It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Glenn Ford is the formidable gun slinger who serves as a sensible, reasonable, mild-mannered Marshall in the dusty town of Contention, or Purgatorio, or San Placebo, or whatever it is. Oh, the town has its rowdies but it's peaceful enough overall. Ford, knowing he's the best in town, doesn't shoot anyone he doesn't have to.While fishing in a tiny pool (in the middle of the Sonoran desert) Ford is joined by a stranger. The handsome Chad Everett is headed toward Ford's town of Moribunda, having heard that the town has a Marshall said to be the fastest in the West. Everett has never met the Marshall but he aims to kill him and prove that HE, Everett, is the fastest gun in the West.When the pair have finished their fish feast of about three or four tiny perch, Ford reveals his identity. Everett is polite, thanks him for sharing the fish, tells him he's going to challenge him to a duel, and rides off towards town.I didn't stick around until the end. Everett's good side has been so firmly established that I figured either Ford kills him reluctantly, only wounds him, or that Everett decides not to throw down the gauntlet, rides off into the sunset, and joins a Buddhist monastery.Everything in the movie is conventional and flat. It looks like one of the TV "adult Westerns" that were popular at the time. The men wear the usual cowboy hats. They also wear those pointless open vests that were de rigueur. John Wayne at the time was never without one. Ford wears his signature tan cowboy hat. The gunslinger's gun is a scintillating black with a carved bone handle and is carried cross-wise in a matching black holster.The business about the upstart wanting to outshoot the established King of the Colts has been worn down to a nubbin and better done elsewhere -- "The Gunfighter", for instance. And I doubt that it ever happened. The narrative has its feet planted solidly on thin air, although it is so much a part of our mythology that one wonders what part of our subcortical structures finds it resonant. SOMEBODY sitting in those theater seats must have wanted to kill everyone until he himself became King of the Colts. That's a pretty base instinct. It got MacBeth nowhere.

Richard Thorpe's "The Last Challenge" aka. "The Pistolero of Red River" of 1967 is an entertaining standard American Western with a good cast. Even though in no way outstanding, this is a solid film that is well worth watching for genre-fans. Dan Blaine (Glen Ford), the Marshal of a small town in the West, has the reputation of being the fastest and most precise shot around. Since he has been sheriff, the formerly dangerous area has become calm. Blaine, whose beautiful and rich girlfriend (Angie Dickinson) owns a local saloon, is therefore highly respected in his community. One day, however, a young gunslinger named Lot McGuire (Chad Everett) comes to town, with the intention to challenge Blaine in a duel. While he wishes to duel with the sheriff, McGuire is an otherwise friendly and likable guy. Blaine therefore wants to dissuade the young man from his wish...Glen Ford is very good in the lead, and Chad Everett also delivers a solid performance as the young gunslinger. Beautiful Angie Dickinson is, as always, great in the female lead. The supporting cast includes the great genre actor Jack Elam, who also fits in his role very well. The film is overall entertaining and definitely worth the time. When it comes to Westerns from the late 60s, however, the Italian Westerns are usually incomparably better than those from the United States. While everybody is a bastard in Italian Westerns of the time, all characters are kinda good in this film, which makes it less interesting to me. "The Last Challenge" sure is a solid and entertaining little western, but it also confirmed what I already knew - American Westerns from the late sixties can not compete with their Italian counterparts, as the Spaghetti Westerns beat them in all respects. Nevertheless, a decent film. 6/10

Ex-gunhawk meets up and coming young punk intent on proving his worth by knocking off the king of the heap. Been there, done that. Seems like Angie Dickinson played this identical part in several films; wonder if she got as bored doing it as I did watching. What was with Royal Dano doing his impersonation of an injun? The producer couldn't find the genuine article? Let this one be your last choice.

The western showdown is as ritualistic as a bullfight which, in many respects, it resembles... The end is as quick, clean and emotionless as the dispatch of a brave fighting bull by the matador... The outcome is usually as predictable but the clash is a heightened moment of suspense that is as exciting as anything the cinema has ever produced...Richard Thorpe, a reliable director of all genre, and one of MGM's most prolific filmmaker since 1935 directed and produced 'The Last Challenge'/'The Pistolero of Red River.'Wanting a particular personal style, Thorpe never directed a great motion picture, but had a consistently acceptable batting average as a director of fine, unpretentious entertainment ranging from drama and polished adventure to comedy, musicals and westerns...With a beautiful body and a timeless loveliness of a face, Angie Dickinson looks great in her black gown... She again figures effectively as the young lady, in love, who wants to stop the shootout... The movie has a Marshal (Glenn Ford) with a reputation as a legendary wild gunfighter, heading for a showdown with a dangerous good-looking challenger Chad Everett...The John Sherry-Robert Emmett Ginna screenplay features Gary Merrill as a bushy-brow 'Five Card Stud' player, and Jack Elam as the hired killer with an evil leer...