Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

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

Interesting story, clumsily told. Had the makings of a great western: the crime-caper, the double- crossings, the romance, and throw in some personal histories and racial and social issues. For the most part, it works well. Yet some scenes are cringe-worthy in their clumsiness. Just about any scene involving Ernest Borgnine and Katy Jurado, for example. There was absolutely no chemistry there (and this is more the script's fault, rather than their's), and their relationship just seem contrived. Some of the twists in the plot are also quite predictable.This said, the movie moves along at a good pace, the action scenes are good, and the ending wraps up the story nicely.Good performance by Alan Ladd in the lead role. Good support from Ernest Borgnine, Katy Jurado and Claire Kelly. I can't believe Claire Kelly didn't become a bigger star: she certainly had the looks, and was a decent actress.

It's Delmer Daves' next to last western and it shows ;even if Ladd and Borgnine make a good pairing,we begin to feel in "badlanders " what will come next;the scenes between Borgnine and the always reliable Katy Jurado (the hooker with a big heart) are full of finer feelings and Daves seems more interested in filming them than the -suspenseful,however-sequences in the mine ;after "the hanging tree" ,an ultimate western which also contains elements of melodrama ,all his career will consist of pure melodramatic stuff ("Parish" and "Susan Slade " are good examples,and quite entertaining and they were heralded by "kings go forth" )"badlanders "holds his movie balanced ,particularly in the scene when the Mexicans intervene in favor of the two heroes ;it seems that Ladd's love affair was botched intentionally or else the western buffs would have been disappointed;you can prefer,nevertheless, works such as "broken arrow" "3:10 to Yuma" or "the last wagon".

I thought the most interesting thing about this movie was that the miners wore those hats with torches in the front. At first, In thought they were candles, but they are really some sort of flamed headgear - looking like cloth caps with candle-type flames coming out in the front. They must have been awfully hot! It seems, to me, many people would have been burned - hats, hair, and hide! It must have been interesting (and very hot) to maneuver around mines in those things.This isn't much of a western; you have to pinch yourself, sometimes, to remember it is presented as a western. After the mining, you get back to stagecoaches and shootouts. The soundtrack effects sometimes don't appear to be happening on screen. It's neat how Alan Ladd pulls a slug out of Ernest Borgnine. He's faster than Dr. Bombay from the "Bewitched" TV show! *** The Badlanders (1958) Delmer Daves ~ Alan Ladd, Ernest Borgnine, Katy Jurado

Allen Ladd and Ernest Bourgine did outstanding work in this horse opera. The plot, the acting, the sets, all work well. This is one of Ladds better films, Bourgnine always adds to a film, Katy Jerado of "High Noon" fame is just great, and the rest of the cast work well. It is just a little gem of a film.The one distraction is a no longer so often heard stock soundtrack of less than "A" feature quality. Maybe they were newer when the film was released, and maybe they have been given a rest so newer viewers will not recognize them, but I have heard these sound cuts far too often in many a 1960's western, TV show, horror film, documentary, and what not. I wonder how much better it would have been with a Dimitri Tiomkin, a Lionel Neuman, a Bernard Herrmann, or John Williams soundtrack. If they ever restore this, and it is worth restoring, I would have a new soundtrack done for it.Still, this is a good film, a great western, and worth a watch. It is out of print right now but you can catch it on cable or get a used VHS print on E bay. Superior horse opera!