Rating: 
Summary: Don't be Duped
Review: I'm trying to remember. Wasn't this film enveloped in controversy on the cruelty to animals? Wasn't it the one movie that sent the Humane Society into action? I can't rightly remember. But whether this movie was controversial or not,there isn't a decent cowboy alive, then or now, that would treat their horses the way this movie portrayed. The scene where the horse goes over the cliff into the lake, is not fakery. Tie-wires are used to make the horses look lame, trip-wires to make them fall. I bought this movie because I had seen it when I was a kid. When I grew up, I thought I'd like to see it again. I don't know if I was more ashamed of the cruelty to animals or ashamed because I was duped into buying and seeing this movie again. There's nothing about the true west in this movie. No history, no facts, just fiction and not even good fiction at that. There's nothing majestic about a horse being ridden to death. Well . . . now I've said my piece, I hope you use some sense and don't be duped into buying this movie again like I was. M.D. Cummings P.S. My wife, Star, says amen to what I've just written.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent alternative to the typical western fare
Review: If nothing else, this movie has a great cast and a very interesting storyline. It begins in the first few years of the 20th century somewhere in the West. A 700 mile race is promoted by a newspaper that sets rider and horse against each other and the elements. It also pits the wealthy and their resources against those of more modest means with obvious results. However, I feel the strengh of "Bite the Bullet" is not so much a story of classes as it is the characters themselves. With a plethora of well-known character actors, the movie takes the time to develop each of these characters in a manner that makes "Bite the Bullet" an enjoyable and very watchable movie. Obviously, as a person who loves the wide-screen version of any movie, I cannot wait for "Bite the Bullet" to come out in DVD and widescreen format. However, until that time, I feel that once you see the cast involved in "Bite the Bullet" you will enjoy watching this wonderful and underrated version an era coming to an end.
Rating: 
Summary: Bite this!
Review: Ohhh the brutality, ohhhhh the dying breed, ohhhh the sense of loss, ohhhh the prejudice! Jeez, when are all the revisionists going to stop analyzing Westerns for crying out loud? S**t happens. If it offends your socially engineered sensibilities then go back to the comfort of your Meryl Streep collection. Boring, tedious, and very tiresome waste of celluloid-particularly in light of Coburn/Hackman/Bergen's presence. Nothing interesting or intriguing here, unless you are obsessed with 19th century desert dentisty. May have been a little better without the constant diversion of the out-of-place south of the border guy with the bad tooth. A monument to the stupid ultra-left creeping sensitivity of the 60/70's. Virtually impossible to sit through the entire film. I think I'd rather have my eyes stapled open for the entire Lucky Luke/Trinity series. 2 Horses-all deader'n hell.
Rating:
Summary: Based on fact!
Review: This movie is based on a race from Chadron, NE to Chicago in 1893. Doc Middleton, a natorious criminal from the area is played by Gene Hackman. I believe there was a worlds fair in Chigago that year and Middleton wanted to get in good with Bill Cody and be in Cody's wild west show. Each enterant left Chadron with two horses. Cowboys of the west did not treat their horses as depicted in the movie. Horses were their life line. One of Middleton's horses became lame before Sioux City, IA and the other before he reached Illinois. He finished his trip to Chicago on a train. The total trip was about 1000 miles. Ah, how hollywood does rewrite history!
Rating: 
Summary: Blood, sweat and Hackman
Review: This terrific movie depicts a long distance horse race in an old west on the cusp of change. Advancing industries and machinery (sequence with Coburn and Hackman bouncing around in a motorbike and side-car reflects this perfectly, and is a hoot!) would soon render many aspects of frontier life out-moded. This movie covers great distances both geographically and in terms of the characters. Gene Hackman is tremendous and sits astride the narrative with a knock-out performance. His hard-bitten sweat-drenched horseman with a barb-wire soul is given extra depth by the fact that he is also a fighter for animal rights -a novel notion in that age. Coburn is Coburn; basso-profundo voice, grinning with all 95 of his teeth, he does all that is asked of him. Feisty Candice Bergen displays grit and guts to match the dudes and more than holds her own in a film with leaves you spent and involved. The look and flavour of the movie are rooted firmly in the 70's - a golden age of cinema - and the direction and set pieces involve you from the get-go. The sand, sweat and blood onscreen is palpable. And the struggles, deceptions and rivalries will bring out the true grit in any viewer. Heartily recommended for all my fellow honchos out there riding the lonesome trail with dusty denims and prairie dreams.
Rating:
Summary: Little conversation, long time in the saddle
Review: Unfortunately, the film offers little acting or much of a story line. If you read the other reviews, you will learn about the plot, which is a 700-mile horse race that follows a railroad line. The actors include Gene Hackman, James Coburn, and Ben Johnson which are hardened cowboys hoping to win the prize. The race begins and will we see it end? Also, this movie is lacking in conversation, most lines the actors use are short. To the movies credit, there are a couple of good points, one of them is the scenery, which is spectacular. There is a lighter moment when James Coburn and Gene Hackman need to ride a motorcycle with a sidecar because they care chasing some escaped criminals that stole their horses. This is the good laugh of the movie. Now you should be asking yourself, why should I watch this movie? If you like horses and horse stunts, you will enjoy this movie. This movie has horses being ridden at the walk, Horse being galloped by their riders. There is a scene of horses being run in slow motion, contrasting the strength of a fresh horse and a horse that has been ridden too hard. I donÂft know if this scene was studio magic or the real thing, however, I felt sorry for the horse. The horses earned their oats in this movie-one falls in the desert; another falls off a clip;another gets shot. The horses should be the focal point of this movie. If you feel anything for the animals, this movie will give you a definite reaction to this movie.
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