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List Price: $9.99 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 4723
Released: May 6, 2003 |
| Our Price: $4.97 |
| Used Price: $5.09 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
An english widow her daughter and a drifter go to texas to breed her hereford bull with a ranchers longhorns. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 08/23/2005 Starring: James Stewart Brian Keith Run time: 97 minutes Rating: Nr Director: Andrew V. Mclaglen
Description of The Rare Breed:
A very offbeat subject gives this Western its beefy flavor: English lady Maureen O'Hara brings a prize Hereford bull to the Wild West, where she plans to introduce its hardy bloodline into longhorn country. Cattle puncher James Stewart finds the idea suspect, but he likes this redhead, so he manages to tag along through stampede, gunfight, and blizzard. Director Andrew V. McLaglen generally steers a pleasing course, although the movie occasionally stumbles between brawling comedy and western drama. One stunt sequence, a run of longhorns through a desert canyon, qualifies as a hair-raiser. Brian Keith, wearing a gigantic red beard, does a Scots accent as a cattle baron, and veteran cowhands Ben Johnson and Jack Elam are around to lend atmosphere. The big bull's name is Vindicator, and he obeys whenever Juliet Mills whistles "God Save the Queen"--did we mention this is a very offbeat subject for a Western? --Robert Horton
The Rare Breed Reviews:
The Rare Breed 
2009-10-12 - Can't go wrong with Jimmie Stewart, Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith. Good Video - great dealer
This movie always makes me smile
2009-08-30 - I first saw this movie as a child. I loved it then and loved it now. It has an original plot. Jimmy Stewart and Maureen O'hara do what they do best... alternate between the dramatic and the comic at unpredictable moments. Brain Keith overplays his scottish cattle baron as if he were being directed by the Cohen brothers.But the best thing about this western is the music. It contains one of the best western soundtracks ever written. There are times in the movie when Jimmy is just riding his horse but with the scenery in the background and the beautiful music playing I find myself sitting with a grin on my face. Some movies just make you feel happy like that.
Entertaining "history lesson" 
2009-08-05 - This unusual Western departs from the usual shoot-em-up plot and tells a story of the late 1800's, when cattlemen were just beginning to consider adding other strains of cattle to the Longhorns that were the staple on ranches then. Forward-thinking cattle breeders understood that the longhorn is hardy and can travel long distances, but doesn't have as much meat as the beef cattle in Europe at that time. Enter an English cattle-breeder's widow and her daughter, who have brought their Hereford bull, "Vindicator" to America, hoping to get a better price for him. Only Juliet Mills could have more determination than Maureen O'Hara, who plays her mother. Though I have never understood why they didn't just leave Vindicator in the barn for his first winter, till he could get acclimated, I still love this movie.
Rare Breed DVD
2009-06-14 - I was very pleased with the condidtion of the DVD and the prompt service given.
Strange but pleasant Western with an odd mixture of Drama and Comedy. 
2009-05-21 - Certainly one of Western mainstay, Stewart's, weirdest in the genre is this 1966 film directed by veteran film maker Andrew Mclaglen.
The plot is about how an english woman and her daughter plan to crossbreed a rare breed of bull with that of American cattle. Stewart is hired to take the women and the bull(named "Vindicator") to Cattle Baron Brian Keith, who has a ball in this role topped with red beard and mustache and heavy Scottish accent.
Stewart portrays a version of his "hardened" loner that he excelled at in his collaborations with director Anthony Mann, and is adept here. The role is not as great as I would have hoped for he appears off and on throughout the second half, with Keith and O'Hara taking center stage, but he's good as usual.
O'Hara is charming in her role and has alot of conviction as the woman determined to prove herself right that her bull will properly breed.
The film is certainly entertaining with a good pace and good cast but it has it's faults. For one thing the line between Comedy and Drama is not always so clear.
Jack Elam is portrayed as his usual villainous self, but with a seemingly comical nature. When he guns down Harry Carey Jr. in cold blood at one point, which causes Stewart to shoot him off his horse, it feels out of place.
Same with that fight between Keith and Stewart at film's close. Was that supposed to be an important dramatic moment or was it comedic? Either way, it hardly works.
At times the cinematography and locations look lovely. At other times it is apparent that we are in a studio. This is a result of some sloppy editing that can ruin a film's atmosphere and this film does get hurt as a result of this.
It's certainly entertaining though, but those expecting an Action film or a Comedic light hearted romp may be a bit perplexed. Fans of the genre should give this a glance, as it has some top notch performances and a unique plot if nothing else.
