Red River (1948)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Bob S

  
  Supreme Western John Wayne and Montgomery Clift. That's a whole lotta beef, partner!

• Bob O

  
  Red River is about as good as the classic Hollywood western gets. Rancher Tom Dunson (John Wayne) and his surrogate son Matt Garth (Montgomery Clift) lead a near-suicidal cattle drive from the heart of cattle country Texas to the burgeoning beef market of Missouri. They have 1000… More
  Red River is about as good as the classic Hollywood western gets. Rancher Tom Dunson (John Wayne) and his surrogate son Matt Garth (Montgomery Clift) lead a near-suicidal cattle drive from the heart of cattle country Texas to the burgeoning beef market of Missouri. They have 1000 miles to go with 9000 steer and a cadre of ruffian farmhands, marauders, and gunslingers along for the ride. Brilliant and versatile director Howard Hawks guides this lot the whole way with excellent spatial perception and an exquisite mastery of the excitement brought on by comanche attacks, stampedes, and the looming dark heart of tough men brought to the brink by hunger, exhaustion and fear. This long drive never drags its feet for even a moment. Red River is arguably the greatest flick Wayne or Hawks ever made.

• Conner R

  
  John Wayne/Howard Hawks doing a wonderful job at bringing the western genre to a different area than usual. Instead of Gunslingers and Outlaws, this covers the cattle herding aspect of the west. Great performances and characters that come hand in hand with Howard Hawks, the vision is… More
  John Wayne/Howard Hawks doing a wonderful job at bringing the western genre to a different area than usual. Instead of Gunslingers and Outlaws, this covers the cattle herding aspect of the west. Great performances and characters that come hand in hand with Howard Hawks, the vision is as determined as it possibly can be. The story is so powerful and epic, it's hard not to feel an attachment to everything. What really makes it so captivating is the suspense you have for the second half of the movie, whether or not Dunson is going to kill his adopted son Matthew leading to a beautiful finale.

• danny d

  
  a near perfect western and one of the best films of the 1940's. clift was perfect in his debut, wayne gives one of the best performances of his career, and the characters developed for the film were engaging and well suited for the story. as westerns go, this film is far more… More
  a near perfect western and one of the best films of the 1940's. clift was perfect in his debut, wayne gives one of the best performances of his career, and the characters developed for the film were engaging and well suited for the story. as westerns go, this film is far more epic than most as we expirience a well crafted cattle drive over the course of 1,000 miles. great action, high emotion, and an excellent story place this film up there as yet another great film from the masterful howard hawks. the only thing holding this film back from really being my favorite western of all time is the late infusion of tess's character into the story. she felt forced, which might have been a script issue but was more than likely the weakness of joanne dru's performance. aside from this one misstep red river is one of the greatest westerns ever made.

• Ken S

  
  So good it makes me giggle. One of the best westerns of all time.

• Cassandra M

  
  Fourteen years ago Thomas Dunson entered Texas across Red River with two head of cattle, his trail hand, and a young boy, Matt Garth, who survived an Indian attack on a wagon train that killed Dunson's sweetheart. After years of development he is now head of a ranch and is… More
  Fourteen years ago Thomas Dunson entered Texas across Red River with two head of cattle, his trail hand, and a young boy, Matt Garth, who survived an Indian attack on a wagon train that killed Dunson's sweetheart. After years of development he is now head of a ranch and is preparing to drive his head of thousands of cattle up to Missouri for sale, despite the perils. However Dunson's brutal leadership style bucks up against the more peaceful Matt, leading to a rebellion and a splitting of the ways between Dunson and his adopted son. With an early scene establishing both Dunson's methods (taking land by force) and the source of much of his future bitterness and rage, this film sets itself out to be a real good character piece and pretty much manages to do it. The plot sweeps across 14 years but doesn't suffer for it. The main plot device is the cattle drive, which is depicted with affection here, however the main story is the conflict between Dunson and Matt's methods and views on man management. This aspect is not given quite as much time as I had hoped and tends to be over shadowed by the scale of the cattle drive itself ? however this is still good. The weakest point here is the romance which feels tacked on at the end. Not only does it feel unnecessary but it doesn't really work very well either. To make matters worse ? when the conflict between Dunson and Matt manifests itself physically, it is devalued by the involvement of Tess somewhat. Wayne's leading man is strong and is a good performance considering how unpopular he is as a character. Clift gives a balanced performance and stands up well alongside the Duke. The support cast is full of western favourites and does well to fill the story out with colour, comic relief from Brennan's chuck wagon driver is great fun. Overall this is a good western that I felt didn't quite reach it's full potential as a film. It could have gone further with the battle of wills between the characters but instead the cattle drive takes the lion's share of screen time. Having said that, there is still plenty to enjoy with both the character clashes and the perils of the cattle drive itself.

• Dean M

  
  After seeing this Western, John Ford remarked, "I didn't know the big lug could act." The "big lug" he was referring to was the star, John Wayne, whom Ford had brought to stardom in 1939's <i>Stagecoach</i>. This shoot-'em-up adaption of… More
  After seeing this Western, John Ford remarked, "I didn't know the big lug could act." The "big lug" he was referring to was the star, John Wayne, whom Ford had brought to stardom in 1939's <i>Stagecoach</i>. This shoot-'em-up adaption of <i>Mutiny on the Bounty</i> features Wayne at his best in the role of a tough rancher making a historic cattle drive.

• Jeremy S

  
  One of the best westerns ever, and after the Seachers John Wayne's best performance. He sure can play it mean. A Western adaptation of Muntiny On The Bounty, which makes for a ripping drama. Favourite quote: "There are only two things more beautiful than a good gun -- a… More
  One of the best westerns ever, and after the Seachers John Wayne's best performance. He sure can play it mean. A Western adaptation of Muntiny On The Bounty, which makes for a ripping drama. Favourite quote: "There are only two things more beautiful than a good gun -- a Swiss watch and a woman from anywhere. Have you ever had a good Swiss watch?" What could he possibly mean...?

• Luke B

  
  A wonderful western that actually details the day to day lives of cowboys actually doing their jobs. Wayne and Clift are brilliant as best buddies almost father and son relationship. The vast landscapes are beautifully captured on screen and the inability to compare this to other… More
  A wonderful western that actually details the day to day lives of cowboys actually doing their jobs. Wayne and Clift are brilliant as best buddies almost father and son relationship. The vast landscapes are beautifully captured on screen and the inability to compare this to other westerns with confidence is an absolute bonus. The film fails severely in the endings lack of consistent tone or character development. Wayne turns mad and his insanity is slowly built up to the point of murder. He then becomes an unscene force for a good 20 minutes, off screen causing a lot of fear and tension. The ending however is a "and they all lived happily ever after" catastrophe which really does undermine the entire film.

• Tim S

  
  You can see how this could be the standard for most, if not all, westerns. I have never seen a more affective John Wayne performance (although I admit I haven't seen a lot of John Wayne stuff), but I was amazed at Montgomery Clift who really was ahead of his time as far as… More
  You can see how this could be the standard for most, if not all, westerns. I have never seen a more affective John Wayne performance (although I admit I haven't seen a lot of John Wayne stuff), but I was amazed at Montgomery Clift who really was ahead of his time as far as acting.

• Stella D

  
  ok i'm not a big fan of westerns. i watched this for monty clift in his film debut and he was damn good for a city slicker. he even gets to punch the duke. overall pretty entertaining. john wayne plays a sonuvabitch which is fine by me, i've never liked him anyway!

• Jonny C

  
  Great western. Red River tells the story of a 1000 mile cattle drive across the old west. Similar story to A Mutiny on the Bounty, as The Duke and Montgomery Clift square off against each other. I thought for a while Wayne would finally get to be a villain, but spoil sport Joanne Dru… More
  Great western. Red River tells the story of a 1000 mile cattle drive across the old west. Similar story to A Mutiny on the Bounty, as The Duke and Montgomery Clift square off against each other. I thought for a while Wayne would finally get to be a villain, but spoil sport Joanne Dru puts a stop to that. Although Red River was epic in length, legendary director Howard Hawks keep the story engaging, with plenty of drama, humor, and great cinematography.

• James K

  
  This is a rare glimpse at John Wayne as the antagonist rather than the hero. In my opinion its the best "move 'em cattle" movie to ever come out of Hollywood. I have to snack on a big slab of jerky every time I watch it.

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