excellent pacing

Rating: 9/10 (12 January 2008)

this film succeeds on many levels, with much attention to detail: the mundane set decorating which includes laundry hanging over the back alleys, did you ever see that in a john wayne flic? or perhaps in john wayne's world dryers existed in western towns in the 1880s.
the best part of this film was how the uncertainty is maintained whether they're going to get the villain Wade onto the train.
it was nice to see Peter Fonda but I didn't recognize him at first. gee he's sure changed since 'Easy Rider' ! it has the tension of High Noon, the grittiness of Unforgiven and the workaday realism of "Lonesome Dove'.
superb western. definitely in the top 20. or 10. if you like westerns you will really like this one.