Did you people see the same film I saw?

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

I figured we'd get around to the Nevada Smith part of the story at some point, however it took almost the entire picture to get there. Not necessarily a bad thing once we get the idea that Steve McQueen's character is not above lying to pursue his revenge against the three men who killed his father and mother to open the picture."Nevada Smith" is at times a plodding, by the numbers Western with McQueen's performance, by his own admission, taking a step back artistically speaking. He's essentially miscast here as an eighteen year old when in fact he was thirty five at the time. It's a bit bizarre, but McQueen makes it work, sort of, with the boundless energy and restless nature he brought to most of his films.As the story progresses, a number of question marks popped up for this viewer. When he faces down Jesse Coe (Martin Landau), how is it that no one in the saloon crowd bothered to follow the men outside to see what was going on ? When Max (McQueen) got himself locked in the bank vault I shook my head in disbelief wondering how could anyone be that stupid. Once again, a younger actor in the role might have been more believable, with McQueen the scene held a giant disconnect for me.Be that as it may, the picture proved amazingly popular grossing twelve million dollars in the U.S. alone, and fared even better overseas, helping cement Steve McQueen's status as a modern day American hero. The film was particularly well received in Japan, as hero Max Sand avenged his parents' murder in the tradition of all the great samurai films. And who better to do that than one of the stars of 1960's "The Magnificent Seven", the film that launched McQueen's movie career following a successful TV run on the Western series "Wanted: Dead or Alive".

Whether or not this is a good film, it sure is a poorly cast one. Think about it....a 35 year-old Steve McQueen is cast as a teenager who is half American-Indian!! The guy is fair-skinned and blond and looks every bit 35--which is hilarious when people refer to him as 'boy' and 'kid'!! It's also odd, since the actor playing his father (Gene Evans) is only 8 years older! While not a major character in the film, Suzanne Pleshette is cast as a Hispanic woman--bad casting but not nearly as bad as McQueen.This is a highly unusual film because it is a prequel to another film. In 1964, "The Carpetbaggers" had a supporting character, Nevada Smith (Alan Ladd) and "Nevada Smith" is about this guy's younger years. Though, if you think about it, McQueen really doesn't look all that much like Alan Ladd, either.Three men on horseback approach Smith and ask where his father is. He tells them and thinks nothing of it. However, the three men are thieves and think the father has struck gold in his mine. To try to get him to talk, they skin his Indian wife alive and then kill him! Not surprisingly, when the son discovers this, he vows revenge. However, the path to revenge is long. He knows nothing about killing and is ill-prepared. But, by the end of the film, he's an experienced killer and ready for the ultimate showdown.Aside from the bad casting decisions, I had a problem with the ending. It just didn't ring true on several levels. First, the baddie was there with his entire gang--yet he runs away and is pursued by Nevada Smith. Since he had about 10 friends, why run? And, when he did, why didn't any of his gang bother to help him or at least take a shot as Smith?! It's a shame, because if the ending were a bit better and the casting A LOT better, it could have easily earned an 8. Interesting but flawed.

Fabulous western the way they used to make them and the way they should be made currently.Looking to avenge the killers of his parents, his mother was an Indian, the film traces the adventures of Max Sand (Steve McQueen) in hunting out and killing his prey.From a young Indian boy, Max becomes a hardened killer along the way. He even purposely gets caught robbing a bank so that he can be sent to the same prison where killer Arthur Kennedy has been sent.Suzanne Pleshette briefly but memorably appears as a woman inmate who helps Max and Kennedy escape before Max guns the latter down.While being rescued by priest Raf Vallone, Max learns humility but is still determined to hunt out and kill the worst of the offenders, Karl Malden, excellent here as well.The film teaches humility as Max, who has changed his name to Nevada Smith to fool Malden, develops a conscience through bible reading. Though maiming Malden, he doesn't ultimately kill him.A tale of bitterness and ultimate redemption fully realized, this is one film not to miss.

A young man seeks revenge for the brutal murder of his parents. It's generally well made, but can't overcome a big casting flaw. The title character is supposed to be a teen-aged half-breed. Unfortunately, he's played by 36-year-old blonde-haired, blue-eyed McQueen. It's hard to buy when he is repeatedly referred to as a kid and a half-breed. McQueen tries to act young, but acting like a man half his age makes him appear mentally retarded. The film goes on too long, with an extended prison sequence (stangely reminiscent of "Papillon," which McQueen would star in seven years later) that seems out of place in a Western. The impressive cast is chock full of familiar faces.