Big Jake

He is not dead...NOT HARDLY!! This movie was great. I can't believe I had never seen it. I loved the way he put his kids in place every time they got out of line. Especially that guy with the mustache (Wayne's real life son). I have seldom seen movies where there is so much suspense. The mean man with the blanket was super good also at being a MEAN AND BAD GUY!!!! John Wayne is the best cowboy ever. He looked and acted tough and was apparently TOUGH in real life. I wish Maureen O'Hara would have been in this movie more. She is so good looking. John Wayne was so fearless. I loved the way he bled RED PAINT. Back then, the blood looked like RED PAINT. Haha.

I give this movie a perfect 10!

First I have to say that I am a huge JW fan. In this film JW is his classic Kick A** self. There is some sentimental stuff in here, about the old man's relationship with his grown sons. Basically it is good old John Wayne Action. When the bad guys get the drop on him, all you can think is "Big mistake" This film is set in the early 1900s. There is an interesting parallel between the passing of the baton from one generation to the next (Jake and his grown sons) and the passing of technology. We see new fangled weapons and a motor car. (Naturally Jake rejects these)

Finally: You got to love the idea of Big Jake owning a dog named ..... DOG.

A later John Wayne western that contains a surprising amount of graphic violence. This is by no means another "Wild Bunch" but there are more bloody gunshot wounds than usual.

The plot concerns the search and rescue of a kidnapped grandson that Wayne has never seen.

The banter between Jacob McCandles(Wayne) and his estranged sons is the source of many of the film's great lines. When Patrick Wayne tries to provoke the Duke by calling him "Daddy", the retort by the old man is priceless.

A good villan(Richard Boone), another pairing with Maureen O'Hara, some great one-liners and several references to older Wayne films make this a great choice from the westerns section at Blockbuster. Elmer Bernstein's music is wonderful too, sounding much like his "Magnificent Seven" score.

From the outset 'Big Jake' will always be a firm favourite of mine, it's the first John Wayne movie I can recall watching, and this is the movie that has made him my all-time favourite movie star and actor.

The movie follows Dukes pursuit of seven kidnappers whom killed a large number of people at his former ranch (now run by his estranged wife) and kidnapped his grandson.

Up until this point in John Wayne's career he had by in large refrained from using excessive violence in his movies. However it could be argued and with some basis that movies such as 'True Grit', 'The Green Berets' and 'The Alamo' to name but three were physically violent in their own right. Regardless of this however 'Big Jake' was to be a dramatic departure for John Wayne due to the fact that on numerous occasions it give an honest depiction of physical violence. The opening shootout at the Candles ranch is a prime example of this, the sequence is extremely well executed by the director and stunt co-coordinators and there are many examples gunshot wounds which add to the realism of the movie.

The screenplay is rather slick with ample action included to satisfy audience expectations. The movie does contain many memorable scenes such as the opening and closing shootouts, Dukes casual killing of a would be assassin and some touching and at times volatile scenes involving Jake and his ex wife played eloquently by the great Maureen O'Hara.

An interesting segment at the start involves a voice-over retelling the transformation of the west from the early 1800's to its relatively civilised state in 1909 (when the film is set). The voice-over also introduces the audience to nine bandits whom act as the heavies in the movie, its fascinating to hear a brief introduction of each bandit and what skill they bring to the group e.g. Fain is the leader, O'Brien the gunfighter and John Goodfellow is proficient with a machete etc etc.

Duke in this movie is accompanied is his pursuit if the kidnappers by a trusted dog (who is very violent) an Indian friend played very well by Bruce Cabot, and his two on screen sons James (Patrick Wayne who is Dukes own son) and Michael (Chris Mitchum). The main protagonist in the movie is John Fain played superbly by Richard Boone and some of the scenes between him and John Wayne are very memorable containing both tension and style. John Wayne's youngest son John Ethan Wayne makes his debut in this movie playing the kidnapped grandson of Jake and acquits himself very impressively to the field of acting.

Despite my fondness for this movie it is not however without its weaknesses, for one the acting by both Patrick Wayne and Chris Mitchum is horrendous and neither one manages to endear the audience to their respective characters. Some sloppy direction also resulted in the disappearance of one of the Fain gang early in the movie, despite being given an introduction at the start of the movie; young Billy simply disappears without any explanation right at the beginning of the raid on the McCandles ranch. Several campfire scenes that are set at night appear much too bright; the director should have masked the lens on the camera more in order to ensure the scenes effectiveness. Finally several stunts involving Mitchum and a motorcycle come across as tired, overblown and generally dull although the director rightly erased the motorcycle from the movie quite early on much to the relief of the audience.

Critics were less than impressed with the movie stating that it was 'overly violent', these were the same critics who praised the Wild Bunch months earlier for being innovative and honest in its depiction of violence. Despite what he critics stated and some of the minor criticisms I have pointed out about this movie it remains a firm favourite and was a big box office hit when first released.

There has been no tougher or more formidable Western heavy than Richard Boone… He has occasionally depicted hard-bitten nobility, as his portrayal of General Sam Houston in "The Alamo" or the ageing cavalry officer in "A Thunder of Drums"—but more often his grim, craggy features have led him to villainy…

He was Randolph Scott's intelligent, embittered adversary, smooth as a rattlesnake and twice as treacherous, in the Tall T; he wrapped non-conforming farmers in barbed wire in Man Without a Star; as mean, sadistic Major Salinas, he persecuted Rory Calhoun in Way of a Gaucho; and he gave Paul Newman a rough ride in Hombre. In "Big Jake," he was—as always—a powerful presence and one of the screen's most efficient scene-stealer…

George Sherman's "Big Jake" was the Duke fifth and final film played opposite the lovely redheaded Maureen O'Hara who plays, here, his wife Martha McCandles…

The movie opens in 1909 where nine men crossing the Rio Bravo into Texas… Their leader—a sadistic gunrunner—John Fain (Richard Boone) is ready for his bloody McCandles' raid where ten people were slaughtered and Big Jakes's grandson, the 8-year-old Little Jacob (Ethan Wayne) is kidnapped, and a ransom note is left demanding one million dollars in $20 Bills for Jacob's safe return…

Martha—quite sure that this job requires an extremely harsh and special kind of man to attend it— called back her husband, absent for many years, to pay the ransom, and take back home the little boy alive…

Jacob McCandles (Wayne)—who has never seen his grandson—responds to his wife's call and organizes a hunting party to track down the dangerous and violent men…

With his two sons, his faithful Indian scout (Bruce Cabot), his loyal dog, and with a large red strongbox packed to the back of a good mule, McCandles initiates his very daring hunt…

There are some hard feelings among Wayne's resentful boys, and as the film progresses, Wayne's blue eyes were gentle and revealing a wonderful caring father but also his eyes turn to blue steel as he took that decision to get alive his grandson… The heart of the film is Wayne interacting with his wife and what he has in store for his sons next...

Patrick Wayne plays Wayne's older son who is short on ears and long on mouth… Christopher Mitchum rides a 'crazy bicycle,' carries a Bergman 1911, and a rifle with one fancy new telescope...

With great action scenes, great photography and with a terrific Elmer Bernstein musical score, "Big Jake" is one of Wayne best Westerns