Sorry, this movie sucks

Sick Product of a Sick System

hyped garbage

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.

A who's who of bad B westerns. Watchable only to see who shows up. Plot is blah, writing is tongue in cheek and acting is bearable, almost. Watch the background characters for familiar faces.

Waco is directed by R.G. Springsteen and adapted to screenplay by Steve Fisher from the novel Emporia written by Max Lamb and Harry Sandford. It stars Howard Keel, Jane Russell, Brian Donlevy, Wendell Corey, Terry Moore and John Agar. Music is by Jimmie Haskell and cinematography by Robert Pittack. Gunfighter Waco (Keel) is given a pardon from his jail term to go clean up the town of Emporia. Released in 1966 but feeling like it belongs in an earlier decade, Waco is a poor Western. As most Western fans will tell you, the "B" Western has its place in the heart and can quite often bring enjoyable rewards when the mood fits, unfortunately Waco is bad film making all round. Everything about it is tired, it's like it's desperately clinging on to the glory Western days of the 50s but doesn't know how to grasp with any conviction. Filmed in Technicolor and Techniscope, not that you will notice, from the very beginning where Lorne Greene sings a cheese sandwich theme tune, film plays out as some sort of amateur dramatics production. Keel thinks he's in a hard-boiled film noir and voices it as such, often resorting to auto-cue line reading, and Donlevy shows up after an hour looking awful and literally doing a cameo to pay for his next bottle of Rye. Russell doesn't fare much better, phoning it in and the most memorable thing about her input is her bullet brassier! The action is poorly constructed, with the big shoot-out proving to be more along the lines of a Keystone Cops skit, Haskell's music is simply rubbish, while what interesting character threads are in the story are sadly given short shrift by the writers (for example Corey's Reverend is briefly noted to have been part of Quantrill's Raiders). There's a level of glib humour about Keel's performance that keeps it just about watchable, while his indestructible capabilities makes him come over as a Captain Scarlet of the West. But really he's never convincing as a tough mutha and that just about sums up what an out of time Oater this is. 3/10

I love this film because it shows that people can and do change for the better, and that's what Waco thought he hadn't changed after a long time in prison, but he had and for the good of the town and the people in it.

Waco is one of the all-time great westerns. Waco boasts an outstanding all-star cast, one of the finest ever assembled for a western film. (Look especially for fine performances from John Agar as Councilman George Gates, Wendell Corey as Preacher Stone and Anne Seymour as the irrepressible Ma Jenner!) John Smith and DeForest Kelley combine to form a convincing pair of villains!Keel treads a fine line as he portrays the psychologically complex Waco, a man torn between his violent past, his love for a woman, and his newfound faith in God. Jane Russell is as captivating as ever. Jeff Richards is great as Kallen.Don't forget to take note of the stirring "Ballad Of Waco" sung at the opening and during the close by Lorne Greene.Waco is truly a feast for the western fan. Veteran Director R.G. Springsteen can carve a notch on his six gun for this one! ("Chokin' on your own stench, huh?")