Two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow.Two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow.Two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow.
- Awards
- 5 wins
Robert Jauregui
- Marshall Jack Bell
- (as Bobby Jauregui)
James Tarwater
- Chalk
- (as Jim Tarwater)
Freddie Hice
- Bragg's Third Man
- (as Fred Hice)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaViggo Mortensen committed to this movie during a busy stretch of work. When filming was delayed, he tried to beg off, asking Ed Harris to try to find another actor. Harris interviewed 20 others for the role, but they either declined or weren't right for the part. Mortensen agreed to do it, and according to Harris, "Two days before we started principal photography, Viggo shows up in New Mexico. He's ready to go. He's done research on the period. He's given really great thought to his character. He had detailed ideas about his wardrobe and his props. He was in excellent shape and good spirits, and he subsequently played Everett Hitch to perfection. Viggo Mortensen is a man of his word."
- GoofsThe framing of the house being built appears to modern construction, using modern lumber, not the rough cut lumber of the day. It also appears to be double wall construction, not the single wall type of the era.
- Quotes
Randall Bragg: Mr. Everett Hitch. You a drinking man, Everett?
Virgil Cole: Not so much.
Randall Bragg: Hard to like a man who doesn't drink a little.
Virgil Cole: But not impossible.
- Crazy creditsWhile being credited, items relating to positions and roles are displayed. Examples: Producers are listed as money is shown, an antique ink dryer is shown for the editor, production designer shows an antique tin cup and costume designer shows the top of a hat.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Siskel & Ebert: Lakeview Terrace/The Women/Surfer Dude/Towelhead (2008)
- SoundtracksGoodbye, Old Paint
Performed by Renée Zellweger
Featured review
Compelling and Weird Western
On the immediate surface "Apaloosa" occurs as an old school Western grounded in the battle of good against evil. For the most part first time director/ writer Ed Harris's "Apaloosa" is the traditional tale of gunslingers hired to protect the town against the malevolent rancher, who terrorizes the town of Apaloosa. This slithery and wily Rancher is Randall Bragg, well played by Academy Award Winner Jeremy Irons. Irons is amazing. In the opening Bragg (Irons) kills the town Marshall and his deputies in cold blood. So there is no question surrounding Bragg's character. Harris and Viggo Mortensen play Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch, who are lawmen for hire. The town of Apaloosa signs a contract with Virgil and Everett paying them to protect the town from Bragg. As part of the deal Apaloosa surrenders legal jurisdiction and autonomy to Cole and Hitch. This is pretty straight forward until femme fatale widow Allison French (Renee Zellwegger) arrives in town. Virgil takes a quick fancy to Allison, but her motives are vague and questionable at best. Will she threaten Virgil's partnership with Everett?
First off, I ultimately liked "Apaloosa", because Viggo Mortensen is awesome as Everett. Despite the movie's quirky idiosyncrasies, Mortensen commands the heroic presence as the sensible man of honor. Mortensen is the Western hero in the tradition of Clint Eastwood. As Everett, we always know where Mortensen stands, and he is both charismatic and cool. In a great scene a rival asks Everett about Virgil's gun prowess. Everett says plainly, "I haven't seen anyone as good as Virgil." Mortensen's Virgil salvages the movie's sense of honor.
As mentioned previously, "Apaloosa" is not really all that traditional just below the surface. And this is not necessarily a good thing. This is not the anti-hero masterpiece of Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven". In one sense, I think Harris would like it to be. For one thing although Harris's Virgil is brave and noble, he is an apparent partial nut job. He goes nonlinear on some hoods in a saloon, among other weird out bursts. Harris's Virgil is not an educated man, and clumsily forces his diction and stumbles through Emerson. Instead of coming off as charmingly eccentric, his Virgil occurs as a little weird. Renee Zellwegger is an amazing actress, but here she struggles to carry off pretty. Her character Allison also has the propensity to have sex with virtually any man with a pulse. Straight and narrow Virgil in love with psycho whore Allison is not the most conventional love story, nor is it the story's most endearing plot line. Again, this may be more artifact of the screenplay by Harris and Robert Knot based on Robert B. Parker's best selling novel.
In spite of its quirkiness and kind of nutty characters, Harris manages to reign in the movie as it concludes-- opting for the more heroic. There is a great scene before one the climatic showdowns where Allison asks Virgil and Everett, "Aren't either of you at all afraid?" Virgil says, " I guess I don't think about that so much." Also in "Apaloosa" the action is not leveraged for the utmost drama. Director Harris's action sequences lack crispnessthe gun fight blocking is mostly single shot, without any interesting angles. Aside from the last gun fight, most of the action is diluted of high drama. The action is well done, just not spectacular.
"Apaloosa" is an amalgamation of the traditional Western with the idiosyncratic melodrama of the new. The overall effect is compelling, and also makes you scratch your head. Viggo Mortensen's strong and charismatic performance as Everett Hitch eventually wins out, and makes "Apaloosa" worth watching.
First off, I ultimately liked "Apaloosa", because Viggo Mortensen is awesome as Everett. Despite the movie's quirky idiosyncrasies, Mortensen commands the heroic presence as the sensible man of honor. Mortensen is the Western hero in the tradition of Clint Eastwood. As Everett, we always know where Mortensen stands, and he is both charismatic and cool. In a great scene a rival asks Everett about Virgil's gun prowess. Everett says plainly, "I haven't seen anyone as good as Virgil." Mortensen's Virgil salvages the movie's sense of honor.
As mentioned previously, "Apaloosa" is not really all that traditional just below the surface. And this is not necessarily a good thing. This is not the anti-hero masterpiece of Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven". In one sense, I think Harris would like it to be. For one thing although Harris's Virgil is brave and noble, he is an apparent partial nut job. He goes nonlinear on some hoods in a saloon, among other weird out bursts. Harris's Virgil is not an educated man, and clumsily forces his diction and stumbles through Emerson. Instead of coming off as charmingly eccentric, his Virgil occurs as a little weird. Renee Zellwegger is an amazing actress, but here she struggles to carry off pretty. Her character Allison also has the propensity to have sex with virtually any man with a pulse. Straight and narrow Virgil in love with psycho whore Allison is not the most conventional love story, nor is it the story's most endearing plot line. Again, this may be more artifact of the screenplay by Harris and Robert Knot based on Robert B. Parker's best selling novel.
In spite of its quirkiness and kind of nutty characters, Harris manages to reign in the movie as it concludes-- opting for the more heroic. There is a great scene before one the climatic showdowns where Allison asks Virgil and Everett, "Aren't either of you at all afraid?" Virgil says, " I guess I don't think about that so much." Also in "Apaloosa" the action is not leveraged for the utmost drama. Director Harris's action sequences lack crispnessthe gun fight blocking is mostly single shot, without any interesting angles. Aside from the last gun fight, most of the action is diluted of high drama. The action is well done, just not spectacular.
"Apaloosa" is an amalgamation of the traditional Western with the idiosyncratic melodrama of the new. The overall effect is compelling, and also makes you scratch your head. Viggo Mortensen's strong and charismatic performance as Everett Hitch eventually wins out, and makes "Apaloosa" worth watching.
helpful•7840
- jon.h.ochiai
- Oct 12, 2008
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Miền Máu Lửa
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $20,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $20,211,394
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $248,847
- Sep 21, 2008
- Gross worldwide
- $27,712,362
- Runtime1 hour 55 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content