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Alexander Robino
29Apr12
Ford has made me appreciate two things I never was sure I'd appreciate - the Wild West and especially, John Wayne.
Karthik likes this
Karthik
2Apr12
David Thomson dismisses the movie as an expression of an old man's ideal; he takes unironically the line about legend & fact. It is curious that a generally perceptive critic can be so off; but he seems to have an axe to grind with Ford. This movie is full of ironies, only they aren't worn on it's sleeve. It's astonishing, in its simultaneous nursing of nostalgia AND its clear view of its delusions. And its fun!
Michael Harbour
19Jan12
One of the greatest John Ford Westerns. Examines in microcosm both the evolution of the Old West into the Modern West and the conflict between forthrightness and expedient acceptance of perceptions. The all around great performances lend solid support to this parable of a maturing America.
Hudson.
7Jan12
The disheartened expression on John Wayne's face when Doniphon sets ablaze his own house... Pure gold.
Siksinaaq likes this
Lights in the Dusk
13Nov11
Perhaps Ford's most (only?) 'meta' film, where the quotation, "This is the west, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend", becomes a knowing critique of his own career-long approach to historical fiction. The bold, larger than life, exaggerated in the mind emphasis on characters and events works against the title, which sets-up an expectation of factual accuracy, betrayed by a lyrical, romantic approach.
Dave
3Sep11
The type of old-fashioned American moviemaking that will leave you longing for the days when Hollywood routinely made films of this quality. The Searchers may be Ford's "greatest" film but this one just might be my favorite. Wayne and Stewart are wonderful, but really the whole cast shines. O'Brien, Marvin, Miles, Devine - Ford handles them all to complete a masterpiece.
Pedro likes this
Christopher Taylor
15Aug11
Clearly one of the finest westerns ever made. It's regard for the legend and dissipation of the old west, as well as the characters and actors playing them symbolizing a final statement on archetypes, just as Stagecoach had established them is all in fine form.
ILoveCourtneyHate
17May11
haha, my science teacher turned me and my similarly goofy friend on to John Ford (his favourite director, with 'Stagecoach' being one of his favourite movies), and gave us 5 of his films: Stagecoach, The Searchers, Young Mr. Lincoln, The Grapes of Wrath and this particular movie, and i am eternally thankful, ...Liberty Valance was my favourite :)
Spencer Draper
18Jan11
Probably one of if not the first truly realistic Hollywood Western. Also the only movie with John Wayne that I actually enjoy.
Pedro and DADA WEATHERMAN like this
S Campbell
2Sep10
Greta Masterpiece from John Ford i loved every moment of its black and white beauty
Sean Keeley
3Aug10
My vote for the greatest Western, and maybe one of my top 10 films. It has many of the virtues of a classic studio Western like Stagecoach, but it scrutinizes the myth more carefully. It deals with all the great themes of the Western, is impeccably made, and has a lyrical and elegiac quality that never fails to move me.
Vicky Portauger
29Jul10
One of the best westerns ever (if not the best) even if I'm not fond of the genre
JP. Schmidt
21Apr10
My second John Ford film and I'm starting to see what all the buzz from Welles and Kurosawa was about. Defiantly looking forward to Criterion's bluray release of stage coach and will for sure be picking up some more Ford ASAP.
ryan scott
14Apr10
I was raised on this movie. Whole different kind of appreciation for it now. Lee Marvin is the MAN!
stevengowin
2Jan10
Just a bit more on Liberty Valence. Ford's treatment of Mexicans seems very very bad here. When he hasn't taken what I can only read as an outright racist view, he seems to simply marginalize them. I didn't see them at the final meeting to choose a delegate to the territorial convention, for example. I hope to revise this opinion as I watch for Ford's treatment of Mexicans in my next few viewings of Ford films.
stevengowin
2Jan10
David Bordwell gave me an A for a paper on this in my Western Film Genre class in college. Having seen part of the film yesterday again, I noticed that Ford has an interesting comment on the people who he sees as having settled the west. They include, even on the "right" side, many many shady alcoholics and undesirables. It all put me in mind of Deadwood (HBO), Eastwood's Unforgiven, and McCabe and Mrs. Miller.
Christopher Smith
17Dec09
Considered one of John Ford's great western masterpieces, it fails to live up to its reputation. It is a well-crafted effort, and does have a few strong moments - but its slow and dull much of the time, any resonance the story might have is drowned out by cartoonish characters and scenes that drag on and on. Not a terrible film, but it falls far short of the masterpiece it's been made out to be.
Pierluigi Puccini
9May09
Exceptional elegy. A poignant and romantic story about the meaning of honor, and the thin line that separates legends from facts.