OK movie but like most Westerns, directors seem to forget realism. Before the cons, one pro. Leech shoots holding his revolver with both hands. One handed shooting is or amateurs and "movie cowboys." I've ridden horses all my life and when you are out in the middle of nowhere and dismount, the last thing you do is turn your horse loose without tying them up. These guys do. How stupid! Gee, it's only thirty eight miles back to town, I don't have any water or food so I think I'll just turn O'l Buck loose. How unrealistic. Guns are LOUD. Yet no one ever flinches or even reacts to the noise. Shots inside a room would be deafening. And their horses don't even twitch. A lever action rifle pushes the first round into the chamber. Then each time the lever is worked an empty cartridge is ejected. But for dramatic effect, shooters work the lever and nothing comes out. I know water is scarce, but some of those guys looked like they hadn't washed in years. Typical western. Greasy, dirty guys and the hottest women in the west.
9 Reviews
Greed and Revenge
cengelm15 November 2001
The typical motifs of the spaghetti westerns can be found also here. The Kenny Rogers character represents greed and the Travis Tritt character is fueled by revenge. His beautiful wife (played by Miss USA) got captured and they are both behind the baddies. Kenny Rogers seems to old as the merciless bounty-hunter and Travis Tritt doesn´t really convince, either. Photography is very well done and stylish, art direction is proper. The plot develops well without any logical flaws. The baddies are stock characters.
Neat and cute run-of-the-mill Hollywood production
5 / 10.
Neat and cute run-of-the-mill Hollywood production
5 / 10.
I was an extra in this one!
kheas15 December 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Although the movie was...OK at best, I have to admit that I was actually in the film. If you go to the chapter on the DVD that has the wedding and the bank robbery and look carefully you will see me when I was about 13. Before the wedding you see a family in the back ground with a boy in a hat, that was me! Then after the wedding you see a boy walk across the screen and pat Travis Tritt on the back, that was me. and once more during the bank robbery shoot out scene, you see a full screen shot of a boy picking up money and shoving it into a hat, that was me too! well those are my fifteen minutes of fame and I wear them well.
Tries To Be All Things To All Fans And Fails Every Count
boblipton11 January 2023
Laura Harring is kidnapped from her wedding by a gang who intend to sell her across the Rio Grande. Her groom, Travis Tritt, goes after her, and meets up with bounty hunter Kenny Rogers.
It's a very well shot TV movie, with DP David Connell capturing some nice nice landscape in Texas, including one shot that looks like it was stolen from Ford's Rio Grande. Rogers is pretty good in the first third of the movie, where obeys the classical dictum of talking low, talking slow, and not saying much. Eventually, as he and Tritt ride on, he becomes chattier and chattier, and a sojourn at Naomi Judd's safe house fills in his tragic back story.... which is pretty much standard alas.
This one visually looks like a 1950s Shaky A western, one with some money spent, but it lacks much int he way of the grand themes of such movies. Instead, it offers bits out of spaghetti westerns, but cleaned up for television broadcast. As such, it's neither fish nor fowl, nor good red meat, and Rogers doesn't even sing a title song.
It's a very well shot TV movie, with DP David Connell capturing some nice nice landscape in Texas, including one shot that looks like it was stolen from Ford's Rio Grande. Rogers is pretty good in the first third of the movie, where obeys the classical dictum of talking low, talking slow, and not saying much. Eventually, as he and Tritt ride on, he becomes chattier and chattier, and a sojourn at Naomi Judd's safe house fills in his tragic back story.... which is pretty much standard alas.
This one visually looks like a 1950s Shaky A western, one with some money spent, but it lacks much int he way of the grand themes of such movies. Instead, it offers bits out of spaghetti westerns, but cleaned up for television broadcast. As such, it's neither fish nor fowl, nor good red meat, and Rogers doesn't even sing a title song.
Could've Been a Great One
Bob-451 December 2007
Except for a couple of fatal errors, "Rio Diablo" could have been a great spaghetti western. Kenny Rogers is outstanding as the bounty killer so ruthless he makes "the man with no name" seem like a sissy. Travis Tritt is pretty good, too. Unfortunately, Tritt fails to develop the kind of buddy chemistry with Rogers that's needed for this story (1st mistake). Naomi Judd, on the other hand, is embarrassingly bad as the madam. She's too classy looking and refined, and her line readings are terrible. If Rogers really insisted on casting a country star, he should have considered Dolly Parton or Barbara Mandrell (2nd mistake). Stacey Keach is convincingly slimy in his small, surprise role. However, he resembles one of the main baddies too much,creating unnecessary confusion.
In spite of its flaws, "Rio Diablo" is considerably better than another 90s spaghetti knockoff, "The Quick and the Dead." I give "Rio Diablo" a "6".
In spite of its flaws, "Rio Diablo" is considerably better than another 90s spaghetti knockoff, "The Quick and the Dead." I give "Rio Diablo" a "6".
Rio Diablo
John-ridley3322 June 2021
Why did they bother - I have spent a better couple of hours with the toothache -
Kenny Rogers should have stuck to singing - Could it be his singing pal Dolly Parton might have brought "something" to this movie? To think I could have watched "The Simpsons" on another channel.
Surprisingly Watchable for a TV movie
gmsjepactmark11 April 2023
Beautiful cinematography. The surprise is the acting, which is good,probably due to good directing. Kenny Rogers gives a believable performance, unlike his usual stiff attempts as the gambler. Tritt is a real surprise, with genuine mood swings and subtle eye work. Judd displays a vulnerability that is interesting. Nice supporting work from Brion Jones, Stacey Keach and Bruce Greenwood. Greenwood is unrecognizable as Jones' hot headed brother, which is an example of some real acting hoing on. The prisoner bride to be needed to be more than just eye candy, which points out that the writing is too formulaic at important plot points. Still you could do worse for a late night entertainment. It has Nevada Smith or Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid qualities in several spots in the story that holds one's interest. Remember, this is a TV movie, not a theatrical release unlike Smith and Garrett . Who will survive at the end isn't completely telegraphed during the storytelling. Actually a plus IMHO that the story isn't larded up with songs by Rogers,Tritt or Judd. Kenny's beard is a bit too well kept in spots, but doesn't overshadow an honest performance. Worth seeing how it ends even if not completely satisfying.
"...there ain't no such thing as an innocent man, just some less guilty."
classicsoncall27 February 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Apparently not a lot of people have seen this 1993 TV Western judging by the number of votes and only three other reviews as I write this. Maybe that'll change with recent screenings on the Encore Western Channel; I guess we'll have to wait and see.
I had to chuckle when bounty hunter Quentin Leech (Kenny Rogers) stated his opinion of one of the outlaws as 'dumb as a headless chicken'. It brought to mind George Clooney's comment about John Turturro's character in "O Brother Where Art Thou?", as being dumber than a bag full of hammers. On the dumb or dumber scale, I wonder which one is worse. Maybe it's a dumb question.
With Kenny Rogers in the lead role and also having a hand in the production, it looked like this vehicle was put together for some of his pals on the country Western scene. Travis Tritt is generally acceptable as the Preacher's unacknowledged sidekick, but he seemed to lack any inspiration for the role of a newlywed who's bride was kidnapped just shy of the altar. Naomi Judd's the proprietor of Flora Mae Pepper's whorehouse, but she looked just a tad too respectable in the role and you never got a real good look at any of her saloon gals. She apparently had a thing for Leech but without the back story, the relationship seemed rather shallow.
This was the second Western now I've seen that used the old rattlesnake in a jar gimmick but I'll be darned if I can't come up with the first one right now. I'll have to get back on that one. I wonder if barkeep Everly (Marl Alaimo) managed to hustle the dead outlaw back to Del Rio.
The surprise of the story for me was seeing old Quentin hit the drink in his showdown with Kansas (Stacy Keach). I knew there had to be a reason for all those times Leech offered the 'two choices' gimmick; it set up Ben Taber (Tritt) to use it himself in the finale. For some reason I kept thinking that maybe Quentin somehow might have survived his misfortune, but in the end he faded as quick as Butch and Sundance.
I had to chuckle when bounty hunter Quentin Leech (Kenny Rogers) stated his opinion of one of the outlaws as 'dumb as a headless chicken'. It brought to mind George Clooney's comment about John Turturro's character in "O Brother Where Art Thou?", as being dumber than a bag full of hammers. On the dumb or dumber scale, I wonder which one is worse. Maybe it's a dumb question.
With Kenny Rogers in the lead role and also having a hand in the production, it looked like this vehicle was put together for some of his pals on the country Western scene. Travis Tritt is generally acceptable as the Preacher's unacknowledged sidekick, but he seemed to lack any inspiration for the role of a newlywed who's bride was kidnapped just shy of the altar. Naomi Judd's the proprietor of Flora Mae Pepper's whorehouse, but she looked just a tad too respectable in the role and you never got a real good look at any of her saloon gals. She apparently had a thing for Leech but without the back story, the relationship seemed rather shallow.
This was the second Western now I've seen that used the old rattlesnake in a jar gimmick but I'll be darned if I can't come up with the first one right now. I'll have to get back on that one. I wonder if barkeep Everly (Marl Alaimo) managed to hustle the dead outlaw back to Del Rio.
The surprise of the story for me was seeing old Quentin hit the drink in his showdown with Kansas (Stacy Keach). I knew there had to be a reason for all those times Leech offered the 'two choices' gimmick; it set up Ben Taber (Tritt) to use it himself in the finale. For some reason I kept thinking that maybe Quentin somehow might have survived his misfortune, but in the end he faded as quick as Butch and Sundance.
More True to Life.
swojtak25 June 2022
I always thought that when a bounty hunter kills the suspect, why do they always leave the suspects guns and equipment? If a handgun costs a cowboy a months or several months wages, they must be too valuable to leave. They should have a early form of recycling. At least in this movie the suspects property becomes a bonus for the bounty hunter.
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