Rating: 
Summary: The best Wane flick
Review: This is my all-time favorite John Wayne flick. Most lists I see list "The Searchers" as the best, but I disagree. This is essentially a reworking of "Rio Bravo", but you get better co-stars here with Robert Mitchum and James Caan. Plus you don't have the unrealistic sing-a-long that occurs in the middle of "Bravo" In this movie Cole Thornton (Wayne) is a hired gunman in town to help out in a range war. Before he goes out to meet his new boss, Bart Jason (Ed Asner), he meets his old buddy J. P. Harrah (Mitchum). Harrah convinces Thornton that he'd be fighting for the wrong side. Later, Thornton is in another town, where he meets up with Nils McCloud (Christopher George), who is off to El Dorado to take the job Thornton turned down. McCloud tells Thornton that Harrah is now a hopeless drunk, so of course, this being a Wayne flick, Thornton has to ride to the rescue. Along the way he is accompanied by Alan Bedillian Traherne ("Yeah, that's why most people call me 'Mississippi'.") and Bull (Arthur Hunnicut). The end is a shootout worthy of the name.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Western!
Review: This is my favorite John Wayne movie...hands down. The music is cool, the acting is good, the plot is terrific, and John Wayne is at his toughest! Robert Mitchum is a great costar as the drunken sheriff J.P. Harra. Once he sobers up, he's the fastest and toughest gun in the West (besides Cole Thornton (Wayne), of course!) When Harra hits Bart Jason (the bad guy) in the face with his rifle, it makes your own jaw hurt. Ouch! He'll feel that in the morning! There are plenty of funny parts in this movie too. I LOVE the part where "Mississippi" is giving his "sobering up" concoction to Mitchum. That is really funny! This movie is definitely worth your money! So, grab your best pony, 6 shooter, and saddle pal, and gallop along with the Duke in one of the greatest Westerns ever made!
Rating:
Summary: "Mitch" Is The Real Star of "El Dorado"!
Review: This is one of my favorite Robert Mitchum films ever. Looks like no one else guessed who Bart Jason was - an early film role played with the usual gruffiness by Ed Asner, who later went on to fame in the Mary Tyler Moore show and then in his own show as Lou Grant. Right from the start of the film, when Charlene Holt, who plays Maudie, reminisces with Mitch about John Wayne (Cole), you see Mitch's head in side profile, like an Easter Island statue or Mount Rushmore. James Caan turned in a fine performance as Mississippi, gunslinger, medicine man, and Romeo (love interest Michele Carey). Pre-"The Immortal" Christopher George was also excellent as Asner's hired hand, the "professional courtesy" gun duel btw. Wayne and George at the end of the film was nothing short of excellent. Overall, this is one of the few Westerns I really like. When I bought this video at the post exchange in Heidelberg, the cashier asked me if I was a John Wayne fan. No, I was a Mitchum fan, I said. Didn't answer me. Oh well. As my Amazon moniker is hipster, it is also fitting to Robert Mitchum, who was the penultimate Hollywood hipster. Curiously enough, Mitch was here in Heidelberg a few years back shooting a movie, and I missed seeing him. Knowing that he was here makes this review all the more personal.
Rating:
Summary: Why didn't Wayne win an Oscar for this one?
Review: This is one of the best Westerns ever made. John Wayne delivers his usual grand performance as Cole Thornton, a hired gun who carries a fearsome reputation. Robert Mitchum almost upstages him as drunken Sheriff J.P. Harrah, Thornton's old friend. These two exchange some of the greatest dialogue of all-time, and viewers can see that their relationship dates back a considerable amount of time. James Caan is terrific as the kid who's a better shot with a knife than a sawed-off shotgun. "I hit the sign, and the sign hit him" is one of the funnier parts in the movie and still makes me laugh. Arthur Hunnicutt is the old geezer whose fiery spirit and witty comments provide a few laughs as well. Ed Asner and Christopher George deliver believable performances as villians Bart Jason and Nelse MacLeod, respectively. Great heroes, villains, sidekicks, dialogue, humor, and action make El Dorado a film worth seeing. Besides, it's a John Wayne movie, how can you go wrong?
Rating:
Summary: The Duke is the best
Review: This is one of the those movies you could never get tired of watching. Wayne and Caan were excellent together, and I regret they did make another movie together. Mitchum also worked well with Wayne. The give and take they throw at one another always keeps me laughing. It also pulls out a little sadness and sympathy, like when Luke McDonald is shot and how bad Thornton (Wayne) feels. McCloud also is a sympathic character. Though Wayne's adversay in the movie, he is not a bad man. A very enjoyable movie.
Rating: 
Summary: The Duke shows his age, but he wears it well
Review: This movie still remains one of my favorite westerns. John Wayne, in fine form, plays his stock character, the Rattlesnake-quick hired gunfighter, but with one problem--A bullet in his back from an old injury causes paralysis in his gun hand at the most inopportune moments. In the end, he is forced to resort to trickery to defeat the villian of the piece, another hired gunfighter played with icy calmness by Christopher George. The Duke begins to show his age in this movie, but just like fine wine he only seems to improve as he gets older. Also included is the unforgettable Robert Mitchum, as the sheriff on a full-fledged drunken bender. The two actors complement each other quite well, although sometimes it seems they compete for the camera. Also included in the cast is a very young (but still unmistakable) James Caan, the beautiful Charlene Holt as The Duke's long-suffering girlfriend, and Arthur Hunnicut as the noisy, loveable old coot who, along with Caan's character, provides some strong comic relief. If you don't recognize either of those last two names, don't worry--I didn't either. Note to parents: While there is a lot of gunplay and fistfighting in this movie, remember, it was made back in the 60's--blood and gore are kept to a minimum.
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Summary: A Perfect Example of why Widescreen isn't always good
Review: This picture was shot in Academy ratio (which approximates TV), not widescreen format, and Hawks composed his shots in that format. The picture was shown in theaters by using a "matte", which cuts the top and bottom of the picture off to imitate Panavision. Therefore, the "widescreen" DVD actually reduces the amount of picture area (just compare it to the full screen VHS print: you get the same width of picture, but the top and bottom are cut off and the composition looks wrong.) El Dorado looks much better in full screen format, so buy the VHS. The same is true of films like Batman, Jurassic Park and The Lost World. Only James Bond movies seem to be shot in actual widescreen anymore.
Rating:
Summary: Better Than "Rio Bravo"
Review: Though a minority opinion, Howard Hawks' "El Dorado" (1967) is a superior reworking of the director's overrated 1959 Western, "Rio Bravo." Along with the iconic presence of John Wayne, the tradeoffs are certainly better: instead of Dean Martin's drunken sheriff, you get Robert Mitchum's memorable comic performance in the same role; instead of Ricky Nelson singing an occasional song, there is James Caan's breakthrough performance as Mississippi; and Arthur Hunnicutt's comic relief is more palatable than Walter Brennan's obnoxious imitation of Gabby Hayes. "El Dorado" also is a tighter, better-scripted film -- running only 127 minutes. By comparison, "Rio Bravo" seems to go on forever with its 2 1/2-hour length. Hawks aficionados may disagree, but "El Dorado" improves upon the obvious weaknesses of "Rio Bravo." So does the final Hawks-Wayne collaboration, "Rio Lobo" (1970). Judge for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Western/are you all mad???
Review: What kind of fans are you?!This movie does not deserve to be ranked below ANY of the other John Wayne Classics. This movie was funny, action, and held a great deal of human values. The song alone is worth more than 4 and one half stars. Shame on you people!
Rating:
Summary: Better than "Rio Bravo"...
Review: While many point out that El Dorado is a remake, I think it is, in fact, better than the first movie it is based on. First off, no singing or cast based on the need for singers! This is a REAL, honest-to-God, Western, with a big "W". John Wayne and Robert Mitchum really work well together. You can feel the history behind their friendship and this adds to the conflict, the struggle, they feel, as one has to watch the other recover from crawling into the bottle. James Caan brings a LOT to the cast, really allowing a way for much of the humor to enter the film.
Not much in extras - in fact there is only a trailer. 126 minutes of fun.
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