Cowboys & Aliens

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Cowboys & Aliens

PG-13

2011

1h 58m

Sci-Fi

Western

Action

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Popcornmeter

44%

Tomatometer

254 Reviews

43%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

Bearing a mysterious metal shackle on his wrist, an amnesiac gunslinger wanders into a frontier town called Absolution. He quickly finds that strangers are unwelcome, and no one does anything without the approval of tyrannical Col. Dolarhyde. But when Absolution faces a threat from beyond Earth, the stranger finds that he is its only hope of salvation. He unites townspeople, outlaws and Apache warriors against the alien forces in an epic battle for survival.

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Critics Consensus

Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford are as dependably appealing as ever, but they're let down by director Jon Favreau's inability to smooth Cowboys & Aliens' jarring tonal shifts.

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Candice Frederick

Reel Talk Online

Sep 8, 2017

B+

From the cool special effects, to its top-notch acting and wickedly fun concept, Cowboys and Aliens is just that film that you may in fact hate to love. But it is really enjoyable.

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Sara Michelle Fetters

MovieFreak.com

Jan 27, 2012

2.5/4

It must be said upfront that, for all its problems and script deficiencies, Cowboys & Aliens is probably the most continually entertaining effort of director Jon Favreau's still relatively young career.

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Ed Gibbs

Sydney Morning Herald

Aug 19, 2011

7/10

There is nothing that fascinating about Favreau's treatment, nor his source material, but compared with similar blockbuster fare of recent months, this curious exercise in genre bending is very watchable.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Jan 1, 2026

2/4

It’s apparent the writers merely plugged in conventional story devices that would have worked just as well in a movie named Cops & Barracudas or Doctors & Hornets or even Accountants & Amoebas.

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Bill Newcott

Movies For The Rest Of Us

Apr 1, 2023

4/5

If Sam Peckinpah had made Close Encounters of the Third Kind...(or)...if Steven Spielberg ...had directed The Wild Bunch, I could imagine it turning out a lot like this.

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Mar 9, 2023

3/4

The film serves up a serious-minded genre experiment that works, despite some lingering feelings of disappointment for its lack of raw, popcorn-munching silliness.

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R T

@RT56568518 Aug 15, 2026

Enjoyed the quirkiness of this movie! Fun acting and a different kind of western! Good actors too!

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Elektrodinosaur T

@ElektroDavidsaur Aug 4, 2026

James Bond and Indiana Jones in a western with aliens? B Movie gold! Lots of action with Spielberg and Favereu at the helm!

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Arthur B

@Arthur135 Jul 18, 2026

Seemed to be a lot of violence without any sort of plot so gave up on it

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R T

@conte Jul 11, 2026

GREAT, VERY GOOD, MOVIE: "Cowboys & Aliens"(2011(Rated to see it: "PG-13")). (I went to see it today in Austin, Texas(TX) on my TV[my TV channel is 1260(that channel name is: "GRIT")] at (12:00pm-2:30pm)(CT) Saturday July 11, 2026.) (I have seen the movie MANY TIMES, since when it was first made 15 years ago, 2011.)

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David L

@RT95481682 Jul 4, 2026

This is the kind of film I wish they made when I was a kid, but truth be told the big kid in me liked it too. Far-fetched but who cares it's fun.

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Tyson D.

@Spudsprout Jun 23, 2026

(Overall Rating: 3.04/5) (OK) --- (Cinematography/Atmosphere: 3.75/5) The spectacles were pretty good and the CGI holds up decently, that said it was all a bit cheesy. --- (Storyline/Plot: 2.5/5) Its missing so much information to the story and drags out what little info it gives you. There is also noticeable incontinuity of scenes/actions. --- (Acting: 3/5) For being such a star studded cast I would have liked better performaces. Acting was just OK --- (Character Quality: 2.5/5) These characters and their lines seemed like they were written by the kid in us all who would have dreamt up a story like this playing in our backyard. --- (Entertainment Value: 4/5) If you aren't trying to rate this film it is an entertaining watch but this alone does not make a great movie. --- (Expectations vs. Reality: 2.5/5) Is it a western? Is it a sci fi? Is it a comedy? Is it a horror? It just lacks any true direction. It took itself much too seriously.

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Jon Favreau

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Daniel Craig

Jake Lonergan

Harrison Ford

Woodrow Dolarhyde

Olivia Wilde

Ella Swenson

Sam Rockwell

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Synopsis

Bearing a mysterious metal shackle on his wrist, an amnesiac gunslinger wanders into a frontier town called Absolution. He quickly finds that strangers are unwelcome, and no one does anything without the approval of tyrannical Col. Dolarhyde. But when Absolution faces a threat from beyond Earth, the stranger finds that he is its only hope of salvation. He unites townspeople, outlaws and Apache warriors against the alien forces in an epic battle for survival.

Director: Jon Favreau
Producer: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Scott Mitchell Rosenberg
Screenwriter: Damon Lindelof, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Fairview Entertainment, Imagine Entertainment, K/O Paper Products, Platinum Studios, Paramount Pictures International
Rating: PG-13 (Some Partial Nudity|A Brief Crude Reference|Western and Sci-Fi Action|Western and Sci-Fi Violence)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Western, Action
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 29, 2011, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 26, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $100.2M
Runtime: 1h 58m
Sound Mix: DTS, Dolby SRD, SDDS

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