Santa Fe Trail

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Red T This has multiple problems but is passable enough. More importantly this should'nt be called Santa Fe Trail. A more proper name would be The Last Crusade of John Brown. The main issue is the editing which isn't that good. This feels like a western adventure in the first half and a John Brown biopic in the second and never makes the two work together. On top of that the romance triangle between Olivia, Errol, and Reagan feels unneeded and doesn't add anything. They really make things drag and feel out of place. I also can't tell you who the main character in this is. It's very unfocused and jumps around quite a bit especially in the middle. Mainly becuase none of them have much character which is another issue. Everyone is just ok in this. Flynn is ok enough but he doesn't have any charisma in this and is very subdued. Olivia should'nt be in this and feels like her character is almost useless and doesn't add anything except to advertise its another Errol & Olivia picure for the marketing. John Brown isn't bad but doesn't have much character versus preaching. The dialouge in this is very pretentious, self rightious, and feels very forced. Flynn also basically disappears in the second half of the movie also as Brown takes center stage. The cinematography is probably the best part but even that has issues. While its solid enough with good camerawork, memorable sets, and a couple of really good action scenes, its always weighed down by something. Pretentious dialouge, unfocused narratives, tone issues, or the boring romance holds it back. The barn fight is also too dark to see what is happening half the time. The music is solid overall but a bit over the top at points. And the pacing is just ok. This is much better in the first half when it focuses on being a rivalry battle between two former classmates with different ideals on the eve of the Civil War. But this gets really boring in the middle when that takes a backseat to the romance and John Brown himself and tries to overcorrect with the ending which is action packed but feels like it drags also. From the time John Brown leaves Kansas it feels like a completely different movie. This needed to focus squarely on John Brown more than anything and not be as preachy. I can't really recommend this to anyone even Errol & Olivia fans because they don't add much suprsingly and aren't the main focus. Skip This. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/25/23 Full Review Theodore G A good old fashion Western. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Well worth watching James Welch, Henderson, Arkansas February 11, 2023 Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Audience Member I thought it was interesting - for an oldie - that they let a lot of the gray area of the premise stand. John Brown was a complicated issue and they left it as that (rather than making him pure evil and having Errol Flynn the unquestioned hero.) As a whole, the movie was not entirely without problems but I generally liked it. 6.1 out of 10. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Good film, that depicts john brown for the mad man he really was that brought about the biggest waste of life in America history die to the civil war, however large parts of the film are inaccurate it is still a good film Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Audience Member Fascinating film. As entertainment it is decent enough, but quite disappointing when you compare it to other team ups from Curtiz, Flynn, and DeHavilland - it doesn't have the same exuberance of spirit or mythic heroism or cheeky joy or clever action as Captain Blood or especially Robin Hood - and DeHaviiland is all but wasted here. Reagan as an actor, makes a great president, unsurprisingly. He's a dull ham. The most compelling character and performance here is Raymond Massey as John Brown - all righteous fire and brimstone. The fascination with the film comes from the fact that the BAD guy (dodgy methods, granted) wants to ABOLISH SLAVERY, and the good guys want to stop him. This film was set in 1859, but made in 1940, so the politics are just as despicable as those in Gone with the Wind (if not more so). The good guys shrug non-committedly whenever the issue of slavery (and the impending conflict over it) comes up - "oh, that's what the rest of the country is trying to figure out, we're soldiers, we just do what we're told, and look good doing it". Odd, very odd. Yet...there is a hint of ambiguity here hinting at what could have been (and probably would have been, post 1970s) a much better film. The good guys are kind of chumps, and the supposed villain is not entirely unsympathetic, you kinda feel for him (as well as his cause, obviously). Shame about this then. I guess entrusting a real, complex, uncomfortable story to dudes best of pure white hat vs black hat movies wasn't a great idea. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Santa Fe Trail

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