Cowboys and Aliens (2011)

[Huttman]

Hear hear! What an entertaining film. I like Sam Rockwell, Clancy Brown, Daniel Craig and of course Harrison Ford. I thought they all did a great job. I think this movie will grow on me even more, and while it was not the deepest of plots, it had enough characterization and fun scenes to make this one a purchase for me.

 

[Anthony G Williams]

My take on it:

Yes, I know, the title should have warned me off, but I couldn't resist watching it!

Daniel Craig (the current James Bond, for the benefit of any readers from other planets) plays a gunman in the Wild West who wakes up with no memory but with a hi-tech bracelet firmly clipped around his wrist. At the same time, people are being attacked and captured by small flying machines. One of these crashes, and the tracks leaving it indicate that something decidedly non-human was on board.

A motley posse sets off on the hunt for the alien, and then in search of the source of these flying machines with the hope of rescuing the captured people. Apart from Craig, this includes Harrison Ford as a rich farmer, Olivia Wilde as eye candy (though she does turn out to have a role to play) and various assorted lawmen, cowboys, criminals and even Indians.

This is a lightweight and forgettable film but makes for a couple of hours of trivial entertainment, preferably watched in well-oiled social company in the mood for a laugh.

I do have one gripe (at the risk of a mild spoiler): why are "bad" aliens in such films always shown to be hideously ugly monsters with such deliberately evil intent? Do the film makers not realise that evil wearing an innocent face is far more chilling? Or that the activities of aliens on this planet might incidentally have a disastrous effect on humanity even without any evil intent? Or is such subtlety beyond their comprehension (or at least, more subversive than they think their target viewing public will accept)? Oh well, I suppose I'm expecting too much of a lowest-common-denominator popcorn movie based on (and closely resembling) a comic strip. To be fair, though, the good guys do not all get to live happily ever after.

(An extract from my SFF blog)

 

[SFF Chronicles News]

4th February 2010 04:03 AM

David Allen

Olivia Wilde best known for being in House and her part in the new version of Tron Legacy will be exchanging the future for a more quieter life in the American wild west during the late 1800’s.
There, she will be joining Daniel Craig, who could have been the fastest gun in the west until an alien space craft lands and its occupants attempt to take over the world.
This is an unlikely story that would normally have no chance of being made, but science fiction films are big news these days and the prospect of aliens turning up at a point in time where technology is in its early stages has an appeal.
However the story needs to finish on the right note, this is an invasion by a superior species at a time where weapons are limited.

 

[Dave]

I'm not sure why I took so long, but I finally got around to watching this on Netflix. I think you all put me off it, but it was entertaining (and that's what I wanted) and it made sense. Daniel Craig's wrist-worn technology was fully explained in the film. It was a major part of the story, so anyone who had a problem with it wasn't watching.

Hear hear! What an entertaining film. I like Sam Rockwell, Clancy Brown, Daniel Craig and of course Harrison Ford. I thought they all did a great job. I think this movie will grow on me even more, and while it was not the deepest of plots, it had enough characterization and fun scenes to make this one a purchase for me.

I second that! Stand out performances from Ford and Craig too. Also had writing credits from Orci, Kurtzman and Lindelof.

...why are "bad" aliens in such films always shown to be hideously ugly monsters with such deliberately evil intent? Do the film makers not realise that evil wearing an innocent face is far more chilling?

You make a good point. I think they did have to look "demonic" rather than friendly for this particular story to work, but did they really need to experiment on humans to mine for Gold? If they had quietly got on with their mining operation rather than flying around shooting up towns then no one would have ever noticed them.

To be fair, though, the good guys do not all get to live happily ever after.

No, the ending was bitter-sweet. Only some humans were returned. Ford lost the son he never had, and had only just realised that he should have respected him more. You can hope that both Craig and Ford's real son have now become reformed characters. You can hope that the people with memory loss will not dream about the hideous experiments performed on them. Or you can just write it off as a "lowest common-denominator popcorn movie" as you all have done. I liked it.

 

[BAYLOR]

I saw it when came on tv and found it quite good and would jhhve like to have seen a sequel but , since it didn't do great at the box office, there won't be one.

 

[Rodders]

It was entertaining enough, but I can see why it failed.

 

[BAYLOR]

It was entertaining enough, but I can see why it failed.

Westerns are not really popular in the theaters, haven't been for some years. That might be the main reason.

 

[Overread]

I'll ad a post to this restored thread - I enjoy this film. Sure its an action film and its light hearted and not a heavy sci-fi; but to me it marries scifi and westerns together well. Cast are well chosen for their roles and the story is well paced and presented. All in all enjoyable from start to finish. I have to say of his latter films its one of the best I've seen Harrison Ford in in a while (then again its not attempting to remake old-glory day films).

I honestly feel its a shame it didn't spawn any further productions, but then again considering the ending perhaps it was better. The only way I could see it working would be a retelling in series form (near impossible to get with the original cast in complete).

Overall an enjoyable action film with western and sci-fi elements that paces and tells its story well.

 

[BAYLOR]

I'll ad a post to this restored thread - I enjoy this film. Sure its an action film and its light hearted and not a heavy sci-fi; but to me it marries scifi and westerns together well. Cast are well chosen for their roles and the story is well paced and presented. All in all enjoyable from start to finish. I have to say of his latter films its one of the best I've seen Harrison Ford in in a while (then again its not attempting to remake old-glory day films).

I honestly feel its a shame it didn't spawn any further productions, but then again considering the ending perhaps it was better. The only way I could see it working would be a retelling in series form (near impossible to get with the original cast in complete).

Overall an enjoyable action film with western and sci-fi elements that paces and tells its story well.

If it had been a hit, they'd probably be talking sequels . The Aliens could still com back.

 

[Dave]

Based upon this review of a reprint of the graphic novel then I'd say:

1. The film diverges from the graphic novel considerably - the aliens were not horrific-looking monsters - the Apaches were about to attack the town before the ship landed.
2. There might be room for a sequel within the story that the film left out.
3. Yes, the aliens could come back - revenge would be the strong motive.

As for "Westerns not being popular in the theatres" - there certainly aren't so many, but those that there are usually do okay. Django Unchained (2013) for example.