brown in his debut to track down an ex-Rebel Colonel played by Edmond O'brien. He is trying to reestablish the confederacy in Mexico using stolen rifles and Apaches as his new troops. The Jerry Goldsmith score is superb and the action is constant. The film is much like Whitman's earlier effort The Comancheros with John Wayne, and has some noticeable parallels to 1979 Vietnam movie Apocalypse Now. The journey upriver, the renegade Colonel using native troops,etc. all predate Coppola's effort. After a recent viewing I speculated if screenwriter John Milius may have been influenced by this film. A definite favorite of mine and one of the most rugged westerns of the 1960's.

Stuart Whitman, Richard Boone, Jim Brown and Anthony Franciosa are well cast in this tough western tale. Edmund O'Brien is also a stand out. Don't miss it.

Richard Boone carries this rather uneven
Western, with superb support from a stellar
cast, although Whitman's role is disappointingly
small - THE COMANCHEROS is a better choice
for Whitman fans. Boone's is a rare blend
of tough-guy savagery and rough-edged
humanity, and contemporary Hollywood is starved for
the authentic manliness that actors like
Boone once brought to the screen. Factor in
his distinctively droll humor, and you have
that indefinable Star Power so elusive today.
Granted, the film - as noted in previous
reviews - is startlingly violent, but it
is not gratuitously so. On the contrary,
the movie trades Hollywood-style storytelling
for realism. There are no "good soldiers" or
"bad Indians" here - only flawed human beings
struggling to survive against insurmountable
odds.

I have seen this movie numerous times on tv and it is great. My only problems is where's the DVD????????????????

Clair Huffaker wrote both the western book (Guns of Rio Conchos) and helped write this 1964 screen play, as western novel readers can attest, anything Clair Huffaker wrote was always much better than average.

The film is showing again on AMC this month, and that is the only place I have yet to see it. So in a singular way, this movie is a 'classic' in that while it has yet to be released to DVD and it has a home on American Movie Classics cable TV. This month of August, 2009, also finds Rio Conchos showing on the Encore Western channel as well.

It's an old tyme western set in the 1870s, back in an era when Hollywood still knew how to film them, and the film will keep most western viewers interested. Pretty typical western of cavalry trying to intercede and prohibit gun sales to (the Comanche in the book) the Apache along the U.S/Mexico border. The large cast is comprised of many veteran actors, with a script allowing them to display good acting. The appearance of Edmond O'Brien adds special aspect to the film, as he did with his later appearance in THE WILD BUNCH.

Looking for a better than average western, then it is advisable to watch this one when you can catch it. I have a couple copies on VHS and feel blessed to have those.

Semper Fi.

I enjoy most Western movies and I found this to be near the top.Good acting and lots of action.I especially liked Richard Boone.

I would like to download to buy this movie but Amazon doesn't have a version for the Mac - in the 21st century yet. Now I notice that the PC download version is full screen, not widescreen. If they put out a Mac version that is only full screen, I won't buy that either. Amazon, what are you doing? What are you doing? There are a number of other video on demand westerns I would like to buy as well.

Derek