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List Price: $9.98 | | Label: Paramount
Salesrank: 3611
Released: March 21, 2000 |
| Our Price: $4.47 |
| Used Price: $3.99 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Mitchum stars as an alcoholic sheriff whose old friend-turned gunfighter Wayne helps him fight greedy cattlemen.
Genre: Westerns
Rating: NR
Release Date: 28-MAR-2006
Media Type: DVD
Description of El Dorado:
El Dorado doesn't quite have the scope or ambition of Howard Hawks's greatest Westerns, Red River and Rio Bravo. But this relaxed picture, made near the end of Hawks's marvelous career, still shows the steady, sure hand of a master. Hawks reunites with John Wayne, playing a hired gun mixed up in a range war; Robert Mitchum is Wayne's old pal, now a sheriff in the midst of a hopeless drunken bender. James Caan, in one of his first sizable roles, plays a kid who can't shoot straight and wears a funny hat (every character in the movie makes fun of this hat). As the plot moves along, it begins to resemble Rio Bravo rather closely ("I steal from myself all the time," Hawks was fond of admitting). But in El Dorado the heroes are a bit older, their powers a bit weaker; at the end Wayne must revert to a bit of subterfuge in order to get the drop on the steely gunslinger (ice-cold Christopher George) he needs to put down. As relaxed as the movie is, Hawks and Wayne and company are in good spirits, with plenty of broad humor and easy camaraderie on display. Hawks and Wayne would make just one more film, the disappointing Rio Lobo, before ending their fruitful partnership. --Robert Horton
El Dorado Reviews:
Fan Of john Wayne 
2008-08-16 - I wanted this movie for my John Wayne collection. I saw it when it can out in the movies and needed to add it to my DVD collection. This is one of the best of Waynes's Movies.
El Dorado 
2008-04-24 - A comical and serious movie. Robert Mitchum and John Wayne together were really good.
Great western 
2008-04-09 - They just don't make movies like this anymore, which is why I like these westerns more and more as time goes by. Good guys and bad guys, horses and guns, Robert Mitchum and John Wayne! What more could you ask?
Oh,and lets not forget the scene where commie-lib Ed Asner gets pistol-whipped by Robert Mitchum. That alone makes it worth buying.
Very Quotable!
2008-03-25 - John Wayne and James Mitchum were great in this movie. Lots of good humor and memorable quotes.
An Awesome, action-packed, Western!
2008-01-28 - First off, let me start by saying that, contrary to the popular belief here, El Dorado is definitely NOT a remake of Rio Bravo (Two-Disc Special Edition). Yes, there are a similar themes that run through both: A drunken lawman, holding up in the jailhouse waiting for the U.S. Marshall, a sexy love interest, and a crusty old deputy to name a few. Howard Hawkes, who directed both films, was fond of saying how much he liked to steal from himself. But the plots are completely different. A perfect example of a remake is the 1957 film 3:10 to Yuma (Special Edition), starring Glenn Ford and Van Heflin. In 2007 a remake of the film (3:10 to Yuma (Widescreen Edition)), starring Christian Bale and Russell Crowe was released. Same characters, same exact plot. Only the sequence and action was updated. That is a remake. In Rio Bravo the Sheriff is holding the brother of a rich rancher for murder and the story takes us through how the rancher tries to free his brother at any cost. In El Dorado, based on the Book The Stars in Their Courses by Harry Brown, the main plot revolves around a range war between two ranchers, the tough but fair Kevin MacDonald (R.G. Armstrong) and the land-grabbing Bart Jason (Ed Asner). This is not a remake.
John Wayne plays Cole Thornton, a hired gun whom Jason is trying to hire to help drive MacDonald off his ranch so that Jason can steal the water rights. What Jason doesn't know is that Thornton is an old friend to the local sheriff, J.P. Hara, played by Robert Mitchum. Of course, Thornton turns down the job. But unknown to him, MacDonald has been mistakenly warned that Thornton was working for Jason, which leads to Thornton accidentally killing one of MacDonald's sons, Luke (Johnny Crawford of The Rifleman Fame) and then getting shot by a MacDonald daughter (Michele Carey). The killing of Luke haunts Thornton to the point where he feels he owes the MacDonalds but can't face them, leading him to leave. This all happens in the first 15 minutes of the film and sets up the rest perfectly.
As the story progresses we meet "Mississippi" (a young James Caan), a man who had spent two years chasing down a group of cowboys who murdered his friend. Christopher George plays Nelse McLeod, a gunman with an interesting sense of fairness who joins Jason. And we find out that after Thornton left El Dorado his pal Hara turned into a drunk because of a "wandering petticoat." It's up to Thornton, Mississippi, and Hara's deputy "Bull" (played wonderfully by character actor Arthur Hunnicutt) to put Hara back together before McLeod can take advantage of the situation. What follows is some of the best gunfights that a mid-1960's western could produce.
Throughout the film we're treated to great action, wonderful lines (Bull's "Well I'd be a suck-egged mule" is still one of my favorites), a bit of comedy relief here and there, and some good-ole fashion sex-appeal coming from Charlene Holt and Michele Carey. Just what every guy back in the 60's loved about going to see a John Wayne Western at a Saturday matinee.
I would highly recommend this to any John Wayne/Robert Mitchum/Western fan. Believe me, it will not disappoint.
