Best movie of this year hands down!

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

As a history teacher, I have a lot more knowledge about what the old west REALLY was like...and for the most part it was little like you see in westerns. In the case of this film, there is the famed fast- draw sheriff, young punks wanting to prove they are faster and the famed shootouts on main street...all stuff that really did not happen. Sure, it could have happened once or twice (anything is possible) but the west was a lot safer and civilized than you would imagine if you got your history from films! So, I knew going into "The Last Challenge" that the film was complete fiction...a myth of a west filmmakers WISHED had really been.When the film begins, yet another stupid punk comes into town to challenge the brave Marshall (Glenn Ford). Marshall Blaine blows the snot out of him and the immediate threat is gone. But of course there is another who is on his way to town to challenge the fast- draw sheriff. But something unusual happens--the pair meet on friendly terms while fishing and seem to like each other. Will that change anything or is one of them still destined to assume room temperature? This is a moderately enjoyable film with a finale that is, pretty much, a foregone conclusion. Not a bad movie...just not at all like the real west. Although a shootout between two guys is common in films, in reality lawmen were very happy to just shoot guys in the back or shotgun them or attack the thug with a group. The whole manly shootout to prove who is the fastest is just mythical.

A prophetic title for it was to be Richard Thorpe's last movie;he enjoyed a long retirement for he passed away only 24 years later.He was perhaps tired like his hero,(Glenn Ford)a former gunfighter turned marshal.The ending of the movie is rather pessimistic,which was rare in westerns (there was always something to make up for the unhappy end).The subject is not new (a young lad wants to draw the fastest draw around),only the female character (Angie Dickinson) as the owner of the local saloon and the sheriff's lover stands out:the old Pistolero shows a tendency to react to events instead of initiating them;the prisoner in jail is a drunken Indian and he goes fishing ,leaving his goofy deputy clean the vomit.It seems that Lisa longs for a family life with children (her visit to the farm) but her part is too underwritten."Little house" fans will recognize Kevin -Dr Baker- Hagen as a card player.

Richard Thorpe's "The Last Challenge" aka. "The Pistolero of Red River" of 1967 is an entertaining standard American Western with a good cast. Even though in no way outstanding, this is a solid film that is well worth watching for genre-fans. Dan Blaine (Glen Ford), the Marshal of a small town in the West, has the reputation of being the fastest and most precise shot around. Since he has been sheriff, the formerly dangerous area has become calm. Blaine, whose beautiful and rich girlfriend (Angie Dickinson) owns a local saloon, is therefore highly respected in his community. One day, however, a young gunslinger named Lot McGuire (Chad Everett) comes to town, with the intention to challenge Blaine in a duel. While he wishes to duel with the sheriff, McGuire is an otherwise friendly and likable guy. Blaine therefore wants to dissuade the young man from his wish...Glen Ford is very good in the lead, and Chad Everett also delivers a solid performance as the young gunslinger. Beautiful Angie Dickinson is, as always, great in the female lead. The supporting cast includes the great genre actor Jack Elam, who also fits in his role very well. The film is overall entertaining and definitely worth the time. When it comes to Westerns from the late 60s, however, the Italian Westerns are usually incomparably better than those from the United States. While everybody is a bastard in Italian Westerns of the time, all characters are kinda good in this film, which makes it less interesting to me. "The Last Challenge" sure is a solid and entertaining little western, but it also confirmed what I already knew - American Westerns from the late sixties can not compete with their Italian counterparts, as the Spaghetti Westerns beat them in all respects. Nevertheless, a decent film. 6/10

Before taking the Hippocratic Oath and joining The Medical Center team, Chad Everett comes riding into a dusty western town to gun down Glenn Ford because Ford is the best gunslinger around. Everett would have been better off asking for pointers from the old gunman because since Ford is a bigger movie star than Everett the odds are against him that he'll prevail in a shootout. The Last Challenge relies on Ford to carry a fairly standard western story that is filled with Hollywood-at-its-worst stereotypes and clichéd characters. Although I did like Outdoors. Ya know why? Because her heart is as big as the great outdoors.