When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?

Audience Reviews

View All (6)

Wayne K A film so obscure that there’s an entire reddit thread about how hard it is to find (it’s now on YouTube if anyone is interested), When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder was recommended to my by a good friend during a podcast episode, where he was extolling the merits of Marjoe Gortner’s performance, calling him ‘terrifying.’ Having seen the film earlier today, I can completely understand where he’s coming from. Gortner owns every scene he’s in, portraying a Vietnam veteran who’s the dictionary definition of unhinged, terrorising a small-town diner with his physical presence and heavy accent. The film is hampered by the fact that not only do we never find out why Teddy does what he does, nobody ever thinks to ask him. Even if he’d given a bluff answer, or even no answer at all, at least that’s something. It’s a story about a man judging others for their lives, their positions and ambitions, while conveniently leaving out the fact that he doesn’t have a decent answer for those questions himself. There’s a lot of intense moments throughout, but after the confrontation is over you don’t get much of a sense that anybody has actually been changed by the experience, but it does at least offer a good character arc for Red Ryder himself. It’s the kind of film that was everywhere in the 70s, where directors had much more power than they do now, and were able to produce smaller, more personal and intimate stories than the big budget blockbusters that would come to define the following decade. Not the finest among them, but still a very compelling watch. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 06/10/25 Full Review Audience Member Despite the cheesy start to the movie, the tension builds to a pretty solid climax. Morjoe Gortner's performance is pretty solid. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member When this movie was released, we nearly wore our VHS copy out. Skip about the first third or maybe even half. The attraction was MG's characters' Teddy and his psychological games with the others. You're always trying to get the mindset of Teddy to work out why he does what he does. Marjoe Gortner is unforgettably magnificent as Teddy. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member The film doesn't get at all interesting until about halfway through but when it does, it becomes entrancing. The performance by Marjoe Gortner is stupendous and the fantastic dialogue only makes his character an even greater enigma. Unfortunately, the film falls flat at the very end, when it simply goes nowhere. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member This is a must see Movie! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member best fuckin movie ever Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews

When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW