I am not anti Western - I love the genre but this is just not up there with the best. There are some great moments and set pieces but the attempts at romance are tiresome, unnecessary and overlong. (Reach for the fast forward button). Added to which the actresses are less than wonderful. Val Kilmer and Kurt Russell are just fine as the two leads but for me Sam Elliott steals the show for sheer realism and believability. If only it were better directed. And the finale was not a revenge fest. I could list twenty westerns from the 60s that are much more gripping.