In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

By this time in his movie career, Audie Murphy finally outgrew his boyish good looks and actually managed to look the part of either an outlaw or a hero, which in this case he was both. A surprise for me was catching Buster Crabbe this far into his career and appearing well matured beyond his Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers days as a matinée idol.The story opens with a rather long fourth wall narration by an uncredited Booth Colman portraying a newspaper editor, setting the stage for a tale dealing with the last days of Quantrill's Raiders. Audie Murphy's character is Clint Stewart, who along with partner Willie Martin (Ben Cooper), are members of Quantrill's bunch and are captured during a Union assault and sentenced to twenty years hard time. Their release from a Texas prison is engineered by Captain Tom Andrews (Crabbe), who offers them eventual pardon if they cooperate in bringing the remainder of the gang to justice.I have to say, for an otherwise rather mundane western I was impressed by a couple of scenes, the first of which had a Quantrill renegade named Montana (George Keymas) pull the old Luca Brasi trick of putting a knife through the hand of a card playing opponent who beat him with a full house.The other occurred when Clint's identity as a Union undercover agent is about to be blown and his friend Willie tries to cover for him and is shot by Montana in the process, virtually committing suicide so the mission wouldn't be undermined. Of course, he was about half dead already after being beaten by the outlaws, so he might have figured it was for a worthy cause.Oh yeah, can't forget the cactus torture by the Yaqui's. Nice touch there as well.Over all a decent Audie Murphy Western for fans of the war hero and movie star, with excellent cinematography and location shooting for the Arizona backdrop. Brief intermittent scenes of Gloria Talbott as a Yaqui Indian should add to your viewing pleasure.

It is impossible to imagine a worse beginning to a film. Booth Colman plays a newspaper man who provides a long, meandering, long, convoluted, long, unnecessary, and overly LONG introduction explaining Quantrill's history. He actually breaks the fourth wall and talks directly into the camera as if we're his junior high school class. This goes on for a full SEVEN MINUTES before the movie starts, then they cut to Quantrill himself leading his men to a raid and we are treated to a DIFFERENT actor providing voice-over narration explaining what Quantrill is doing ALL OVER AGAIN. I GIVE!! UNCLE!! MAKE IT STOP!!! Audie Murphy and Ben Cooper are convicted for their part in riding with Quantrill and not until THIRTY-EIGHT MINUTES into the film are they sprung from a chain gang by Buster Crabbe to earn unconditional pardons for themselves by becoming Arizona Raiders, infiltrating the newly-formed gang of old raiders, and bringing them all to justice. Even film fans who have never taken Screenplay 101 know that the entire premise of the film needs to be provided to the audience within the first ten minutes of the film, not thirty-eight! The most excruciating of all endurance tests.Because Audie Murphy is the good guy, we know all the "tension" generated by whether he will or won't keep his promise to the rangers is pointless...of course, he strays from the goal every once in a while and someone close to him always manages to die because of it, so he is kept on the righteous path. Of course, the screenwriter has the most important symbol that Audie should care about die first, then a less important person (who seems to make a bigger difference to Audie), and then a Yaqui Indian woman is the one who drives it all home for him (even though they have no relationship and he has no reason to care at all about her). That's just dumb. On top of all that, the first half of the film sets up George Keymas' character as the arch-nemesis for Audie's character (and the main reason Audie agrees to become a ranger), yet it is all undermined when Audie kills him immediately upon finding the gang's hideout halfway through the film! From than point on, Michael Dante's character becomes the main nemesis, but he and Audie have no history/personal grudge/drama/conflict between each other...Dante's character is not even remotely as interesting, or evil, or sadistic as Keymas' character, so it becomes a "So what?" kind of scenario. Everything that gets built up fizzles into ho-hum and is undermined by the screenwriter, so we're left with a lot of dopiness and zero tension.Okay, now for the good parts...Audie Murphy, Ben Cooper, Ray Stricklyn, and Buster Crabbe are EXCELLENT!! They absolutely lift this poorly written and constructed film up several notches just by their presence and commitment to their characters. Audie Murphy was short, soft-spoken, and baby-faced...on paper, not the ideal characteristics for a Western hero (truly the anti-John Wayne)...yet it speaks volumes about his charisma and talent (especially for a self-professed "non-actor") that he is such a joy to watch.If one can ignore the lousy stunt work, even worse stunt doubling, bad foley work, and unimpressive soundtrack, the directing was not bad at all. The action was handled well, and the Arizona scenery was really a pleasure to see.This is, at BEST, a so-so film...for Audie Murphy fans only. If you can grip the seat cushions and force yourself through the first thirty-eight minutes, the rest of the film has several nice moments that are decent rewards for the initial torture. Don't spend money to rent or buy it, but if it comes on cable, it's worth a look.

This movie is a remake of the 1951 movie "The Texas Rangers", same plot, same storyline, same lines. Only the locale and the actors are different. I take that back, this time it wasn't just a couple of men who were removed from prison, they were moved from state to state.Having said that, I did enjoy the movie. There were enough changes to make it interesting. Audie Murphy did a wonderful job in the lead role. The location was beautiful. The director did a good job in making this movie stand on it's own. If you liked the earlier movie, you will enjoy this remake. Audie Murphy fans should enjoy seeing him in this.

This mid '60s western has the look of a mid '50s release. After being sentenced to 20 years hard labor for crimes while riding with the Quantrell's Raiders, a young confederate hero(Audie Murphy)is offered an unconditional pardon if he will help round up the remnants of the notorious gang that is still terrorizing Arizona Territory. The gang has kidnapped an attractive daughter of an Indian Chief. The Chief and some of his braves help Murphy capture and break up the renegade Raiders. With the mission completed, Murphy rides away continuing his new career as an Arizona Ranger.No real surprises, just feel good cowboy shoot 'em up. And its good to see the Indians team up with the good guys this time out.Supporting cast includes veteran actor Buster Crabbe along with the attractive Gloria Talbot, "Red" Morgan, Ben Cooper, Michael Dante and Fred Graham.