For Once, a Remake Better?

Rating: 8/10 (4 July 2008)

***MAJOR SPOILERS*** Crowe and the kid saw parts of themselves in one another, Bale wanted to please his son, or rather, have him look up to him--and maybe, just maybe--Crowe didn't want the kid to grow up as him--without a good or honorable memory of his father, also at the same time again, emphasizing with Bale too. Remember how Crowe said his dad died over a shot of whiskey, and his mom left after giving him the bible? Maybe this, and his father's legacy, was pivotal in his development as a "ruthless" gunslinger? I think the movie also presented a 'duality of man' theme that maybe sometimes depended on which side of the law and/or land situations these characters were in. Remember the man shot in the beginning who later had been found out to have "killed" the Navajo children, or Bale himself had shot many in the war. This also illustrates this 'duality' and shows that yes, we are all different, but not maybe all that far off. Crowe was so thwarted and angered by his attempt to do 'good' that he shot his gang. He fully realized the boy's, and the boy's father's dream by getting on the train and finally whistling for his horse. Thus, signifying the futility of it, as a manipulation, or false pride being a guide or reinforcement, while at the same time serving as the dream of this young boy. Crowe knows he will escape again, and this is the irony and tragedy of it