Strong and Moving!

Really Surprised!

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Westerns have been quite the resilient genre, but the same time Hostiles is not usual gunslinger/outlaw Western. It is about change, which includes grief and what adapting means to one's moral compass. Christian Bale - who masterfully captures the PTSD-like weariness of a soldier who's killed too many - stars as an Army captain who is given orders to take an imprisoned sickly Cheyenne chief home to his reservation to die as a free man. But, like the other films directed by Cooper, each of those films seem to be in no rush to get where they are going. Bookended by an intense intro and tense finale which are thrillingly brutal, Hostiles also takes the long way in reaching its destination. Actually film feels even longer than it is (133m) because it prioritizes mood over narrative depth and momentum. The story itself follows a fairly predictable path, but at the same time film boasts a cast of brilliant actors which performances are quite good and the location photography is breathtakingly at times.In short, Hostiles is a mixed-bag drama when it comes to story and execution and like so many westerns, still mostly adheres to the one-sided stereotypical story telling. Film fails to reach its full potential, wanders off course from time to time, but eventually manages to deliver its simple message and understanding right on time. The movie generally worked for me, and it's been a good few years now since I came away from a cinema with that feeling about a western.8/10

Impressive film. Great performance of Christian Bale. Thank you so much for this film.

The journey of a man filled with hate through a violent time and region was gripping due to Bale's performance. Much of the movie is about dealing with death, reckoning with the past and staying alive. The way Bale interacts with his men and the widow was great. He does a lot of non-verbal acting and it's very powerful. A different kind of western and beautifully filmed.

I was shocked at how good this turned out to be. I mean we figured this was going to be a pretty good "era" movie , old western as it were that Christian Bale does so well, but this truly turned out to be one of the best that he has done in awhile . And Rosamund Pike (from Gone Girl) was OUTSTANDING in this. Her partrayal of a wife and mother whose entire family is slaughtered by a band of rogue Cheyenne Indians is chilling. Her performance throughout is just impressive. It is a moderately paced western that keeps the story steady and the characters in check so you aren't lost which is a VERY welcome trait in my book because so many lately are doing the opposite. Trying to add too many characters to the story and in the process you lose track of the story line. THIS DOES NOT DO THAT. Bale keeps things moving and you know where your story is headed at all times. Wes Studi as the Indian Chief is amazing. He has played this role in many other movies and he does it with mastery. Adam Beach is the same. He doesn't say much but doesn't have to, he is excellent in his roll as supporting.The ending is a little surprising and yet sad and then finally good. All in all it is an enjoyable way to spend 2hrs of time.