I first saw this film with my dad when it first hit the films. I've probably seen it 25 or 30 times but bought the VHS and then the DVD anyway and I still keep watching it. The Comancheros is quintessential Hollywood. It's entertaining. Elmer Bernstein's music is catchy, the story is interesting (if wildly inaccurate, historically), it has a beautiful and interesting woman in Ina Balin who plays a little more then a damsel in distress, it has a well played bad guys (Nehemiah Persoff, Lee Marvin, Michael Ansara), plenty of terrific western character actors doing their thing, and a bunch of likable good guys (John Wayne and Stuart Whitman play off each other very well). It's pretty obvious that everyone had a grand time making this. The film moves along at a good clip and there's never a dull moment. It's one of those films that could have been 30 minutes longer because the study is dense and there are so many story arcs on going.
If you like westerns, if you like John Wayne, this film won't disappoint. Just don't expect anything like The Searchers, Stagecoach, Red River, or Rio Grande. It's not great John Wayne but it will do!
If you like westerns, if you like John Wayne, this film won't disappoint. Just don't expect anything like The Searchers, Stagecoach, Red River, or Rio Grande. It's not great John Wayne but it will do!