3:10 to Yuma (2007)

Oh, remakes...we meet again. And a western at that?!? Oh, the horrors! As for my rule though, if you're going to do a remake, you'd better be ready to do something different, something with a twist. Here's a perfect case in point with 2007's 3:10 to Yuma, a remake of a 1957 western of the same name. The original is a good if not great western that with some tweaks could be great. Does the remake capitalize on that potential?

A rancher in New Mexico with a wife and two kids, Dan Evans (Christian Bale) is struggling. A drought has left his land barely getting by, and he's running out of money to pay off some significant debts. What can he do to save his family and their land? A highly lucrative, highly dangerous option has presented itself. An infamous outlaw and killer, Ben Wade (Russell Crowe), has been captured in the town of Bisbee following a successful payroll robbery. The railroad wants Wade brought to justice, hoping to send him to Yuma Prison where he will be tried and prosecuted, hopefully ending up in a noose. For $200, Dan agrees to go along in transporting Wade to the town of Contention where the outlaw can be put on a train to Yuma. With a small, not too capable posse helping, Dan and Wade hit the trail. Not far behind? Wade's murdering, bloodthirsty gang, looking to free their boss and not caring if they've gotta kill a few people in the process.

The 1957 3:10 to Yuma from director Delmer Daves stars Glenn Ford (as Wade) and Van Heflin (as Dan) in a pretty good but not great western. It's solid. It's entertaining. A remake isn't necessarily needed, but if you're gonna do it right...do it like this.

From director James Mangold, 2007 'Yuma' injects some energy into the western genre. Some of the DVD special features address that aspect, the love of the western, the general death of the western in theatres, and without getting preachy...the need for westerns in theaters. The original is a talkative movie, but the 2007 version is talkative, action-packed, highly entertaining, and features some great performances. Filmed on-location in New Mexico with an Oscar-nominated score from Marco Beltrami, 'Yuma' feels and looks authentic. It's dirty, dusty and grimy with gunplay and death hanging in the air. There's nothing glamorous or romantic about the late 19th Century in the American southwest. Throw it all together though, and we've got a western with a ton of energy that is just fun. It's entertaining. 'Yuma' shows you can be a so-called "adult western" while still having fun.

Who better to inject that energy into a decidedly-American genre? Lead actors from New Zealand and England of course! Crowe and Bale are perfectly cast in their respective roles. Crowe's Ben Wade is a killer, a bandit, brutal, ruthless....but damn, he's charming when he wants to be. Lightning-fast with a gun, he's also freakishly quick with a disarming line. Wade can play mind games with few equals, providing some fun as he messes with his captors. Crowe is clearly reveling in the part, clearly having a ton of fun with the amiable but brutally efficient outlaw. As farmer/rancher Dan Evans, Bale gets the more straight role but similarly throws himself into the part. His Civil War past still weighs on him, and he desperately wants to provide for his family, including his wife (Gretchen Mol) and two sons. While few men would take the risks associated with transporting a notorious outlaw, Dan has no other options. Two fascinating characters.

Crowe and Bale are excellent together, featuring some great banter throughout. The most memorable part though, that goes to Ben Foster as Charlie Prince, Wade's right-hand man, a lightning-fast gunslinger who's also just a touch unhinged. Foster is terrifyingly good here from his wardrobe, to his evil smile to ability with a gun. A great supporting part. Also look for Logan Lerman as Dan's oldest son, Dallas Roberts as Butterfield, the railroad representative, Peter Fonda (who's always welcome) as McElroy, a grizzled Pinkerton agent, Alan Tudyk as Doc Potter, Kevin Durand as the maniacal Tucker, Vinessa Shaw as a madam who meets Wade's liking, and in the odd, out-of-left-field department, Luke Wilson in a random part as a gunslinging miner.

A couple things bugged me on the recent viewing. Trying to stay ahead of the vengeful Prince and Wade's gang, Dan, Butterfield and Co. seem to be in absolutely no rush to get to Contention. They set down and camp....a lot. We're talking long, restful sleeps each night it seems like! Before that, they stop and have a nice dinner at the Evans ranch. Eh, time isn't of the essence or anything, right?

Some plot holes and discrepancies aside, this was a great western. There isn't a ton of action, but what's there is excellent. The opening stagecoach robbery -- featuring a gatling gun! -- is a quality scene-setter and some gunplay is sprinkled throughout until the finale, an exciting, bullet-riddled chase through Contention to the train depot. Where the remake differentiates itself from the original is the mix of drama and action. Mangold knows what he's working with in Crowe and Bale and lets the camera and story stick with his star duo. Their chemistry is without doubt throughout, two pros in a heavyweight fight just waiting to deliver the knockout punch.

As for my general complaint about remakes, do something different if you're gonna remake a movie that didn't need it. The 2007 version does plenty different, including quite a different ending. Some critics took issue with the ending and Wade's reasoning for what he does, but if you're paying attention, clues are dropped throughout as to his intentions. An excellent all-around western that's highly recommended!

3:10 to Yuma (2007): *** 1/2 /****

Fury

War movies -- any war -- were a dime a dozen back in the 1960s, my without a doubt favorite decade for movies. The reasoning was simple...audiences ate them up for good and bad. Like any successful genre, there was an ebb and flow. With 1998's Saving Private Ryan, the war movie (especially World War II) was forever changed. More realism, more violence, less glory and flag-raising. In one of the best war movies since 1998 and still chugging along in theaters, here's 2014's Fury.

It's April 1945 and World War II is all but over in Germany but the fighting rages on as the German army makes its last stand. In the 66th Armored Regiment, a Sherman tank command by Sgt. Don 'Wardaddy' Collier (Brad Pitt) returns to base having been the lone survivor from the entire outfit of tanks sent into battle. One of his five-man crew was killed in the battle, leaving the tank -- named 'Fury' -- short a man. Wardaddy is about to get his replacement, but it isn't what he was expecting. Joining the tank crew is Private Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman), eight weeks into his army life, a tour he was trained to work as an office clerk. He's got no combat experience and has never been inside a tank. Wardaddy works with what he has though, Fury gearing up with supplies, fuel and ammunition. The dying gasps of war await up the road as the Allies must take the next crossroads and next town all the way until Berlin.

Wow, what a flick. Director David Ayer -- of Training Day, End of Watch fame among others -- spent several years developing this film, and let's say this. He did his homework. This is a gritty, gruesome, truly uncomfortable film to watch not because it exaggerates anything, but because it lays it all out there and simply tells the truth. This is war in all its horrors. It isn't heroic or full of glory. War is about survival, about sticking by your buddies, about getting by and not letting the war claim you. It is a dreary, muddy movie featuring a solid musical score (underused, never overbearing) from composer Steven Price (listen to the soundtrack HERE). Call it the Private Ryan effect, but war movies can't get away anymore with being glossy or clean or easy. The bar was set ridiculously high with Steven Spielberg's film, and Ayer's Fury does a hell of a job trying to climb up to that level.

When I saw first saw the trailer for 'Fury,' my curiosity/worry was that Brad Pitt was channeling his excellent but over-the-top performance from Inglourious Basterds. He isn't. This is an equally intense but not so hammy performance, Pitt bringing Wardaddy to life. It's an archetypal character, one you've seen before in war movies and will likely see again. Sergeant Collier has promised his crew he'll get them through combat untouched, and since they've joined the fighting in Africa (about 2.5 years earlier), he's been able to keep that promise. Well, until now, as a crew member was killed in combat, and they're all starting to question their mortality. Like the rest of the Fury crew, Sgt. Collier isn't necessarily a likable character. He makes decisions that men only have to make in war and combat. Excruciating decisions, ones that tear a man apart. So not likable? Maybe not, but eternally fascinating and interesting to watch.

I think Ayer -- who wrote the script in addition to directing -- had two goals in making this film. One is in the Band of Brothers vein, showing the bond that men in combat situations develop. Life and death certainly brings men closer. Again, it's some archetypal, familiar characters, but they WORK. In addition to Lerman's Norman, a newbie to everything war-related, the Fury crew includes Boyd 'Bible' Swan (Shia LaBeouf), the gunner, Trini 'Gordo' Garcia (Michael Pena), the driver, and Grady 'Coon-Ass' Travis (Jon Bernthal), the ammo loader, a drawling Southerner. These are different men from different backgrounds, but they've been to hell and back in combat. Their outlook on life and war is altered to the point it's warped. They've been fighting across Africa and France and Belgium and Germany for years. The end is in sight as the war comes to a close. All they want to do is get through it alive.

So on that level, Ayer nails Goal No. 1. The attempt never comes across as heavy-handed in showing us how close these men are. That's not to say they're perfect friends. They argue constantly, they rip each other to places, and would seem to have nothing in common. When the line is drawn in the sand though, they're there for each other. Some scenes especially crackle, especially Gordo explaining the Fury's involvement in the fighting after D-Day. LaBeouf nails the scene, a single tear rolling down his face. As they roll across the countryside up top or preparing for battle in the tight, claustrophobic confines of their Sherman tank, the movie reeks of authenticity. This is the bond that develops among men in combat. This is how awful life as a tank crew was. This is war at its dirtiest, grittiest and bloodiest. Also look for Jason Isaacs as an infantry captain working in conjunction with the Fury.

Now Goal No. 2; what tank combat was really like. Killing an infantry soldier is horrific itself, but weapons and technology were developed to tear through the thick armor of a tank. Imagine then what those weapons do to the men inside those tanks. Ayer did his research, no doubt about it. Watch 'Fury' and you truly get a sense of what fighting inside a tank was like. A horrific, gruesome fight between four Sherman tanks and one Tiger tank illustrates the strategy, the weaknesses in both sides' armor, and the frenetic chaos of battle. The violence is on the level of Saving Private Ryan so be forewarned if you're squeamish (and I typically am). Ayer doesn't dwell on the violence so it comes across in lightning-quick flashes, but it is rough. Limbs are ripped off, heads explode and countless soldiers -- both Germans and Americans -- are killed. This isn't a movie for the weak of heart. What 'Private Ryan' did for infantry violence and combat, 'Fury' does the same for tank and armored combat.

It all builds to an incredibly moving, graphically violent, chaotic extended firefight as the Fury crew goes toe to toe with an SS battalion in transit. One of the most perfect battle/firefight scenes I've ever seen in a movie, an insanely choreographed sequence in the German countryside as darkness approaches. The final shot of the movie truly shows the carnage of battle, a perfect ending to illustrate what we've just seen. It isn't a perfect movie, but for what it sets out to do, I loved it. The bond among fighting men, a great cast, incredible combat sequences, and a sense of how awful the closing months of the war in Germany really was.

Can't recommend this one enough. One of the best war movies around.

Fury (2014): ****/****