Top 250

3:10 To Yuma (2007)
Number 194 on IMDb's Top 250

Rancher Dan Evans (Christian Bale) heads into Bisbee to clear up issues concerning the sake of his land when he witnesses the closing events of a stagecoach robbery lead by famed outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe). Hilarity ensues when Wade is arrested in Bisbee and Evans finds himself one of the escorts who will take Wade to Contention to catch the 3:10 train to Yuma and prison. Evans will get a much needed $200 for the service. Evans' takes on the job of taking Wade to the station not only to save his land but to prove to himself that he can be more than just a naive rancher in the eyes of his impetuous and gunslinging son William Evans. The transport to Contention is hazardous and filled with ambushes from Indians, pursuits by Wade's vengeful gang and Wade's own conniving and surreptitious demeanor that makes the ride all more intense.

Trivia: The movie was funded in conjunction with New Mexico's Film Investment Program. The weekend before shooting was scheduled to wrap, a freak storm dumped nearly 2 feet of snow on the supposedly drought plagued town. Labourers shoveled the snow from the buildings' balconies and roofs and distributed 89 dump trucks worth of dry soil on the ground. Backhoes created an 8 foot tall rampart of snow just beyond camera sight lines for the remaining 6 days of shooting. The short story upon which the film is based was published in Dime Western Magazine in 1953. The action begins in the hotel room with a deputy sheriff guarding a 21 year old robber. As the bad guy posse rides into Contention City you can clearly see seven men on horseback. But when William is asked how many men are approaching he responds "Seven, or eight." This is a nod to the original version of the movie in which the number of men changed back and forth between seven and eight.

At 122 minutes this movie was 30 full minutes longer then the original that was released 50 years and one month earlier. So, needless to say, there was a lot more in this movie then the original. This is probably one of the few remakes to actually be as good as the original. The orginal, you may remember starred Glen Ford as Wade and is a solid movie, but it was short, at least by today's standard (today only comedies seem to be less then 100 minutes). The extra length gave Wade and Evans more of a change to interact which is one of the really great parts of the movie, not the gun play, not the landscapes, not the horses, though all are wonderful, it is the mind games Wade plays on Evans and the men. Wade truely seems to be playing and really looks like he is enjoying it.