Ian (Flash Review)McQueen plays a young chap whose parents were brutally murdered by a gang of thieving cowboys. Riddled with anger, he plans to exact revenge even though he has no experience with a pistol and fighting. Along his vengeful journey he meets some influential characters. Some provide assistance, some the opposite and some a moral compass for him. How far will he take his revenge? A pretty good western with great scenery, good character development, solid story yet the editing felt a bit choppy and jumpy around the timeframe. If you like McQueen or westerns, check it out.

robert-259-28954 I think this wonderful film often gets passed over on lists of "the best" Westerns. It succeeds on every level that I judge great films on—great story, great script, and the best actors for the roles. It's not very often that I classify Westerns in the "epic" genre, but this one certainly qualifies, like watching an entire novel... from the very beginning, to the bitter end. The only other I can think of with this kind of scope would be Sergio Leone's "Once Upon A Time In The West," a sweeping motion picture and modern day classic. This cast for Nevada Smith was so necessarily large, that they must have used every, single Western character actor alive in Hollywood, to good effect. Most memorable was a superb Brian Keith as the world weary gunsmith, an equally villainous Martin Landau, and fabulously unlikeable Pat Hingle, one of the most underrated actors of all time, in my opinion. Add to this powerful mix the evil Karl Malden and you have what can only be described as a "stellar" cast. Although Malden was often cast in the second fiddle, forgotten man parts, many forget his absolutely chilling portrayals as bad guys, particularly in his star turn as the sadistic sheriff in, "One Eyed Jacks," with Marlon Brando. He seems seems to channel a degree of pure evil like few others, and comes through with another chilling portrayal at the end of this film. Special mention should also go to the FANTASTIC music composer for this film, the great Alfred Newman, who's sweeping score made this motion picture one of the masterpieces of Western films it truly is. Grab a big bag of popcorn, and enjoy.

ron-fernandez-pittsburgh Good scenery, great cinematography and good music score do not a movie make. Good plot, but executed in a strange way. STEVE MCQUEEN is MUCH, MUCH, MUCH to old for the role. He also kind of "sleep walks" thru this. Maybe he didn't have much faith in the script. SUZANNE PLESCHETTE is wasted in a nothing role. In fact she's totally miss cast. The three villains score my vote for good performances. An uncredited JOANNA MOORE has a nice bit in a hotel room with MCQUEEN. Picture could have used more of her. SPOILER ALERT: Now for the worse part. How did MCQUEEN get out of the swamp and get out of his prison chains and end up in California with no one noticing??? A real plot hole here unless there was a giant cut in the final edit. If so, that was DUMB. Picture was OK until that point, and what follows is pretty bad. Again maybe to jagged editing. Nothing makes much sense. Too bad as NEVADA SMITH has the makings of a good film.

misfitsouth I was still in high school and living in Independence, CA (pop 1000) while this movie was filming in the eastern sierra, mostly 15 miles south in Lone Pine. One weekend afternoon word spread that Steve McQueen was down on Main St. (Hwy 395) on his motorcycle. Most of the school kids showed up within minutes and I remember Steve picking out some of the hottest girls from the bunch and giving them a quick ride up and down Main. He also shook hands with us guys who couldn't qualify for a bike ride. Great guy and a fond memory. After that we managed to witness several days of filming various scenes in the Owens Valley. Even had a spent blank cartridge shell from one of the prop guns used in the movie for years. Of course after that experience, Nevada Smith is one of my all time top picks.