not as good as all the hype

A Disappointing Continuation

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

On screen I find Kirk Douglas to be without peer, but I have come to admire him as much if not more for his real-life advocacy of some highly unorthodox, yet worthy projects.If this movie doesn't rank among his very best, it is still remarkable for how unapologetically it goes against the grain and makes a very bold personal statement (one that was not so popular at the time but resonates to this day). All the while he is producing and directing himself in what proves to be a rather unflattering role. I can't think of anyone else who would have the real-life grit to do such a thing - Kirk Douglas has done so repeatedly with aplomb.

This outlandish and politically incorrect Western concerns about an ambitious, pompous sheriff named Nightingale (Kirk Douglas) he's looking for a dangerous robber as platform for his US Senate political career, under the ironic title ¨To the polls, sons of freedom¨. When Jack Strawhorn (Bruce Dern)is double-crossed , he escapes and seek vengeance against Penstleman(David Canary). Later on , Strawhorn is captured and carried a town . After that, happens the getaway and Jack want to take over the loot that was taken him. Then Nightingale finds townspeople are siding with the bandit.There's much historical revisionism in this offbeat and pleasantly subversive Western as well as reversals of the ordinary 'Good guy' against 'Bad guy' format, similarly as happens in Spaghetti Western sub-genre. ¨Posse¨ attempts at a new rendition the Old West but at its core it's throughly conventional. Excellent Kirk Douglas as cynical sheriff who tries to fulfill political aspirations by detaining a known gunfighter. Bruce Dern steals the show as intelligent and resourceful outlaw . Secondary cast is frankly well as Dick O'Neill as ubiquitous photographer recording everything for future , James Stacy as cripple journalist, the Mexican Alfonso Arau who recently turned into film-maker, and Luke Askew and Bo Hopkins as members of the marshal bunch. This over-directed and fine-written movie extends to style as well as content, though packs some bit flaws. Colorful cinematography by Fred Koenekamp (Patton) and atmospheric musical score by Maurice Jarre (Doctor Zivago, Laurence of Arabia). This solid motion picture is well produced and directed by Kirk Douglas . Kirk's direction and production was taken in various films as ¨The light at the edge of the world¨, ¨Brotherhood¨, ¨Grand Prix¨, ¨Paths of glory¨ but he only directed ¨ Scalawag¨ and ¨Posse¨, though he told that made some scenes of ¨Spartacus. Rating : 6,5, good and well worth watching.

The outlaw Jack Strawhorn (Bruce Dern) is betrayed by one of his men, Pensteman (David Canary), after robbing US$ 40,000.00 from a train. During the night, his gang is ambushed in a barn by Marshal Howard Nightingale (Kirk Douglas) and his posse that set fire on the place, burning the criminals and the money, but Strawhorn escapes from the attack. He heads to Tesota, Texas, where he kills Pensteman and the local sheriff. Meanwhile, the ambitious Marshal Nightingale that is running for the senate is traveling by train with his posse to Tesota, expecting to capture Strawhorn to help him to win the elections. Nightingale succeeds in his manhunt and poses of hero, but while Strawhorn is in the jail, he poisons the posse asking what will happen with them after the election of their boss. During the transportation of Strawhorn for judgment by train, the outlaw reverts the situation and captures Nightingale. Now he demands the same amount he lost in the fire to release Nightingale and the posse force the locals to give the money to rescue the marshal. "Posse" is a western with a cynical and amoral tale of leadership, disloyalty and greedy. The twist in the very end is totally unexpected and all the characters are despicable and disloyal with no exception. Marshal Howard Nightingale is probably the worst, with all the characteristics that politicians usually have. James Stacy lost his left arm and left leg when he was riding a motorcycle with his girlfriend and they were struck by a drunk driver that also killed his girlfriend. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Ambição Acima da Lei" ("Ambition above the Law")

It's amazing what you'll watch when you've been at sea a while. Like 32 year old westerns. What's even more amazing is how much you enjoy them. To be honest, I've always been a bit of a fan of the old Horse Opera. There's a lot to be said for good old fashioned, uncomplicated entertainment, especially after a few weeks sitting off the coast of Indonesia staring at geophysical equipment. And this one co-starred an actor who used to give me distinct palpitations of the heart when I was 14 years old, (James Stacy), and I wanted to see if the effect was still there. (It isn't.) The story is straightforward and opens in a spirited style with a barn burning. Howard Nightingale (Kirk Douglas who also directed and produced) wants to be elected a Senator from the state of Texas. In order to win public support, he takes a train around the state traveling from place to place with a posse and horses, ready to leap out of the train at every stop to round up criminals in general and one notorious gang of train robbers led by Jack Strawhorn (Bruce Dern) in particular. If ever an outlaw felt entitled to utter the phrase "How can I soar like an eagle while I'm surrounded by turkeys", it's poor Strawhorn. His ambition is blighted by a series of dumb and dumber gang cohorts with a rampantly low IQ and a collective sense of loyalty less reliable than a railroad timetable. They betray him, lose his carefully hoarded loot, allow themselves to get carelessly burned to death and generally let him down at every turn, until the inevitable happens and he's caught. With Strawhorn in jail, Nightingale allows himself to be feted by the towns' folk (generally portrayed as good, honest imbeciles) before moving on to Austin, the state capital, and greater things. Of course Strawhorn escapes by tricking his predictably stupid guards, the plan goes awry, and, besides which, is Nightingale really the honest and upright, baby-kissing political servant he claims to be, on the side of the people? Or is he really just in the pay of the railroad kings, willing to sacrifice the voters for richer masters? Will the disabled but honest newspaper editor (Stacy, in his first movie after losing an arm and a leg in a horrific motorcycle accident) find him out? Will Nightingale's posse seduce every woman in town before the train pulls out? And did someone steal that dramatic scene of the mounted horses leaping out of the railway carriage for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? Or from Butch Cassidy? I can't recall which movie is older. The acting is pretty basic - with the exception of Dern and Stacy - who gives a low key but quite effective performance in a small role which I think was written especially for him - the characters are pretty much stock Western types, and the movie contains just about every Western cliché in the book, and yet………………… I admit to having enjoyed it. It's an uncomplicated, fun melodrama that doesn't take itself too seriously and doesn't claim to be especially meaningful. It whiled away an hour and a half quite pleasantly.One slightly worrying note; some of the stunts using horses looked horribly real, this movie may well have been made in the bad old days when animals were routinely maltreated during movie production and often sacrificed for a good stunt. Horses appear to take crashing falls, leap out of moving trains and tumble off cliffs into rivers with alarming regularity. I hope it wasn't all as real as it looks.