...all in one. What more to ask for? Well, the music could've been better, in between action and speech scenes there's a lot of "suspense" music, what I call TV-movie music, that the film could do without. But aside from that, I like this film.
A good story, good cast, great scenery, and something I thirst for in westerns: good iron horse action, with actual American rail equipment of the era (unlike, say, the European stuff in Sergio Leone's westerns). The setting is a railroad in the frosty cold weather of the Sierra mountains, with lots of "power" shots of the locomotive working hard on steep grades. Why, oh why, don't more western films take advantage of this great atmospheric effect? And let's not forget, this is one of Bronson's best films. He's a cool character and there's enough action to satisfy, including a great train roof fistfight. A good mystery in a western setting, and worth a rental.
A good story, good cast, great scenery, and something I thirst for in westerns: good iron horse action, with actual American rail equipment of the era (unlike, say, the European stuff in Sergio Leone's westerns). The setting is a railroad in the frosty cold weather of the Sierra mountains, with lots of "power" shots of the locomotive working hard on steep grades. Why, oh why, don't more western films take advantage of this great atmospheric effect? And let's not forget, this is one of Bronson's best films. He's a cool character and there's enough action to satisfy, including a great train roof fistfight. A good mystery in a western setting, and worth a rental.