The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

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

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Released in 1961 and directed by Michael Curtiz & John Wayne, "The Comancheros" is a Western starring Wayne as a lawman that captures a dashing gambler who's unjustly wanted for murder (Whitman). The two eventually team-up to take on a rogue organization in West Texas (or Mexico) who supply the notorious Comanches with guns. Joan O'Brien and Ina Balin appear as their potential babes. Nehemiah Persoff plays the lead villain, who doesn't appear until the final act. Lee Marvin, Michael Ansara, Patrick Wayne and Richard Devon have supporting roles. The events interestingly take place in 1843-44 during Sam Houston's second term as President of the Republic of Texas.The director, Curtiz, had a long career with several notable films (e.g. "Casablana" and "The Adventures of Robin Hood") and "The Comancheros" was his last. He fell ill during production and Wayne had to finish directing (uncredited in Curtiz' honor).To appreciate this film you have to acclimate to its early-60s hokiness but, once you do, it delivers the goods. It actually gets better as it moves along, perked up by Marvin's amusing antics as a loudmouthed outlaw and, especially, by the engaging plot that the James Bond films ripped off: There's the over-confident mega-villain (Persoff) with his impressive secret lair and mass of devotees.Wayne and Whitman have good chemistry, the latter fearless and debonair. Speaking of which, it's a wonder that Stuart didn't have a more stellar career as he's the quintessential Hollywood stud. On the opposite side of the gender spectrum, Balin is stunning as a Hispanic honey; and O'Brien is head-turning in a small role. The movie runs 107 minutes and was shot in Utah and Arizona.GRADE: B

. . . throughout THE COMANCHEROS. As part of his Anti-Firearms Crusade, Wayne's Texas Ranger "Captain Jake" spends most of this flick riding around with 72 modern (by 1840s standards) rifles in the false bottom of his covered wagon. (Since guns provide bullies with a false Security Blanket, Jake feels false bottoms are a fitting place in which to shove your guns.) These 72 rifles suffer further outrages at the hands of Ranger Jake. At one point he buries all of them in a grave in the middle of nowhere that looks to be 10 feet deep. After their good long rust, Jake disinters these rifle bones and mutilates all of them by removing their firing pins. A shooting iron disfigured in this fashion is akin to a geezer after prostate removal: women have little to fear from the business end of either one. As THE COMANCHEROS closes, Jake sees that the 72 lethal weapons are put out of their misery through cremation. Obviously, the hard-drinking Jake is telling us that he's no more a fan of the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment Armory Musket Clause than he would be of The Prohibition Amendment, thinking its silly to have either one of these on our books.

The Commancheros is an excellent Western, staring the ultimate western star of all-time, John Wayne as a Texas Ranger Captain. Co-staring Stuart Whitman as a suave gambler/gunfighter and Ina Balin as the beautiful love interest, the film is fast-paced from beginning to end. The picture also features a then relatively unknown Lee Marvin in a small but important role.The movie features spectacular locales and a thoroughly entertaining score by Elmer Bernstein. The story, while not that deep, does the job adequately and develops the characters well during the course of the film. There is plenty of action from start to finish, including several good-sized battles with Commanches and their white allies versus the All-American Rangers in classic "white hat" against "black hat" style. The various story lines seem to be completely separate at many points in the movie but they all eventually come together for a climactic finish. The only true flaws deal with the anachronistic use of weapons from a much later period (1870s rifles and pistols being used in 1843), but that is a relatively minor point that can be easily ignored in a movie that is obviously not trying to be a history lesson. Wayne is in admirable form in his standard role and seems to be enjoying himself throughout the film.While The Commancheros doesn't have the symbolism and deeper meaning of the most John Ford-directed westerns, if you're looking for a good afternoon movie to sit back and enjoy then this thoroughly entertaining western is for you. Two thumbs up!

This movie was directed by both Michael Curtiz and John Wayne himself although the latter was never credited as a director. I so enjoyed myself when watching this movie. It is indeed a classical John Wayne western very far from todays special effects loaded action movies. I guess you must have a bit of a nostalgic attachment to old classics, characters like John Wayne and western movies in order to enjoy this movie.John Wayne plays his classical slightly grumpy, all honest, tough guy that I really like. I remember one of my greatest disappointments as a kid was when John Wayne played a character that actually turned out to be the bad guy at the end. On top of everything he died at the end! I was so pi--ed off, almost traumatized.The story is pretty much what the book blurb says. Nothing fancy. There is a pretty lady thrown in of course although it is not John Wayne who gets her at the end, or even aspires to get her, but the gambler, Paul Regret, who, not surprisingly, turns out to be one of the good guys. The story holds together pretty well and there are of course plenty of opportunities for both fist-fights and gun-fights.The gun-fight are where it turns a bit silly though. The big fights are mostly a whole bunch of Indians mixed up with some white crooks attacking on horseback riding around shooting wildly until the directors decides that it is time for the next scene and they ride away. A handful of people, sometimes barely that, repeatedly stand against 50 or more bad guys on horseback yet they always come out on top. That is pretty silly to me. It makes for some nice old-fashioned gun-fights but it is still rather silly. More the kind of stuff that would be put in a children's movie today.Still the movie was really fun for me to watch. The good guys are really good guys and the bad guys are well done. I especially appreciated Lee Marwin's performance as Tully Crow in the bad guy department. Also, as is usual in these oldie movies, the opponents can have a fight (verbal as well as physical) and still communicate fairly intelligently without swearing their heads off.I would recommend this movie when you are in a nostalgic Western mood looking for some light entertainment.