Cowboys & Aliens (2011)

A spaceship arrives in Arizona, 1873, to take over the Earth, starting with the Wild West region. A posse of cowboys and natives are all that stand in their way.

Director:

Jon Favreau

Writers:

Roberto Orci (screenplay), Alex Kurtzman (screenplay)

Stars:

Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde

1 win & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Daniel Craig	...	Jake Lonergan
Abigail Spencer	...	Alice
Buck Taylor	...	Wes Claiborne
Matthew Taylor	...	Luke Claiborne (as Matt Taylor)
Cooper Taylor	...	Mose Claiborne
Clancy Brown	...	Meacham
Paul Dano	...	Percy Dolarhyde
Chris Browning	...	Jed Parker
Adam Beach	...	Nat Colorado
Sam Rockwell	...	Doc
Ana de la Reguera	...	Maria (as Ana De La Reguera)
Noah Ringer	...	Emmett Taggart
Brian Duffy	...	Deputy
Olivia Wilde	...	Ella Swenson
Keith Carradine	...	Sheriff John Taggart

Storyline

The Old West.. where a lone cowboy leads an uprising against a terror from beyond our world. 1873. New Mexico Territory. A stranger with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don't welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Ford). It's a town that lives in fear. But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known. Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he's been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a ...

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Plot Keywords:

desert | cowboy | arizona | one man army | alien invasion | 

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Taglines:

First contact. Last stand.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of western and sci-fi action and violence, some partial nudity and a brief crude reference

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [France]

Country:

USA India

Language:

English Apache languages

Release Date:

29 July 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cowboys & Aliens

Filming Locations:

Bonanza Creek Ranch - 15 Bonanza Creek Lane, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$163,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$36,431,290, 31 July 2011

Gross USA:

$100,240,551

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$174,822,325

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, DreamWorks, Reliance Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min 135 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS Dolby Surround 7.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman described the film as "Unforgiven (1992) with aliens landing."

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Goofs

The energy used to travel the stars could have powered a machine to atomically create gold from other elements. Dr. Glenn Seaborg lead a team in 1980 which created gold from bismuth. Unfortunately the power and equipment costs far exceeded the value of the gold created.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Wes Claiborne: [to Jake] We're riding towards Absolution. You know how far west we are?
[Jake doesn't answer]
Mose Claiborne: Maybe he's a dummy.
Wes Claiborne: Is there a reason you're not answering my question?
Mose Claiborne: Look here, Pa. He's got iron on his wrist. He's been shot. Could be done broke out of hoosegow. Might be worth bounty.
Wes Claiborne: Might could be.

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Connections

Referenced in PWN: Summer of '17: PWN #15 (2017)

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Soundtracks

Lorena
(uncredited)

User Reviews

Ridiculously fun and entertaining.

Literally the film is about a spaceship that arrives in Arizona, 1873, to take over the Earth, starting with the Wild West region. A posse of cowboys and natives are all that stand in their way. Daniel Craig teams up with Harrison Ford and Olivia Wilde to save the day. Problem? Nope. "Cowboys & Aliens" is a blast of summer blockbuster fun, delivering fun visual effects, consistently entertaining action, and fun dialogue to spice up the fun. This is the kind of film you would expect to be god- awful, but turns out to be super fun and enjoyable from start to finish. None of the actors try too hard to be serious, knowing what kind of film they're in. And producers Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard also understands what audiences are going to want out of this film. They nailed it. This film delivers exactly what it needed, crafting a fun and stupid movie that everyone will find somewhat enjoyable.