Best movie of this year hands down!

Perfectly adorable

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Dreadfully Boring

"Rio Bravo" is a Western that's typical of John Wayne. He plays a squeaky-clean, upstanding law enforcer, someone who is quite easy-going until provoked and always believes in doing the right thing. That was the image John Wayne stuck with for most of his career and it works in "Rio Bravo." There is plenty of fun in this film, thanks to some good dialogue, being quite lighthearted in places, the story being pretty good and also for featuring some great action near the end. Dean Martin gives a better than average performance as the former sheriff who deals with his own demons via the bottle. He eventually finds his courage and regains some of his former glory. Old hands like Walter Brennan and Ward Bond give their usual sterling support, they were veterans of the Western genre. The running time is a bit long at 130 minutes but I personally don't find that a problem. In a town not far from the Mexican border, an outlaw is being held in the town jail. For John Wayne, that means the entire gang of which the outlaw is a member, shall be riding into town with the intention of springing their comrade. Wayne only has a drunken former sheriff, a deputy with a crippled leg and a young and inexperienced gunfighter for support. The direction from Howard Hawks keeps the film ticking along at a good pace. Wayne's movies with Hawks are equally as good as the ones he made with John Ford.

I'm no big fan of John Wayne and truth be told I haven't watched very many of his films at all. My main interest in seeing RIO BRAVO is that it served as a big inspiration on John Carpenter's ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, and as a massive fan of Carpenter I knew I had to watch it. Having just watched it, I can report that it's an involved and engaging western, one with flaws but which overcomes these by offering strong action scenes and good characterisation. The similarities to the Carpenter film are fewer than expected, as this doesn't have any of the siege action I was expecting.The plot sees Wayne and his buddies holding a notorious criminal in their town jail while the guy's gang members and brother attempt to free him. There's little more to it than that, and it's a decent template for thrills and action. The shoot-outs in this film are well directed and exciting, and the large scale climax approaches brilliance. However, the film does drag in places with the overlong running time. Angie Dickinson is an arresting presence for sure, but her romance scenes with Wayne feel unnecessary (not to mention unbelievable). Dean Martin lends solid support as the drunken aide, but that whole sub-plot of him getting drunk and taken advantage of feels a bit redundant too. Still, it's a fine-looking film, and western fans will lap it up.

Usually I don't like these types of old westerns. They often present a "let's go camping with our cell phones and gourmet freeze dried food" version of the old west. I think the old westerns tend to make it more glamorous than it was. I do like many of the recent westerns. Probably starting with "The Unforgiven", and I also like any of the classic spaghetti westerns with Mr. Eastwood. Those are often more gritty and quite different compared to this type of "amusement park western" with John Wayne.However, this one was just plain dang fun with great characters and a believable romance (Every time there's any type of romance in any movie that the film maker's want me to believe in, I compare it to Star Wars Episodes 2 and 3. Two movies to create a convincing love story and it failed miserably). What I appreciated was that it wasn't "simplistic". The developing romance between the Wayne and Dickinson's character had some "relatively" complex elements that weren't simple western cookie cutter, not all spelled out, type of cinematic relationship. Yeah it wasn't that complex but it was interesting to figure out the motivations and fun to follow along. There was even some comic relief! Quite frankly, Angie Dickinson was a major hottie in her day. Whoa! She looked familiar but I couldn't place the face. Didn't recognize her AT ALL. I had to check the credits.Some reviewers don't care for the romance and the longer story development elements, but just like one of those man made climbing walls at a sporting goods stores, without it there aren't any good handholds. I need those parts to hang on to, keeping my interest so I can keep climbing to the top.Without some slowing down and something to care about, the rest of the action is just another old western that bores the heck out of me. I know people who "fast forward" or "talk" through the slow bits in action movies. I am the complete opposite. Without that back story, without the stuff that happens BETWEEN the action sequences, I have no commitment or involvement in the outcome. Without light there's no dark. Without contrasts it's all "one color".I couldn't sleep, it was early early morning so I was up anyway, flipped on the TV and this was on. Was going to change channel but was too lazy and hadn't planned to watch anything "with commitment", just background noise. But then I got sucked in and before I knew it was totally engrossed in the characters and story and really enjoying it.The only thing I might have left out would have been the kind of out of place, awkward "musical break" from the two major singers in the cast. I thought this would be coming at some point but hoped they might skip over it... but... at least there wasn't too much of it. I can't imagine two "cowboys" with singing voices like that just randomly thrown together in the same town in the same dangerous situation. Another one of those "throw out all believability" old western cliché.The Colorado character seemed a bit out of place and unconventional but I think he pulled it off. Acting was a bit stiff but I didn't mind. He was almost like a "Deus Ex Machina". Might be too strong to say that but close enough. He was always in the right place at the right time.Some say it was too long? Wow... I was actually disappointed when it ended. I wanted more. Guess I have to watch some Gunsmoke reruns. I had to give it a 10 out of 10 based on how much I enjoyed it. When the time just flies by without consciously noticing, and I feel sad when the credits roll, I have to give it a 10.

. . . than his character does here in RIO BRAVO, as this was the last feature film for Ward Bond before a massive heart attack in a hotel shower gave rise to one of the baseball terms for a starting pitcher getting knocked out of the box too early (that is, "sent to the shower"). Though the DVD bonus feature I'm actually reviewing (and rating 9 of 10 here)--THE JOHN WAYNE STOCK COMPANY: WARD BOND--actually appears on the 2005 Paramount HONDO release (another of the 23 movies, like RIO BRAVO, featuring BOTH Wayne and Bond), it makes more sense to talk about it on the RIO BRAVO page (since neither Paramount, IMDb, or the Wayne and Bond families cared enough about Ward Bond fans to acknowledge the existence of this 10 minute documentary short). Bond was in 250 movies (a number his drinking buddy Wayne often conflated as his OWN filmography, in his later CTE-racked years), including 26 of director John Ford's and 6 of director Frank Capra's (who can forget his Bert-the-Cop in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE?). Bond and Wayne played chess, dominoes, and poker together, also serving as "Best Man" at each other's weddings. They both played football for the University of Southern California, though Bond was three years ahead of Wayne. Bond was about the same size as John Wayne--6' 3", 220 pounds--but did NOT wear elevator shoes in his later years, as did Wayne. This short mentions 30 of Bond's films by name, and states that 1935 was his biggest year, when he appeared in 30 flicks! This "bonus feature" also notes that he (unlike Wayne) had a doctor's note to avoid fighting in WWII--Bond was 4F because of epilepsy.