Really Surprised!

Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

This movie is geared for those 12and older. This movie is a modern day western, cowboys, hats, horses, and guns. Bite the Bullet is action packed. It even has a flavor of humor in the film (it is not just all serious). I was surprised to find that Gene Hackman was playing a cowboy (and doing it well). I am used to his modern day soldier or city slicker roles. James Coburn can play just about everything well. Candice Bergen is just eye candy for your guys. The musical scores are perfectly complementary with what is going on in the movie. It is a little long in places, but over all, the movie provides a night of good entertainment. I give it five thumbs up.

I saw this when it first came out and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Viewed again recently on disc, I can now see the flaws that kept this film off lists of "classic Westerns." The most obvious moment of misjudgment comes in the big chase scene at the end. It's totally misplaced, and probably was intended for the middle of the picture, then delayed to provide more screen time for the female lead. It does not lead well into the finale, and now stands as one of the worst continuity lapses of all time. Worse, there seems to be some sequence that got lost in order for this scene to be placed where it is. At any rate, the ending is mystifying in small details, but enough to leave one feeling oddly unsatisfied.Others have noted the second-rate editing throughout the film; but continuity errors of this sort are the director's responsibility. One feels that the director realized that he had bit off more than he could chew, and rather than put it back on the plate to chop it up into smaller, more manageable pieces, let it sort of drool out between his lips hoping no one would notice.And this story would have worked on a lower budget, with a shorter run time, made in the late 1950s. Admittedly the photography is grand, and there are marvelous set-pieces throughout - but they don't add up to the great Western this story could have been.

Gritty, dusty western from director Richard Brooks, who seems thoroughly engrossed in the genre while keeping all the usual clichés intact. Early 1900s horse race attracts a low-keyed cowboy (Gene Hackman), a suave gambler (James Coburn), a cocky kid (Jan Michael Vincent), and even a FEMALE (a surprisingly game Candice Bergen). Once the preliminaries are out of the way (with the predictable arguments over whether or not a woman should take part), this becomes a fairly engrossing entry, though one which breaks no new ground (it instead resembles something from Gary Cooper's era). Good-looking, if overlong piece has macho verve and a fine cast, yet the mechanisms of the plot get tiresome rather quickly. ** from ****

This film builds up your expectations but fails to deliver, which is a shame considering it has great actors and great moments. Gene Hackman, James Coburn, Candice Bergen are excellent, there is quite a beginning where Coburn and Hackman fight together the insolent Jan-Michael Vincent and his friends, the contrast between the Englishman and Hackman, and the philosophy of Hackman both in relation to cruelty to animals and to life in general. With all those qualities what went wrong? The end of the film to start with, which does not achieve the needed dramatic impact. The editing of the scenes fails to reach a unity to make it more meaningful. Brooks, who made so many great films could have learned from "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines", which is a comedy also about a race (in this case airplanes) and in my opinion the best so far on this subject.