jares
All town's citizens are bad, coward, free-rider people, living from the violence and robbery his main provider makes to other towns. The baron himself cannot make a concrete decision during the whole film, asks for opinions to his cowmen, who schizophrenically are scared to say anything worthy, at the same time they pay adherence zero to their boss's (mumbled) guidelines (and decide to die solitary and stupidly one by one). Cobb seems to consider the old days are gone as well as using guns, while marking others' cattle he continues to steal (it's just a hobby, do not pay attention to it), and his employees have fun proving who is a better shooter amongst! The town Marshall is a sad humiliated figure, that suddenly reborns awhile because he cannot stand back-shooters! And Lancaster plays a infallible gunman (if you dare to shoot him, you will miss), who after a lot of killing and caring (do not forget Duvall and Jordan), steals horses and becomes a jealous love rejected back-shooter himself (Ryan should have arrested and kicked him in his head too, if coherent). In the meantime, Joseph Wiseman leans back and smiles all the time (apparently he knows this go nowhere). This silly and insulting script should have ended with Lancaster killing Jordan between his eyes (who cares for a reason?), and North pledging to Lancaster 'I'm free now, take me with you.' Why not? This is neither a revisionist nor a classic plot, it is just pure nonsense.
hkfilmbuff
The theme of "Lawman" is neither unique nor new, The "Last Train From Gun Hill (1959)" starring Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn came to mind right away, and before that "The Man From Laramie (1955)" with James Stewart, although both of these also involves an element of personal revenge which, in turn, brings back to mind another string of memorable movies from "The Bravados (1958)", "Nevada Smith (1966)", "Hang 'Em High (1968)", "Valdez Is Coming (1971)", "Jeremiah Johnson (1972)", to another Michael Winner film "Chato's Land (1972)".There is a whole lot of violence in all these movies, and Michael Winner seemed to be paying homage to the spaghetti westerns. Kudos to the script writer for the many noteworthy lines. The much anticipated ending came with an unexpected twist, leaving the audience to figure out the punchline of the movie.The aging cast of Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Lee J. Cobb brought back quite a bit of nostalgia from the glory days of Hollywood. Recognizing David McGiver from "Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)" brought back a chuckle, and Robert Duval, whom I first noticed in "The Rain People (1969)", was still at the beginning of his prolific career.I do miss those good old days...
TankGuy
One night in the quiet frontier town of Bannock, dozens of rowdy cowhands working for rancher Vincent Bronson(LEE J. COBB)come drunkenly tearing out of the saloon and proceed to shoot up the town, causing tremendous damage and scaring the locals. An innocent old man is accidentally killed in the chaos and Bronson and his men flee from the scene. Several months later Jared Maddox(BURT LANCASTER),the marshal for Bannock, arrives in the town of Sabbath, which is owned and controlled by Bronson, intent on arresting Bronson and the men responsible for the incident. Maddox is met with hostility from the townsfolk, who are loyal to Bronson and gets little help from Sabbath's sheriff, Cotton Ryan(ROBERT RYAN)who is merely a puppet for Bronson. When Bronson suggests that he pay for the damages and send his condolences to the old man's family rather than be taken back to stand trail, Maddox refuses, still intending to fulfil his duty by taking the men back to Bannock. Maddox later kills one of Bronson's men in self defence,and both Bronson and Maddox now know they must use violence in order to stay alive...Burt Lancaster, my favourite actor, is awesome as tough,unyielding,by-the-book Jared Maddox. Maddox as a character is one of the greatest western antiheroes and throughout the course of the film develops magnificently, he is portrayed with the kind of awe striking brilliance that I expect from Burt. Lee J. Cobb is outstanding as the cigar chomping,corrupt,rugged,hard nosed land baron/rancher Vincent Bronson. Bronson is everything I imagine a rancher to look and sound like and Cobb's extremely talented and incredible portrayal of the character made him a pleasure to watch, at times he nearly upstaged Lancaster, His deep, rough voice was just amazing and reflected Cobb's talent excellently. Robert Ryan was superb and succeeded in giving his character an engaging and intriguing edge, Ryan himself is as craggy as the western landscape. Albert Salmi and Joseph Wiseman are reunited with Burt Lancaster 11 years after THE UNFORGIVEN,both give terrific performances and portray strong, interesting characters. Robert Duvall was really impressive and gave an exceptional portrayal of a wild west cowboy. John Mcgiver,Walter Brooke and Charles Tyner were excellent as some of the townsfolk and some of the characters like the mayor and the hotel manager were quite amusing.The camera-work was magnificent and quite unique. British director Michael winner, who gave us the DEATH WISH movies, gives the film a raw and intense feel with the camera-work contributing majorly to this. The short, lingering shots as well as numerous shots of characters eyes and mouths gave the film a spaghetti Western feel which complemented it greatly.The shots of the rocky,blistering,arid landscape were remarkable, the energetic, dizzying shots of Cattle being roped,wrestled to the ground and branded and the shots of Maddox tracking Adams into the hills were spectacular as well as close-ups of guns being fired. The shootout at the end was fantastic, probably the most interesting shootout I've ever seen in a western, it says a lot about the characters involved. Neither Bronson nor Maddox want to kill, but both men feel obliged and duty bound to do so because the harsh western frontier refuses to let them do otherwise and because they must stay alive. The stunts and deaths were awesome, the shots of Maddox jumping off his horse, taking cover under gunshots and return fire and the shots of his opponents being shot to death were stunning. The use of blood gave this sequence a realistic and violent edge. I was really impressed with the brutal shot of blood exploding out of a man's back and spewing out of his mouth after he is shot by Maddox. The culmination of the shootout is also brutally chilling, but I won't spoil it, the succeeding zoom in shot of Maddox' face summarises his inner torment as well as what the film is saying. The storyline was appealing, it's not just a story of one determined mans quest for justice, it delves deep into the darker side of the law. Jared Maddox is a man consumed by crippling emptiness, he feels enslaved by his job and by killing. Deep down, he is sickened and disgusted by the latter but feels he must do it, out of duty and the will to survive, as the film progresses, he becomes disillusioned and by the end of the film, he feels as if his life has been a waste. Vincent Bronson is similar, he's not a bad man, he just made a mistake and simply wants to get on with his life, but the unforgiving world in which he lives will not let him. Cotton Ryan is a character who was once a feared and respected man who built his reputation on a violent incident several years previous, but now he has been reduced to nothing and is used and walked over by everyone around him, possibly because he didn't keep up expectations.LAWMAN is a fascinating look into the mind of someone who must uphold the law and the burden they carry because of it, the price they must pay for upholding justice and keeping people safe. It's got a strong and intriguing storyline, excellent script rich in character development, there was one quote which made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up ("You'd ride a man to hell wouldn't ya Maddox").It's full of legendary acting talent, amazing characters and camera-work and has a dramatic,electrifying,finger biting, thought provoking finale which packs a bruising punch and poses a question significant for us today. All incredibly directed by Michael Winner.10/10.
