Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

Freaktana A Major Disappointment

Ogosmith 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.

Sammy-Jo Cervantes There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Wuchak 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

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . 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.

Ed-Shullivan I have watched The Comancheros at least once every decade since it was initially released in 1961 and my most recent viewing was on the upgraded Blu Ray version with the special features section including a narrative by various historians familiar with the mid to late 1800's in the Texas/Mexico lands once ruled by the Comanche Indian. For those reviewers who choose to pointlessly pick apart this film from an historical point of view I suggest they be reminded that this film is a WESTERN genre and not a documentary. So if the writer/producer/director took some liberties with the type of rifles being hocked BETWEEN the Comancheros and Comanche's and WITH the time line I really didn't mind. What I enjoyed about this film is everything, especially the panoramic view of the wide open western wilderness.First of all it has John Wayne in the lead role as a Texas Ranger Captain Jake Cutter, who goes undercover in an attempt to find the hideout of the Comancheros who were trading guns to the Comanches for wealth ten times the guns worth. There is a young (31) and dashing Stuart Whitman in the role of a gambler and ladies man Monsieur Paul Regret who is wanted for murdering a judges son in a gentlemen's pistol duel over a woman. It becomes Jake Cutter's (John Wayne) objective to bring Monsieur Paul Regret in to be hanged for this so called murder. Of course Paul Regret has a Comachero love interest in Pilar Graile, played very confidently as a liberalized woman of the west by the attractive actress Ina Balin.There are a number of stellar performances by some great stars such as Lee Marvin's performance as gunrunner Tully Crow, Nehemiah Persoff as the leader of the Comancheros , Michael Ansara, Edgar Buchanan as the shady Circuit Court Judge, Jack Elam, Bruce Cabot, and John Wayne's son Patrick Wayne playing the adventurous 18 year old Tobe.I love watching a great western and most of John Wayne's performances give his audience their money's worth. The Comancheros is no exception. I give it a 7 out of 10 rating.

WandrinStar (6.5/10) I have Mixed feelings about this movie. It had great cinematography but poor period detail. Movie had some great action scenes and humor between Duke and Mon-SEWER, but also wore on when the film got off track such as the brief scene with Wayne's love interest who surprisingly never surfaced again after a small scene developing Wayne's backstory. Lee Marvin had a great cameo but Stuart Whitman and Ina Balin didn't do much to impress me. Well made but nothing too memorable to take away after a viewing. Decent but unspectacular entry in John Wayne and Michael Curtiz's filmographies. Good editing and writing with another amazing Elmer Bernstein score.