If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Gritty and well written Western tale with jarring burst of violence . Good western with nifty non-stop action in the old 20th Century Fox tradition set in Texas with towering actors , unstopped action and spectacular scenarios ; dealing with three Army buddies search for 2000 stolen rifles . 1867 , after the Civil War , a weapon shipping has been stolen to army and as responsible appears captain Haven (Stuart Whitman) , he is assigned to go to Mexico as incognito to avoid arms to be sold Apaches , being accompanied by a misfit outfit . He along with a furious racist agree to lead a hazardous expedition through Apace territory . As the group is formed by an ex-Confederate officer called Lassiter (Richard Boone) , a bitter ex-Rebel army major whose wife and children have been killed by the Apaches , the African-American sergeant Franklyn (Jim Brown) and a Mexican prisoner named Rodríguez (Anthony Franciosa) condemned to death row . As two Army officers, an alcoholic ex-Confederate soldier and a womanizing Mexican travel to Mexico , the object is to find another ex-Confederate who is about to sell hundreds of robbed guns to the Indians . They are ¨Comancheros¨ is a word that refers to those who favored or advantaged of Comanche Indians by selling weapons and alcohol . The Indians are out on a rampage of killing , vengeance against the white intruders and with the aim for getting weapons . As four men stalking the Apache nation on a mission that could drench the whole Southwest in blood and flames . From Texas they go to Chihuahua where a megalomaniac Southern ex-general named Pardee (Edmond O'Brien) living at a mansion in Louisiana style and commanding an army of bushwhackers attempts to re-initiate a war by Indian upheaval led by Bloodshirt (Rodolfo Acosta) . At the end there takes places a peculiar apocalypse plenty of explosion , dynamite , powder , fire and rifles . This actioner Western contains thrills , adventures , rider pursuits , wonderful outdoors , impressive attacks and loads of crossfire . It is a very fine picture that could become another western worthy of any anthology . This is an unusually brutal tale of a hard-bitten sergeant assembling a detail of misfit cavalrymen to hold-off rampaging Indians and rebels . Well developed film with gloomy energy , crafty characters , sober lighting , abundant night scenes , elegant camera movements and especial dramatic pace , including a dialectic about racism . The picture relies heavily on the relationship among the misfit group , though gets enjoyable nuances and charm enough and along the way confront Indians rebels and themselves . In this film "Rio Conchos" also titled ¨Guns of Rio Conchos¨ the spectator enjoys because it has a lot of issues that make it agreeable . Even the female character played by attractive Wende Wagner as India Sally, reveals a woman who knows that she wishes and makes it irresistible . Stuart Whitman and an expert all-star-cast shine in this gripping story about a dangerous mission carried out by a motley bunch and director takes a fine penned screenplay by Clair Huffaker creating a cavalry-Indians tale that is far from ordinary , exploring the anguish and desperation of a varied group . Features convincing playing from the always reliable Richard Boone as a violent and hard-hitting racist and memorable Anthony Franciosa as womanizer Mexican . Jim Brown is good in his film debut and he gave up his football career, at its peak, to try acting . Colorful cinematography in truly De Luxe Colour by Joseph MacDonald . Offbeat musical score in suspenseful and thrilling style by the great Jerry Goldsmith . The motion picture was professionally directed by Gordon Douglas , at his best . He's an expert on adventures cinema as ¨Black arrow¨ , ¨Fortunes of Captain Blood¨ , both starred by Louis Hayward and Western , as he proved in the films starred by Clint Walker such as ¨Fort Dobbs¨, ¨Yellowstone Kelly¨ , ¨Gold of seven Saints¨ , Gregory Peck as ¨Only the valiant¨ in similar plot to ¨Chuka¨ , Richard Boone as ¨Rio Conchos¨ considered the best , and on bandits legendary as ¨Doolins of Oklahoma¨ , ¨Great Missouri raid¨, among others

Twentieth Century Fox assembled an ideal cast, including Richard Boone, Stuart Whitman, Anthony Franciosa, Jim Brown, and Edmond O'Brien, for director Gordon Douglas' brawny, post-American Civil War epic "Rio Conchos." This is one of the best westerns that prolific director Gordon Douglas helmed during his 32 years behind the camera. The U.S. Cavalry are on the trail of Confederate renegade officer Colonel Theron 'Gray Fox' Pardee who has taken refuge in Mexico. A young cavalry officer (Stuart Whitman) takes former Major James 'Jim' Lassiter (Richard Boone) prisoner and the Army decides that he can lead them to Pardee with the help of a slimy Mexican cutthroat Juan Luis Rodriguez (Anthony Franciosa) who is just looking for an excuse to desert. "Rio Conchos" represented former Cleveland Brown's football star Jim Brown's motion picture debut. The action is rough, the characters are gruff, and there aren't any women to hold our heroes or villains back from the action. Basically, "Rio Conchos" is a variation on an earlier Clair Huffaker western "The Commancheros" that co-starred John Wayne with Stuart Whitman. Jerry Goldsmith provided the atmospheric orchestral score.

See it – This unheralded western classic is filled to the brim with rousing action. It has probably gone under the radar because it lacks a big name actor. But Richard Boone, Jim Brown, and Stuart Whitman are great in this old-fashioned, cowboys-on-a-mission movie in the same vein as "The Professionals." The mission in this one is to prevent Confederate desperadoes from selling repeating rifles to the Apaches. It's a little weird to see classic film villain Richard Boone as a good guy, but he carries the movie pretty well. The musical score is really good, and most of the movie has that "chase western" feel to it. But when things slow down at the end, you will only have enough time to take a deep breath before one of the best movie endings in the western genre.

Good, solid, well told if not really remarkable or memorable Western whose story (it's scripted by Joseph Landon and Clair Huffaker, based on the latter's novel) centres around a journey. An ex-Confederate officer, Lassiter (Richard Boone) comes into possession of a stolen gun; when he's arrested, he comes up with a deal to track the stolen shipment of guns into Mexico, in the company of Army officer Captain Haven (Stuart Whitman), Buffalo Soldier sergeant Franklyn (legendary gridiron star Jim Brown, who began his notable acting career with this part), and lusty, fun loving, grinning Mexican character Rodriguez (Anthony Franciosa). This unlikely bunch goes through a number of episodes in their journey before the eventual confrontation with the demented Confederate Colonel Pardee (Edmond O'Brien), who's hellbent on starting a second Civil War. Done in the style of the classic Western, with the very competent journeyman director Gordon Douglas ("Them!", etc.) handling all elements well and getting effective performances out of his cast, whether they tend towards the exuberant (Franciosa, O'Brien) or the more restrained. Lassiter is a commendably flawed protagonist, a man who's allowed his tragic past to blind him with hatred. Extremely well shot in Cinemascope by Joseph MacDonald, with thunderous music by Jerry Goldsmith, "Rio Conchos" has fine action sequences (including a reasonably rousing, fiery finale) and entertaining episodes throughout: a run in with bandits led by Vito Scotti, the entire sequence at Presidio, and an effective, quiet moment in an out of the way cantina run by the great screen psycho Timothy Carey, in what is actually a good low key (uncredited) performance. Wende Wagner, a lovely lady who left us too early, has a striking presence as a fierce and defiant Apache soldier. Also appearing are Warner Anderson as Colonel Wagner and Rodolfo Acosta as Apache chief Bloodshirt, just one of a number of villainous parts he had played in Westerns. There are certainly elements here that cannot fly in the current politically correct climate, but overall this is good fun - vibrant, colourful, and interesting. Eight out of 10.