El Dorado

Great western, back when they made great movies, not cartoons or woke crap!

John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, James Caan- A Must Watch!

The typical western about greedy land grabbers and the hardworking homesteader/ranchers. John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, and James Caan save the homesteaders from the greedy land grabbers. Lots of shooting, lots of funning around and the bad guys get sent to "boot hill" so to speak. They don't make movies like they used to.

It was good to see this old John Wayne movie. Quality of picture was pretty good but not great but still an enjoyment to watch.

Good Western with balance of comedy and action, stars and unknown faces. Acting was mostly good, one of the women was a little stiff IMO but didn't take away from the 5*.

It's nothing artistic but it was entertaining. A typical western plot without a lot of surprises. I enjoy old American westerns minus some of the dated customs. I cringed when James Caan's character pulls his eyes to imitate a caricature of a Chinese man--like that would fool anyone lol, but this was usual with movies during that era (Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's).

When I was six, in 1966. Good Stuff!

Movie critic Roger Ebert had nothing but good things to say about this movie. "El Dorado" is a tightly directed, humorous, altogether successful Western, turned out almost effortlessly, it would seem, by three old pros: John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, ​and director Howard Hawks." And I have to agree as this timeless western classic never seems to grow old and just like an old friend one never grows tired of visiting. The blu-ray transfer is beautiful and a large part of it is lovingly filmed at night by cinemaphotographer Harold Rosson who would take as long as an hour and a half to set up the lighting in the night scenes because he wanted those scenes to emulate the paintings of classic western artists. Incidentally, the gentleman who played the gunsmith Swede Larson ( Olaf Wieghorst) was his first attempt at acting. His profession was a western painter and he did the paintings for the background of the opening credits of this film. The score for the film was by Nelson Riddle who is famous for his jazzy themes ( the theme music to the original "Emergency" TV show to name just one) and it shows in a couple of the scenes such as when they are hunting down the three baddies who are holed up in a church. There are three documentaries that accompany the disc. One on director Howard Hawks; Ride Boldly Ride: The Journey To Eldorado. Another on the artist Olaf Wieghorst; The Artist and the American West. And a third Behind the Gates: A.C. Lyles Remembers John Wayne. There are two commentaries. One by Director Peter Bogdanovich, and the other commentary by film Historian and Critic Richard Schickel, Actor Ed Asner and Author Todd McCarthy. Although I did give this movie a much deserved 5-star rating the disc has a problem like I've never run into before. Neither the theatrical preview nor the third documentary (Behind the Gates) are watchable as the picture freezes up on black then white noise picture then a frozen scene and keeps going like that. Weird!One behind the scenes tidbit that Peter Bogdanovich told on John Wayne was that he always stuck around between shoots. He was always doing something, as Mr. Bogdanovich described Duke Wayne as very fidgety between shots unlike the other actors like Robert Mitchum who always went to his trailer between shots. Duke Wayne and James Caan would often play chess as well between scenes just like he did with Dean Martin on the set of Rio Bravo.In spite of the discs shortcomings the movie does play just fine and the 1080p sparkles and it is nearly like watching the movie for the first time all over again what with eye-popping details in costume embroidery and set decoration that is all the more evident since this is a full-screen 16 x 9 transfer in gorgeous Technicolor.

One of my favourite westerns and on blu-ray it's even better. The picture is sharp the colours are bright and the detail pops. Bearing in mind it does depend on what you are watching it on and playing it with (I have a Panasonic DMP-BDT320 blu-ray player matched to a Philips 55OLED903/12 TV) For a 50+ film it really is a great picture. I wish they could do something similar for my 50+ looks

Tucked between 1959's masterpiece Rio Bravo and his final, hugely underrated film Rio Lobo, this 1967 Howard Hawks movie is more of a true western than either, Bravo being as much a 'chamber comedy' as anything else, and Lobo a Civil War saga. But with El Dorado, you get just about every western trope throw into the mix, from the black-hatted baddie to the flirty goodtime gal, from the gamblers in the saloon to the boisterous shoot-out.Yet it's all controlled with such relaxed assurance by the director, with a slew of superb performances from Wayne, Mitchum, Caan {as 'Mississippi'}, Paul Fix, Ed Asner {baddie in black hat}, Charlene Holt {goodtime gal}, Christopher George {an amaible scarred good-bad guy}, and Michele Carey as a sharp-shootin' wild-haired tomboy. The acting is so uniformly good that one forgets to even think about it. Of course, the whole thing is a partial remake of Rio Bravo, but at the same time it's a very different film, even though Wayne, Mitch, Caan and Arthur Hunnicutt {as grizzled old Bull} are holed up in the town gaol, Mitch {as J.P Harrah} is a hopeless drunk on a lengthy bender, Duke is an unsentimental friend, and Charlene Holt as Maudie {voluptuous shades of Ann-Margret in this actress} acts as both love interest and unfussy helper when things get tough.Mitchum was a terrific actor if given a good script and director, and here he had both. Mitch knew all too well what it was like to be both drunk and hungover, but it's one thing to be drunk, another to act drunk. He never puts a foot wrong, you believe every moment. It's a wonderful feat of acting, so natural and so honest. Wayne is pitch perfect as ever, and James Caan, in his first major role, is a pint-sized ball of energy {and a lot more credible than Ricky Nelson's 'Colorado' in Rio Bravo}.Hawks hit gold when he cast Holt & Carey as the two women, one a smart, worldly woman, the other an impetuous yet soulful girl. But then, Hawks liked the women in his movies ~ Bacall, Hepburn, Angie Dickinson, Jean Arthur, etc ~ to give as good as they get.The plot is a little more convoluted than Rio Bravo's, but a town requires cleaning up, and rival factions need weeding out. That's about it, though the devil is in the details, of which Hawks was a master. Duke & Mitch are just great together {as were Duke & Martin in Bravo}, and the whole thing is two hours of frontier heaven. The final scene is hilarious, with Mitchum's final line a throwaway hoot.At his best, nobody made better westerns than Hawks. But then, at his best no one made better films than Hawks.This one's a good 'un!

Released for the first time on the 'Blu-ray' format this 'Howard Hawks' offering see's'Cole Thornton' (John Wayne) rides into 'El-Dorado' he's been offered a job by thelocal land-baron 'Bart Jason'.....'Cole' is a Gunman of some repute.In town he comes across the Sheriff, alcoholic 'J.P.Harrah' (Robert Mitchum) who heused to ride with, 'J.P. tells 'Cole' a very different version of why his gun is requiredby 'Jason''Cole' is convinced by his old pal to ride out to 'Jason's' ranch and withdraw his services.Returning to 'El Dorado' 'Cole' has a run in with the 'Macdonald's' which results in himshooting the youngest son, then being wounded himself at the hands of 'Joey Macdonald''Cole' decides to move on, ending up in a boarder town where he comes to the aid of'Mississippi' (James Caan) and comes face to face with 'Nelse Mcleod' and his side-kicks,'Cole' learns that they arei heading to 'El Dorado' as 'guns' for 'Jason' (The job 'Cole' hadturned down)Well, 'Cole' decides his place is back in 'El Dorado' supporting his friend 'J.P' he is joinedby the Knife-Throwing 'Mississippi' (who can't use a gun....yet)A range war is brewing back in 'El Dorado' ...'Bart Jason' plans to run the 'Macdonald's' offtheir land, getting rid of the alcoholic Sheriff is also on his mind.'Cole' will need 'J.P' sober for the challenge ahead.Some great gun-play a little brawling and plenty of humour leading up to the climax.Great performances from 'Robert Mitchum' and the usual 'cool' performance from the 'Duke'Well worth viewing on the Blu-ray format....A decent HD upgrade.Extra's -* Commentary by 'Peter Bogdanovich'* Commentary by film historian and critic 'Richard Schickel' and author 'Todd McCarthy'* Ride, Boldly ride:-The journey to El Dorado.* The artist and the American west.* Behind the gates: 'A.C.Lyles' remembers 'John Wayne'Currently available to order on Amazon direct from the U.S. (again, good news for thoseinterested buying this 'Classic -Western' the film is 'Multi-Region'

Have always loved this film since I saw it on television Christmas 1973.It looks absolutely stunning in blu Ray.The film is classic John Wayne/Howard Hawks.A traditional good guys verses bad guys western with a great teaming of Wayne and Mitchum.They work so well together it’s a pity they didn’t make more films together.The supporting cast are all superb as well and the whole film comes together as a classic western.

Although not immediately obvious from the packaging, this latest Blu-ray offers several fine extras including an audio commentary and a substantial documentary on the making of this venerable Western.The film itself is great fun and serves as a compendium of many themes and situations from earlier Howard Hawks movies, including RIO BRAVO and THE BIG SLEEP.