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Rio Lobo

Rio Lobo

Western · 1970

After the Civil War, a former Union colonel searches for the two traitors whose perfidy led to the loss of a close friend.

Movie details

Rio Lobo

“Give 'Em Hell, John.”

1970 Western 1h 56m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.5 / 10

Community rating

After the Civil War, a former Union colonel searches for the two traitors whose perfidy led to the loss of a close friend.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Rio Lobo?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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The Bravados

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The Man from the Alamo

The Man from the Alamo

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During the war for Texas independence, one man leaves the Alamo before the end (chosen to help others' families) but is too late to accomplish his mission, and is branded a coward. Unable to expose a gang of turncoats, he infiltrates them instead.

The Comancheros

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Western · 1961

Texas Ranger Jake Cutter arrests gambler Paul Regret, but soon finds himself teamed with his prisoner in an undercover effort to defeat a band of renegade arms merchants and thieves known as Comancheros.

Death of a Gunfighter

Death of a Gunfighter

Western · 1969

In the turn-of-the century Texas town of Cottonwood Springs, marshal Frank Patch is an old-style lawman in a town determined to become modern. When he kills drunken Luke Mills in self-defense, the town leaders decide it's time for a change. That ask for Patch's resignation, but he refuses on the basis that the town, on hiring him, had promised him the job for as long as he wanted it. Afraid for the town's future and even more afraid of the fact that Marshal Patch knows all the town's dark secrets, the city fathers decide that old-style violence is the only way to rid themselves of the unwanted lawman.

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A man and his partner arrive at a small Western town to kill its most powerful man because the former blames him for his wife's death.

Firecreek

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A peace-loving, part-time sheriff in the small town of Firecreek must take a stand when a gang of vicious outlaws takes over his town.

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Open Range

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A former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt lawman.

The Searchers

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Western · 1956

As a Civil War veteran spends years searching for a young niece captured by Indians, his motivation becomes increasingly questionable.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Howard Hawks

Written by

Burton Wohl · Leigh Brackett · Howard Hawks

John Wayne

John Wayne

Col. Cord McNally

Jorge Rivero

Jorge Rivero

Capt. Pierre Cordona

Jennifer O'Neill

Jennifer O'Neill

Shasta Delaney

Jack Elam

Jack Elam

Phillips

Christopher Mitchum

Christopher Mitchum

Sgt. Tuscarora Phillips

Victor French

Victor French

Ketcham

Susana Dosamantes

Susana Dosamantes

Maria Carmen

Court is in session

Put Rio Lobo on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Patience is part of the point.”

Duration becomes texture. The film asks you to inhabit its world instead of merely processing its plot.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“A test of endurance, your honour.”

Stillness keeps submitting itself as meaning. At some point, contemplation needs something worth contemplating.