This was a pretty solid western, one I enjoyed more than I thought I would. What I liked about it were the interesting characters and the fact it was nicely filmed, as westerns tend to be. People focus on the big stars of this film and often miss how good the visuals are in here.

John Wayne, Robert Mitchum and James Caan all played characters that were fun to watch. When I first saw this about 10 years ago, it was a shock to see how young Caan looked. It had to be one of his first films. Six years after this, he made it big in "The Godfather."

Wayne and Mitchum, of course, were already major motion picture celebrities and I liked the way they traded off each other in this movie. It was really good to see these two guys in the same film. With those two, and the nice photography, this would be a good pickup on DVD.

I really enjoyed this movie. It's one of Wayne's better films and it's nice to see him paired with Robert Mitchum. However, it very quickly became obvious to me that this is essentially a remake of Wayne's earlier picture, Rio Bravo. The plot is the same and Mitchum is playing the same drunk character that Dean Martin played in Rio Bravo. The earlier film is much better--mostly because it was so much more original. Yes, I'm sure some astute viewers will also find a few other minor differences between the films, but overall it's almost the exact same experience. So my advice is try to see Rio Bravo first--then, if you'd like, see this film. After all, in 4 out of 5 cases original films are better than remakes.

El Dorado is a wonderful film. It is elegiac, always entertaining, skillful and I think warm-hearted too. The film looks beautiful, the cinematography and scenery are both a delight to the ears. Nelson Riddle's score is pleasant too, while the film is brilliantly directed by Howard Hawks, the script is thoughtful and entertaining, the story never loses momentum and the pace while deliberately elegiac is spot on. There is also a superbly staged preface, which is one of the assets that gave El Dorado its heart. The acting from the leads is superb, John Wayne is a great charismatic presence here and Robert Mitchum gives one of his best performances, and they work very well together. All in all, a wonderful film and a textbook example of a fine movie of its genre. 10/10 Bethany Cox