Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!

Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story

Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!

Kodie Bird True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Leofwine_draca THE WAY WEST is a Hollywood western that might well be described as 'Oregon Trail, the movie'. Kirk Douglas leads a bunch of settlers from the Eastern seaboard to Oregon, and their wagon train must deal with numerous problems along the way. There are deep rivers to cross, valleys that need descending, arid salt pans to get through, as well as hostile Sioux tribes with murder in mind. Of course, the greatest conflict comes from within the group. I liked this character-based drama which moves along as nicely as the wagon train itself and has plenty of sub-plots to get involved with. The dream team of Douglas, Richard Widmark and Robert Mitchum were all seasoned western stars and do very well with the material they're given, while Sally Field has a memorable early role as a man-hungry teen. The ending is particularly strong here.

grizzledgeezer "The Way West" could have been a classic. Kirk Douglas plays a driven wagon master determined, like Burger King, to have it his way -- the goal being to herd pioneers to Oregon, to fulfill his dream of establishing an ideal city, with a crystal-covered playground for the kiddies.Unfortunately, Douglas quite fails to engage with the character or his situation. He is so distant and (generally) uninvolved that he might just as well delivered his lines from a Barcalounger. The rest of the actors rarely show much interest, either.The potential for intense drama and powerful emotion is present, but unrealized. The flabby script doesn't help, and first-time director Andrew McLaglen (son of Victor) has no idea what to do about it. * Only Jack Elam (arguably one of the all-time great actors) survives this snooze-fest, delivering a pitch-perfect turn as a minister.The fun moments come during an attempt to lower the pioneers over the edge of a high, steep cliff to the river bank below, one at a time. The first to go down dies when the wagon bumps against the cliff wall, and he -- or rather, an obvious dummy -- is thrown out.After Douglas unconvincingly convinces the pioneers to keep truckin' on down with him, he, too, (or rather a re-dressed dummy) also falls to his death when Psycho Sally cuts the rope to spare the pioneers having to put up with this monster of a man."The Way West" is inexcusably bad. Unless you like being bored to death by annoying films, the funny stuff takes too long to arrive.* His poor direction is particularly noticeable when the wagon train reaches a fort near the end of their journey. The commander has an Indian sidekick who insists on shaking Douglas's hand, and won't let go. A smart director would have built up the part a bit, to add some badly needed humor.

vincentlynch-moonoi When this movie starts out, you're apt to think, "Hey this is going to be a good one!" It's a handsome production, great scenery, and it has a great cast -- Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, and Richard Widmark.But the longer if goes on, the more you feel as if you have seen it before...and you have...there are a lot of wagon train clichés here. But let's think about that for a minute. Clichés are often based on truth, and on a wagon train journey of this scope, I rather imagine many of these trials and tribulations -- and many more -- faced the pioneers. Heck, I hate driving through some of these states on an Interstate due to the risks of breaking down and being stranded. Taken one by one, there isn't an incident here that I could discount. Again, it's just that we've pretty much seen them all before.The problem I see here is that we never learn very much about the main characters. Who is Senator William Tadlock (Kirk Douglas). What makes him like he is? Is he just the type that likes to be boss? I think that's way too simplistic. Who is Dick Summers (Robert Mitchum). He seems rather passive here; we do finally learn that he is going blind...maybe that's why. No character development at all. We know the most about Lije Evans (Richard Widmark)...although that's darned little. All the characters are far too simplistic. And for that, I blame the writers, producer, and director.Kirk Douglas is VERY restrained here...and I'm not sure that's why most of us went to the theater to see a restrained Kirk Douglas. Robert Mitchum is very passive as the guide, but as I mentioned earlier, perhaps that was because of his approaching blindness. Or,maybe he was just walking through this role. Richard Widmark, often an underestimated actor, probably comes off the best here.The supporting cast includes Lola Albright (as Widmarks's wife; and she does well here); Jack Elam as a preacher of sorts (he does well); Sally Field in her film debut, here as a somewhat slutty young woman (perhaps her worst screen portrayal); and oddly enough, Stubby Kaye as one of the pioneers.I have a hard time recommending this film UNLESS you are really into Westerns, or like gorgeous scenery, or want to contemplate how the early pioneers must have suffered on the way west. It's not that it's a bad film...it's just not that good, either.

moonspinner55 In 1843 Missouri, hot-headed senator Kirk Douglas leads a large group of chosen people across rugged terrain to start "a new Jerusalem" in Oregon; he picks a half-blind pioneer scout (mourning the death of his Indian wife!) to help lead them, but immediately clashes with a family man over incidental matters; meanwhile, a sex-starved teenage girl has a fling with a married man, resulting in personal tragedy and an Indian attack (don't ask). A small pox outbreak is falsely reported, there's a wedding, a frigid woman goes insane, and the trail comes to an end at the Grand Canyon. A.B. Guthrie, Jr.'s book becomes somewhat besotted western epic with star-names, mixing vulgar jokes and inanities with ripe old clichés. A voice-over narration and a patriotic song come clean out of nowhere, while snarling Douglas blames himself for a death and asks a servant to whip him. It's cheap and low-brow all the way, but most viewers in the mood for a picture such as this probably won't be disappointed. There are some solid elements worth mentioning: William H. Clothier's outdoor cinematography is fine in the old-fashioned sense; and, although Bronislau Kaper whips up a dusty frenzy with his ridiculous score, the pacing is jaunty throughout and the wagons roll along at a fast clip. Douglas and Richard Widmark manage to retain their movie star allure, though Robert Mitchum was looking haggard by this time (and his performance is intentionally forgettable--he cancels out all his interest in the proceedings with one heavy sigh). Sally Field makes an inauspicious movie debut which I'm fairly certain she'd rather forget, but Lola Albright has a pleasing smile and Michael Witney does well as the handsome married man who can't get his wife to submit...but why does he shoot blindly into a rustling bush at night when it could have been his wife spying on him? Perhaps he was hoping it was! **1/2 from ****