Rating: 
Summary: Re-cut version a disappointment
Review: Although it is billed as a "restoration", make no mistake about it, this is a re-cut film that is substantially different from the original release. In my opinion, the re-editing was not an improvement. Early scene deletions involving young Dan's fatal trip back to the saloon for another bottle of rotgut have an unfortunate narrative impact, as does the subsequent deletion of Harry and Arch's discovery that the newly deceased Dan's horse is missing. Later substantial deletions in the original storyline involving the death of Ed Plummer, and the subsequent legal investigation by the local sheriff (Larry Hagman)left me drop-jawed and very disappointed.I suppose that one could argue that since it is Peter Fonda's film, he has a perfect right to recast it as he wishes. To my mind, in his obvious effort to "tighten" the film, he discarded solid gold narrative elements that made the orginial film much better than this "restored" version. All this being said, the acting, cinematography, music, set design, etc. of The Hired Hand remain outstanding, if not unique. The disappointing editing choices in this new version should not diminish the overall impact of the truly amazing film I first saw over thirty years ago...but they do.
Rating: 
Summary: Lend this movie a hand
Review: Hired Hand is foremost a visual masterpiece. Director of cinematography was Vilmos Zgimond, and it's a richly textured, roughhewn, wholewheat grain portrait of the American West. The uses of dissolves here are more beautifully impressionistic and evocative than in any other film I can remember. There are moments when the movie takes on the aspects of painting with images bleeding from watercolor brushstrokes. The opening scene has the camera panning a shimmering river for sun's gold rays. In other moments the landscapes and characters fade into one another as if to contemplate on the relationship of physical space and time. The movie raises a question about the meaning of home and freedom. The central character, after 7 yrs of drifting, decides to return home to his wife and child. But, the home in the movie is a psychological as well as a physical realm. When Peter Fonda goes to save his partner in another town, it's also an act of going home, where he belongs, in doing what he must do. There are other themes as well, developed thru intelligent writing and authentic performances, especially by the female lead. Best of all, themes never degnerate into social statements. Most brilliant of all is perhaps the movie's use of cinematic time. It's well-known how Peckinpah suspended action to accentuate psychological time as opposed to objective time. This film is more radical for slowing not movement--the effect of which is obvious--but stillness itself. It feels as though our perceptions are seeping thru the cracks within time itself. Also, brilliant is the use of sound, as though we're eavesdropping into the whispers of nature, murmurs of the heart. The spare, haunting musical score also accentuates the many hidden ambiguities in the film. Its casting is also noteworthy. Except for Peter Fonda it's devoid of anyone that could have been called a star; even Fonda himself was more a cult movie hero. Warren Oates delivers one of his finest, most thoughtful performaces. And, the woman, plainfaced yet pointedly distinctive is the sort of female lead you simply don't see anymore. Today we have pretty woman or broad types(fat chick, ugly girl, airhead bimbo, etc), but rarely anyone with this kind of unembellished truth to her being. Even the villians are more menacing and repugnant for their ordinary, real qualities. Because they are not villian archetypes we don't feel they could be defeated by the old formula. Finally, it's a film that defies the auteur theory. Peter Fonda, I'm sure, deserves alot of credit, but the film is really a triumph of writing, acting, and perhaps foremost, of cinematography all working together in harmonious chemistry. The uses of colors, techniques such as dissolves, slow motion, still photography are comparable to those in the great McCabe and Mrs Miller, another very differnt kind of Western. It would be wrong to dismiss this film as a post-hippie Easy Riderish western. It's much more; in fact, it defies all categories.
Rating: 
Summary: AN UNSEEN MASTERPIECE
Review: I remember seeing this movie twice in Hollywood when it was originally released. Without much publicity or advertising, it disappeared quickly. What an amazing film. Hypnotic, deliberate and visually stunning. This simple, emotional story captures a time and place that will remain in your mind and heart long after seeing it. Fonda's remarkable directing debut finds a style that perfectly matches the primitive landscape to the story of confused emotions, need for love, and the inability of the characters to fully articulate a non-violent solution to their dilemma. Fonda and Warren Oates are just right in their memorable roles. I've had flashes of this movies many times in the intervening 30 years since it disappeard and even wrote to one or two lesser DVD releasing entities to locate the rights and get Peter Fonda, a very articulate and witty guy, to do a commentary. None were interested. Finally it's on DVD the way it should be preserved. Sundance/Showtime has a 2 disc gem that is a must own for any true videophile. Don't miss it. And the haunting score (I wonder if the exceptional sound track is available?). This film is art and it is entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: AN UNSEEN MASTERPIECE
Review: I remember seeing this movie twice in Hollywood when it was originally released. Without much publicity or advertising, it disappeared quickly. What an amazing film. Hypnotic, deliberate and visually stunning. This simple, emotional story captures a time and place that will remain in your mind and heart long after seeing it. Fonda's remarkable directing debut finds a style that perfectly matches the primitive landscape to the story of confused emotions, need for love, and the inability of the characters to fully articulate a non-violent solution to their dilemma. Fonda and Warren Oates are just right in their memorable roles. I've had flashes of this movies many times in the intervening 30 years since it disappeard and even wrote to one or two lesser DVD releasing entities to locate the rights and get Peter Fonda, a very articulate and witty guy, to do a commentary. None were interested. Finally it's on DVD the way it should be preserved. Sundance/Showtime has a 2 disc gem that is a must own for any true videophile. Don't miss it. And the haunting score (I wonder if the exceptional sound track is available?). This film is art and it is entertainment.
Rating: 
Summary: you gotta be kiddin
Review: I thought this was one of the most boring westerns i have ever seen.On top of that,the story was non existant.I wasted money and my time on this one.One star is too much!
Rating:
Summary: A "way it really was" western
Review: If you like westerns this show is great, especially the first time you see it. I saw it on TV originally, then ordered it from a video store in 1989. The movie is in great condition but the drawback for me is it isn't the same as the TV version. In the TV version there are more scenes and actors (Larry Hagman is the sheriff of the town). Several scenes from the TV version are gone, a disappointment. Ideally, taping it off television would be the best. Still a good show, but TV version has everything in the movie and more. Sad show but you know that's how it's going to end up. At least you're prepared.
Rating:
Summary: Wisdom
Review: Mark Twain had an old saw about how, when Twain was 17, his father was so stupid. But then, after Twain turned 21, he was amazed at how much the old man had learned in 4 short years! And so it is with The Hired Hand. Few of us were ready in 1971 to see Captain America with anything under him that didn't have two wheels. And now - a mere three plus decades later - how well this film has aged! A spare but compelling storyline supplemented with lush photography and some fine performances make this a DVD-shelf 'keeper' that will hold up well through multiple viewings. And the Peter Fonda commentary adds new elements to the pleasures of this film. I missed a recent screening of the film in Port Townsend with both Fonda and Bloom in attendance and I'm still kicking myself!
Rating:
Summary: Wisdom
Review: Mark Twain had an old saw about how, when Twain was 17, his father was so stupid. But then, after Twain turned 21, he was amazed at how much the old man had learned in 4 short years! And so it is with The Hired Hand. Few of us were ready in 1971 to see Captain America with anything under him that didn't have two wheels. And now - a mere three plus decades later - how well this film has aged! A spare but compelling storyline supplemented with lush photography and some fine performances make this a DVD-shelf 'keeper' that will hold up well through multiple viewings. And the Peter Fonda commentary adds new elements to the pleasures of this film. I missed a recent screening of the film in Port Townsend with both Fonda and Bloom in attendance and I'm still kicking myself!
Rating:
Summary: Slim story redolent with self importance
Review: Mr Fonda seems to have tried to make something large out of slim material and it doesn't work. The photography, acting etc are fine but the tone is so overblown that it becomes irritating and detracts from the work. Too self important. My feeling is that Mr Fonda as the character in the film deserves a good spanking by Verna Bloom and told in no uncertain terms to grow up!
Rating:
Summary: The inevitable connection
Review: Peter Fonda here proves himself an immensely skilled director. Working with one of the best cinematographers in the business, Vilmos Szigmond, he's crafted a Western that eschews flashy gunfights and grandiose plot points, and instead focuses on a simple story that's all the more telling, just because of its simplicity. And because of the visual artistry on display. Fonda and Szigmond make a great team; the director knows the feeling he wants to convey and the cinematographer knows exactly how to convey it. Fonda goes for the visual montage/collage a number of times in the course of the film and while this may sound dated or gimmicky, the reason it works so well is because he has a keen understanding of how the visual connects to the emotional as closely as possible. The fade ins and outs that overlap one scene to the next make the film resonate with subtle power as the director meant it to. A woman's face superimposed on a vast stretch of land; a silhouetted man against a huge open twilight sky... The most memorable Westerns should easily connect the characters to the land they reside on, giving the viewer a strong sense of that inevitable connection. The Hired Hand does this so gracefully and naturally it's a wonder few if any other Westerns come close to it. Only Barbarosa has a feeling approaching The Hired Hand, but the latter is unique. And a good story, Western or not, must involve the reader, the viewer, the participant, in a conflict the main character deals with. It's here, but not in any overly dramatic way. Violence arises suddenly, as is almost always the case, and is dealt with just as suddenly. Fonda (Harry Collins) and Warren Oates (Arch Harris) have been riding buddies for a long time and while Oates wants to head west to the Pacific Ocean, Fonda realizes he needs to return to his home he abandoned long before, to once again see his wife and child. In spite of his initial desire to go west, Arch decides to accompany Harry. When they arrive, Hannah (Verna Bloom) agrees that Harry can stay on as a hired hand, compensating for his abandoning her previously. That's the story. Fonda is the right choice to play Harry, the titular character, and even better is Warren Oates as his sidekick. Oates made a career of playing characters who were good at what they did, but nevertheless somewhat mystified or partially beaten down by circumstances, following the path they felt was the only one they could follow because of what life had dealt them. That's true here as well, and Oates is the standout here, stealing the film, characterwise, from both Fonda and Bloom. But the real star of the show is the quiet visual artistry combined with the pared to the bone dialogue and (intentionally) minimal acting that provides an emotional resonance powerful enough to remember for a long time after shutting off the DVD player. Highly recommended.
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