Appaloosa or 3:10 to Yuma

Appaloosa - 7/10
3:10 to Yuma - 8/10

3:10 to Yuma tied with Open Range is the best western in the last 15 years or so in my opinion, but Appaloosa is pretty good too. One thing they have in common is the dynamic between the two leading characters, the best part of both movies. I liked Crowe and Bale better, but I think the cast of Appaloosa is better overall. Neither of them are too original, but I liked the Yuma story better, and the finale just makes me wanna watch the movie all over again as soon as it's finished.

mgtbltp, I don't think they should be compared to western masterpieces you mentioned and I doubt any western will reach that level again. They're still better than most of the westerns AND action films in more than a decade, though. In my opinion.

"3:10 to Yuma remake was ridiculous, implausable, and pretty far fetched all around, and Appaloosa could have used a bit more action, though it was more believable than Yuma's story line. I say each should have borrowed from the other.

Niether of them comes remotely close to Great Westerns like, "The Wild Bunch", "The Searchers", "The Good The Bad & Mrs. Miller."

AMEN!

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Appaloosa (2008) = 7. Fully satisfactory, nothing special.
3:10 to Yuma (2007) = 4. The final fight was a bad joke.

Given the direction of 3:10 to Yuma (2007) was further and further away from intensity and in-context realism, nothing could have saved it. It had good actors, but they never had a chance to make it work.

Appaloosa (2008) was almost a masterpiece.

Unfortunately Renée Zellweger was no good, and the story was in large part about the consequences of how lovable and beautiful Allison French was despite the way she acted. To my eyes, she was too old for children, charmless, and looked like a Hollywood star with bad plastic surgery and a frozen face. It doesn't work. It's like a fight to the death over who gets to drink polluted water from a dirty cup. You have to pretend, constantly, that there is something worth fighting for, and that introduces a tension that is at odds with the down-beat, relaxed style of a movie that mostly sacrifices thrills for just letting you believe.

All the male actors do well, and the shootout rocks. It's so sensible. It's all over in seconds because "everybody could shoot."

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That's close to the collective IMDb rating of 6.8 (Appaloosa) and 7.9 (3:10 to Yuma.)


Why do you suppose that, upon the film's release, the 3:10 to Yuma (2007) board attracted so much intelligent conversation on existential themes, on reality vs Myth of the Old West, on the psychology of the characters, on the many memorable scenes, while this board has been so much slower from the get-go and more focused on dull plot points & Rene Zellweger's performance?

i rate them both 8/10. 310 is good for an exciting action movie. and appaloosa is great if you want a more realistic western.