Bite the Bullet (1975)

Really Surprised!

hyped garbage

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

'Don't you know Sam Clayton? Defender of dumb animals, damsels in distress. Champion of lost causes.'Potentially, this project held out the promise of writer/director, Richard Brooks, adding to the list of critical successes from earlier in his career. This was especially the case as his last venture into the western, the 'Professionals', nine years earlier, was acclaimed as having revitalised the genre, earning him Academy Award nominations as both director and writer. Yet, the main flaw of this feature is in the weak structure of the overall narrative - an area in which Brooks would normally excel. This is surprising, given the rich vein of material he was exploring. Based on the real-life 700 mile endurance race organised by the 'Denver Post' newspaper in 1908, the story-line held out great promise, but suffers in various respects. The first of these concerns a common pitfall of ensemble casts in that by attempting to flesh out each character in turn, the risk is run that none is fleshed out sufficiently. This is even true of Gene Hackman's central protagonist, former 'Rough Rider' and animal lover, Sam Clayton. The second allied weakness of this feature comprises the lack of logical character arcs. As such, some protagonists undergo completely inexplicable emotional or psychological changes. An illustration of this is how the young, headstrong wannabe, played capably by Jan-Michael Vincent in one of his rare better performances, suddenly becomes a willing gofer for Clayton and his friends. Yet, this is nothing compared to the transformation undertaken by Hackman's lead character. The opening scenes clearly establish how Clayton abhors unnecessary suffering to animals. Moreover, despite being hired to ensure the champion steed backed by the newspaper tycoons reaches the starting line, he questions the integrity of a race where a winning horse endures far more physical hardship but the rider takes all the glory. Therefore, his decision to not just take part but to drive his own horse to the point of being dead on its feet - an act for which he had earlier handed out a brutal thrashing to Vincent's character - defies any logic. A third flaw with the plot is the clumsy incorporation of the sub-plot centred on Candice Bergen's character's hidden motive for participating in the race. Not only does this lead to an incongruous, almost comical, motorbike versus equine chase, but her culpability in events nearly costing the life of a fellow participant is treated with complete disinterest. Finally, the race itself appears disjointed with the finale tacked on without any real build-up of tension. In terms of the acting, Hackman gives a creditable performance with what little he is given in a genre which would not serve him well till his collaboration with Eastwood in the early nineties. In addition, both James Coburn, as Clayton's gambling former Rough Rider companion, and Ian Bannon, as the competing English aristocrat, ably support, though their characters remain one-dimensional. Yet, stealing the show in a supporting role, which should have earned an Academy Award nomination, is Ben Johnson as the anonymous 'Mister', a veteran 'Jack-of-all-trades' seeking to make a name for himself before he dies. If the poor continuity of the film reflects badly on the writer-director, Brooks does show glimpses of his talent with some well-crafted dialogue. Perhaps, best of these centres on Clayton's honest account of serving in the Rough Riders in Cuba alongside Teddy Roosevelt: 'We didn't charge up there...We crawled up there on our scared bellies.' Another saving grace for the feature is the splendid cinematography of Harry Stradling Jr, which so brilliantly captures the majestic landscape of New Mexico. By contrast, the upbeat soundtrack by Alex North is out of harmony with the general tenor of the film, and way too standard fare for a Western to be singled out for an Oscar nomination as it was. Overall, a muddled project, which even when experimenting. such as with the use of 'slow-mo', lacks any cohesive rationale or plot.

Ambitious Revisionist Western with Great Dialog delivered by some Seasoned Pros and a few Newcomers. Backdropping it all are some very Picturesque Vistas of the Changing West circa 1906 where a 700 Mile Horse Race is Big News.Writer-Director Richard Brooks has Crafted an Interesting and Thought Provoking "New" Type of 'Sensitive" Western with attention to more Empathy about Horses and Man's Plight in a Harsh and Insensitive World.One could say that Brooks' Answer is to "Bite the Bullet" and Soldier On because there's Not Much One Can Do. Gene Hackman, James Coburn, and Ben Johnson are the Wisdom Wielders and Jan Michael Vincent and Candice Bergen are of the New Breed. Mario Arteaga is along for some Ethnic Flavor. All are Effective in Their Western Attire and Ride Horses like They do it Every Day. There is a Lot of Horse Riding, Obviously, and the Race takes up most of the Long Running Time and it all Looks Sharp and Believable as They Ride Toward Victory, or not, Taking time out now and then to Philosophize.Overall, it is a very Good Exercise in Seventies New Found Freedom of Expression and the Professional Cast and Crew make it a Cerebral Counterpoint to Most Westerns. The Ending seems Rushed and there are Jarring Jump Cuts that are Jagged and the Film Loses Something because of Rickedy Montage. But, the Movie Manages for the Most Part to be a Different Diversion from the Usual Genre Fare.

This movie is geared for those 12and older. This movie is a modern day western, cowboys, hats, horses, and guns. Bite the Bullet is action packed. It even has a flavor of humor in the film (it is not just all serious). I was surprised to find that Gene Hackman was playing a cowboy (and doing it well). I am used to his modern day soldier or city slicker roles. James Coburn can play just about everything well. Candice Bergen is just eye candy for your guys. The musical scores are perfectly complementary with what is going on in the movie. It is a little long in places, but over all, the movie provides a night of good entertainment. I give it five thumbs up.

A good cast, some nice photography and an interesting story about a 700-mile horse race make "Bite The Bullet" kind of underrated western. You don't hear it mentioned much in "Favorite Westerns" lists.The only drawbacks for me were a little too much language and that grundgy-70s feel to it that movies in that decade had to them, even in westerns. Having grown up with "Shane," and a bunch of westerns on TV, I still wasn't quite used to what I heard here when this came out 30 years ago. Nowadays, this is mild stuff.This is a fairly long film at 131 minutes but it moves fast. Gene Hackman plays the tough-but-humane hero. The rest of the contestants in this race are all interesting, too. Each is given a little profile of themselves and include Candice Bergen, James Coburn, Jan-Michael Vincent, Ben Johnson and Ian Bannen. In addition, there are some memorable scenes such as a horse literally dropping dead; a man poisoned, a woman with a "different agenda" an old man hanging on and a bad-turned-good kid. It's a nice mixture.