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Rio Bravo

1959

Howard Hawks

John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson ...

8.0

23,167

Western John Wayne stars as the sheriff of a small western town who arrests a murderer and then must contend with the aggressive efforts of the killer's brother to free him before the state marshall arrives. Surrounding the town, the villains make repeated runs at the tiny jailhouse where their comrade is incarcerated. The sheriff is left to defend the territory almost single-handedly -- his only aid being a rag-tag crew of misfits, including a ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"To watch 'Rio Bravo' is to see a master craftsman at work. The film is seamless. There is not a shot that is wrong. It is uncommonly absorbing, and the 141-minute running time flows past like running water (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United Kingdom	Derek Malcolm The Guardian	"A great film and the most personal one he ever made (...) A piece of flawless story-telling, admirable in its basic simplicity and outward lack of guile"	POS
United States	A.H. Weiler The New York Times	"Despite its slickness, virility, occasional humor and, if it may be repeated, authentic professional approach, it is well-made but awfully familiar fare."	NEU
United Kingdom	William Thomas Empire	"Faultless, freewheeling-and very funny (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Dave Kehr Chicago Reader	"It's American filmmaking at its finest—clean, clear, and direct—and it's also the most optimistic masterpiece on film (...) Superb in every respect"	POS
United Kingdom	Telegraph	"Its most eloquent moments are silent (...) It's warm, human and absolutely essential, even 45 years on."	POS
United Kingdom	Tony Sloman Radio Times	"This majestically paced western is one of the finest achievements of the genre and stands as a career-best for many of its participants (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Keith Phipps AV Club	"It's a great one (...) If it's not Hawks' best, it's certainly the most Hawksian."	POS
United States	Richard Brody The New Yorker	"The way that Hawks measures the response to crises is with style (...) The movie is simultaneously an apogee of the classic Western style (...) and an eccentrically hyperbolic work of modernism"	POS
United Kingdom	Geoff Andrew Time Out	"Beautifully acted, wonderfully observed, and scripted with enormous wit and generosity, it's the sort of film, in David Thomson's words, which reveals that 'men are more expressive rolling a cigarette than saving the world'."	POS

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