Trama

A small-time rancher agrees to hold a captured outlaw who's awaiting a train to go to court in Yuma. A battle of wills ensues as the outlaw tries to psych out the rancher.

Rancher Dan Evans heads into Bisbee to clear up issues concerning the sale of his land when he witnesses the closing events of a stagecoach robbery led by famed outlaw Ben Wade. Shortly thereafter, Wade is captured by the law in Bisbee and Evans finds himself one of the escorts who will take Wade to the 3:10 to Yuma train in Contention for the reward of $200. Evans' effort to take Wade to the station is in part an effort to save his land but also part of an inner battle to determine whether he can be more than just a naive rancher in the eyes of his impetuous and gun slinging son William Evans. The transport to Contention is hazardous and filled with ambushes by Indians, pursuits by Wade's vengeful gang and Wade's own conniving and surreptitious demeanor that makes the ride all the more intense.—Mal enor

Struggling to eke out a living in the dry and rugged landscapes of Arizona, the Civil War veteran and penniless cattle rancher, Dan Evans, decides not to miss his window of opportunity to redeem himself in the eyes of his son, William, when the infamous outlaw, Ben Wade, is finally captured. As a result, for $200, Dan volunteers to escort Wade to Contention City along with an angry posse of railroad men, where he'll board the 3:10 train to Yuma Prison. Perhaps, now, Evans can salvage what's left of his ramshackle farm; however, the trek to the station is long and treacherous, as marauding Apaches and Wade's dauntless gang of cut-throats are hot on their trail. Will Ben Wade, the artful manipulator, live to see the dawn?—Nick Riganas

The rancher Daniel Evans, who lost part of his leg in the Civil War, is broken and owing a large amount to a powerful man in Bisbee. When the outlaw Ben Wade is captured after the heist of a stagecoach, Dan offers to escort the cold blood killer to the city of Contention to take the 3:10 PM train to Yuma to be sent to trial. In return, he would receive US$ 200,00, enough to save his land and give a better life to his family. During their journey, Ben gets closer to Dan while his gang of criminals follows the group to rescue their boss.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

In the late 19th century, Dan Evans (Christian Bale), an impoverished rancher and Civil War veteran, although sitting awake and armed to prevent it, has his barn set ablaze by two men working for Glen Hollander, to whom Evans owes money. The next morning, as Evans and his two sons drive their herd, they stumble upon outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) and his gang using Evans' cattle as a road blockade to ambush an armored stagecoach. As he loots the stage, Wade discovers Evans and his two sons watching from the hills. Acknowledging that they pose no threat to him and his gang, Wade takes their horses telling Evans that he will leave them tied up on the road to Bisbee.

Wade travels with his gang to the town of Bisbee, Arizona to enjoy a celebratory drink at the local saloon. Meanwhile, the railroad guards find Evans and his sons with Byron McElroy (Peter Fonda), a Pinkerton agent and lone survivor of the ambush, tied up. Evans reveals Bisbee as Wade's likely destination, where the guards immediately return, joined by Evans and McElroy. While Doc Potter (Alan Tudyk), the local medic/veterinarian, treats McElroy, Evans tries negotiating with Hollander, who reveals his intentions to sell the land to the railroad workers rather than grant water rights to Evans. Enraged at the loss of his livelihood and land, Evans tries confronting Hollander in the nearby saloon, but instead he finds Wade, whom he distracts long enough for the railroad guards to ambush and arrest him.

The coach's owner, Grayson Butterfield (Dallas Roberts), enlists McElroy, Potter, Tucker (Kevin Durand), one of Hollander's guards, and Evans, who agrees for a $200 fee to deliver Wade for arrest. From Evans' ranch, McElroy arranges a decoy wagon to distract Wade's gang, now led by Charlie Prince (Ben Foster), while the real convoy charts a course for Contention, where Wade will be put on the 3:10 P.M. train to Yuma Territorial Prison and sentenced. As the group prepares to ride out, Evans' older son William (Logan Lerman) demands to accompany them. Evans flatly refuses his demand.

During the journey, Wade kills Tucker during his sleep with a fork stolen from Evans' house, and later McElroy (the former for claiming his horse and the latter for insulting his mother) but is stopped from escaping by the surprise arrival of William, who had followed the group all the way from the ranch. Evans tries to pressure William to return back to the ranch, but William declines.

Wade seemingly accepts to have his son with him. While taking a shortcut through a canyon, the group is attacked by Apache warrior Indians. Evans tries to kill them, but he is badly wounded. Wade saves him, arms himself, and kills the remaining attackers. Following the shootout, Wade escapes to a Chinese laborer construction camp blasting a tunnel through the mountain range, where the foreman captures Wade for having killed his brother. One of his assistants, Zeke (Luke Wilson), tortures Wade with electric shocks. Evans, William, Potter, and Butterfield appear and after unsuccessful attempts at negotiation, Potter leads an attack on the foremen and his miners, freeing Wade. As they flee on their horses, Potter is shot and killed, while Wade and Evans destroy the tunnel behind them with dynamite. The group arrives in Contention several hours before the train's scheduled arrival and check into the hotel, where they are soon joined by several local marshals hired by Butterfield to protect them.

Prince and the gang ambushes and interrogates the survivor of the decoy wagon, learning that Wade is being delivered to Contention and will board a train to Yuma; he then leaves the wagon to burn with the survivor trapped in it. Later Prince meets the mine foreman. Upon seeing Zeke with Wade's gun, Prince kills Zeke, the foreman and his assistant. Upon arriving in Contention and discovering the heavy guard around Wade, Prince offers every townsman a $200 bounty for every guard they kill. The marshals, unwilling to fight against such steep odds, surrender to Prince, who kills them anyway. Butterfield refuses to complete the mission, offering Evans the $200 salary even if Wade goes free. Evans refuses, noting that was the amount the government paid him for the loss of his leg. Instead he asks Butterfield to escort his son back to his ranch and to pay his wife $1,000 and a guarantee of water rights from Hollander in exchange for Evans delivering Wade to the train.

After Butterfield agrees, Evans escorts Wade out of the hotel and the two make their way across town, evading continuous gunfire from the townsmen before taking refuge inside a storeroom. Wade, tired of running, nearly strangles Evans; he relents when Evans reveals that the reason he has a wooden leg (a subject Wade brought up throughout the journey) is that his real leg was lost when Evans was shot by fellow soldiers while in retreat from battle, a story that would shame his sons, and that delivering Wade to Yuma would serve as an accomplishment his sons would admire. Wade relents and agrees to board the train. The two return to the streets, dodging bullets before barricading themselves in the station to wait for the train (which is running late), where Wade reveals that he's been to Yuma twice and escaped both times.

Wade's gang set up positions around the station as the train approaches. William, observing the events, stampedes a herd of cattle (echoing a similar act performed by Wade earlier in the film) that provides cover for Evans to push Wade onto the train. As Wade boards, he congratulates Evans. At that moment, Prince steps up and shoots Evans four times, despite Wade's shouted order to stop. Wade steps off the train and catches the gun belt Prince tosses him. After a tense moment of silence, Wade abruptly executes Prince and the rest of his gang. William appears and draws his gun on Wade but finds he can't kill him; instead, he turns to his dying father. Wade boards the train politely and surrenders his weapon. Evans eventually dies as Wade leaves in the train. As the train pulls away, he whistles for his horse, who pricks up his ears and canters after the running train into the distance.