Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

LeonLouisRicci One of the Best Unsung Westerns to Ever Fade from Consciousness so Quickly and Decisively. The Reasons for this are Elusive. It's got True Grit and a Cast of Character Actors to Kill for. Directed by Dick Richards, who also made another Forgotten Gem, the Retro-Neo-Noir "Farewell My Lovely" (1974) Starring Robert Mitchum, that is an Equally Forgotten Gem of its Genre.This One is a Beautifully Fulfilled Film with a Smart Minimalist Script of Short Profound Sentences, a Sun-Burnt Landscape shot with a Poetic Lense, and more than enough Stylized Violence to make Sam Peckinpah Proud.Should be on Every Buff's Best Westerns List. It doesn't get much better than this when taking on the Old West with the New Eyes of the 1970's (revisionist). It can Side with Ford, Hawks, Leone, and Peckinpah, and that's Saying Something. Sharply Rendered, Violently Presented, Character Driven Story with Timeless Appeal. It's a Film that Looks and Feels like it could have been made Today. A Must See for Everyone, not the Least is Western Fans and Anyone Interested in the "New Hollywood" of the Post-Code Era.

tieman64 Set in Texas sometime after the Civil War, "The Culpepper Cattle Company" stars Gary Grimes as Ben Mockridge, a young kid who aspires to be a cowboy. Though a gangly, awkward kid, Mockridge is hired by local big-shot Frank Culpepper and ordered to help drive a herd of cattle to Colorado.This skimpy plot, in typical 1970's revisionist fashion, is then used to broaden both the audience's and young Ben Mockridge's perception of life out on the open plains. And so we're treated to many excellent sequences in which men bond over camp fires, kids learn tough life lessons as well as the genre's usual prerequisite of gunfights and standoffs. Couple this to an aesthetic which marries macho action to arty cinematography and much laconic simplicity and you have one of the better revisionist westerns of the 70s.Unfortunately this was also the producing debut of Jerry Bruckheimer, and so the film also has a bit of an identity crisis. On one hand, "The Culpepper Cattle Company" strives for a kind of quiet, gritty realism, and it's absolutely splendid when working along these simple lines. But on the other hand, the film develops several unconvincing subplots packed with Bruckheimer's brand of lug headed violence. Regardless of whether or not Bruckheimer actually had an influence, these portions of the film are simply dumb.Still, the film is thematically interesting for two reasons. Observe, for example, how the film's characters are constantly shifting from being caring, father figures, to more malevolent figures seeking only to beat Mockridge (and others) down in order to assert their own masculinity and sooth their own wounded egos. Toward the end of the film, Mockridge then decides to quit Culpepper's company and defend a group of religious pacifists from a cruel landowner. The other cowboys in Culpepper's company then him, not because they care about Mockridge, or even the fate of the religious pacifists, but because they don't want to be upstaged by the bravery of a dumb kid. The film captures an interesting game of hand holding and oneupmanship.The second interesting thing about the film is the way it works as a rather thin Vietnam war allegory, the film's climax featuring brave men who die for cowardly pacifists, not for ideological reasons, but for simple masculine codes. Of course the religious tribe whom the men die for then reject their sacrifice, as does Mockridge, just as the Vietnamese and US civvies promptly turned their backs on Vietnam vets.The film opens and closes with sepia stained photographs, a trait common in movies during this period.7.9/10 – Worth one viewing.

raylb50 Surely one of the best westerns of all-time, & has to be THE most authentic western ever made, I cannot think of another to match it. Carefully crafted screenplay, told it how it really was, the characters brilliantly played by everyone involved. But it's authenticity is what makes it so fascinating a film to watch, it literally transports you back in time, a real history lesson. Some great iconic one liners, 'Don't stand behind me, boy!' & 'Why put a name to something you might have to eat!?' Geoffrey Lewis, Billy Green Bush & Gary Grimes were riveting in their portrayals. Lewis's hard-man character, so sinister, you really did think, 'This guy is a psycho!!' Bush played the trail weary boss with such attitude it made you acutely aware the hardships & dangers these men faced for so little reward. Grime's naive young character was played to perfection. A great piece of American history, & I have to say, the violence is not overdone, nor is there too much of it, compared to many other western films. If this film is not stored somewhere in a State Library, well, it should be!

Gary Ingrey Having been brought up on a diet of westerns I count this as a little gem. Certainly part of the 70's revisionist set, with great lines like, "cowboyin's what you do when you can't do nuthin' else". Basically a rite of age movie for Gary Grimes young wannabee cowboy, but with great characters from the 70's like Luke Askew, Geoffrey Lewis and Bo Hopkins.Grimes s a cattle drive as the cook's helper, tries too hard to be a cowboy and ends up on the wrong side of the boss, Billy Green Bush, and when they come up against a ruthless landowner and some religious settlers it is the young cook's helper that takes a moral stand.Violent and beautifully shot, I recommend it to all lovers of film. Its not often seen on TV and is not available in the UK on DVD.