22 May 2012

Unorthodox Plot + Paul Dano's Convincing Acting + Scary Special Effects of Aliens + Good Fighting Scenes

When I saw the trailer , I said to myself "Nonsense. It's going to be a bad movie." How wrong I was!The plot sounded unorthodox at first. Cowboys versus Aliens? How absurd it was. Then, I realized cowboys were just fantasy in Hollywood films just like aliens. Real-life cowboys, in their period, did not behave as the Hollywood ones. After this shift in thinking, I enjoyed watching it.It showed that bad people were not always bad. Also, it proved "United we Stand, Divided we Fall". It did those things in a subtle way, not preaching. Paul Dano was one of the reasons I liked this picture. His acting as the son of cattle baron Woodrow (Harrison Ford) was so convincing that I really hated his character!The fighting scenes were quick, deadly and interesting. The special effects of aliens looked scary. However the spaceship looked generic. Of course, I had to suppress my logic to be entertained.It did add spices to Western genre.

21 May 2012

Ok, not great nor memorable

This review is from: Cowboys & Aliens (Extended Version) (Amazon Instant Video) Okay movie for a rainy weekend and nothing else to do. Acting is okay, well it is just an ok movie all around.

jacco59

21 May 2012

Sad missed opportunity

This could've been so much better. A mix of a great western and a greatsci-fi with those two men cast in it? Sign me up! At least that's whatI thought. But at 20 minutes in I was already thinking 'When's theending gonna come?'Don't blame the actors though. They're given almostzero space to show their acting talents, especially Harrison Ford, whoonly talks like ten times. And then there's the ridiculous plot, whichisn't really a plot at all, more like a mash-up of Alien and The Good,The Bad And The Ugly. Not that those aren't good films, they just don'tfit together. Conclusion: Don't waste your time and money on this film.Watch Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes instead, that's the best movie ofthe summer.

20 May 2012

Craig and Ford lead the way!

When this film was in production, I was very excited for it. The reason was because of the interesting theme of Cowboys mixed with Aliens. Who better to be Executive Producer than Steven Spielberg, the king of alien films. Also, on the Cowboy side, you have acting legend Harrison Ford, who wonderfully portrays a Cowboy. With Damon Lindelof, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci doing the Screenplay, I had no doubts that "Cowboys & Aliens" would at very least be interesting.For a general plot summary, the film begins with Daniel Craig's character (Jake Lonergan) waking up in the middle of the dessert, with a steel bracelet on his arm. He wonders into the nearest town, where he discovers that mysterious, alien-like spacecrafts have been taking people and his bracelet is the only weapon that damages the Aliens.Meanwhile, rich cattle owner Colonel Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) discovers the aliens have captured his son, so Lonergan and himself lead an attack on the Alien base.Overall, "Cowboys & Aliens" is a very entertaining and enjoyable film. Both Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford turn in great performances, which makes the film great!

mick987g

20 May 2012

Wait for it to come to Pay per view

I thought this movie would be a bit more fluid. But to me it was a bitdisjointed. It started out fine, like a typical western.But when the aliens came into play, this to me is where it all wentdownhill. The sic if western mix just didn't seem to come together atall. Mind you I like Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. And I am a new fan ofOlivia Wilde. I even like Adam Beach in this movieIt came just under two hours, I know because I checked my watch atleast 4 times during the movies. And this is not a good sign when Icheck my watch more than twice.Save your money and wait for it to come to pay per view or a free cableweekend.

19 May 2012

Craig Delivers the goods!

Absolutely amazing! That's what I have to say about C&A, thus far I've taken critics and other reviewers like myself with a grain of salt because with films such as these you simply cannot take them seriously, why should this film have be any different? The acting was tremendous for those who do not know Daniel Craig he is English, so his accent is heavy more so then some Englishmen who have taken lead roles in American films. However this is quite different he plays a "cowboy", hardly anyone can pull that off correctly, a Englishmen to say the least (yet he did). His American accent as always was A+, but in this film its rougher, just like most western actors he really wanted to fit the part, and he did.The Story, well many many viewers complain that the story is just "stupid", or "simple", so? Often we go to the movies and see a wonderful story, but we don't like the way it unfolds visually, other time's visuals and action or just acting alone makes a movie compelling yet we leave frustrated in the way the story itself unraveled. Beggars can't be choosers, this film I would categorize as a film that meets many qualifications that it really doesn't need (like a complete transformation from Craig as a charming "Bond" Englishmen to a rough American Cowboy)yet it lacks some qualities such as an undeveloped story (although I won't take a star off as it was based on a graphic novel). All in all its fun, and like some of you who are giving this negative reviews, I to like a artsy film that makes me think, and other times I like a film such as Cowboys and Aliens, as it brings me joy as well, so why not?...Go Watch it! Have fun!

Janne Taapelinen

18 May 2012

Predictable entertainment

The more I think about it, I think I'd rather have a pure Western usingthe same hangers - man without memory - seen. Then also place wouldhave been to the conflict that inevitably arises when you realize thatyou are one of the evil space found. C & A tries to accommodate perhapsa bit much. The man without memory, which is obtained from its past,the gentle bartender who has become a shooter needs, the boy who willbecome the man, the mysterious stranger, a mysterious stranger still,the ratio of Dolarhyde to son and foster son, the ratio Dolarhyde andJake ... and then even an alien invasion is thematically very much.Cowboys & Aliens Olivia Wilde Daniel Craig is over long distances as atough guy to beat me, which I did here lacked the depth of the script.I would like to learn more about the man Jake. Harrison Ford is good,if somewhat flat, which I put back on the screenplay. Clancy Brown asMeacham's great priest and died way too early in the film. Olivia Wildewould have earned more than eye candy as a writer Compliant take part.The film has no boring places, but with 123 minutes is too long to getCowboys & Aliens. The story could be told in 100 minutes as well. Thensome of the clichéd subplots could have believed it.If you take a deep breath through and pushes aside all expectations,offering Cowboys & Aliens 2 hours dense Wild West entertainment withextra fun by aliens.6,5 / 10 points

collipal-1

17 May 2012

A tedious experience

Some months ago, I read the graphic novel Cowboys & Aliens...and ithonestly bored me to tears. Leaving the innovative concept described onthe title aside, the story only offers hollow characters, sci-ficlichés badly combined with western clichés, and an excessively lighttone which does not make any justice to the potential from thatcombination of genres. Paradoxically, that disappointment improved myexpectations for the film Cowboys & Aliens. After all, Hollywood tendsto change the novels it adapts pretty much, and I thought that some"expert" screenwriters would fix the many fails from the story. Andeven though Cowboys & Aliens improved a few elements from the book, italso preserved the characters without any substance, the arbitrarynarrative and the inconsistent behavior from the aliens.The idea of brave cowboys facing an alien invasion is interesting, butI think it works better as a concept than as an execution. The crashbetween advanced extraterrestrial technology and primitive weapons from19th century would lead to an unilateral massacre which would make thefilm to conclude in its first 10 minutes; so, it is necessary to findthe way to give the advantage to the cowboys so that the battle is morecredible and there is suspense about who the winner will be.Unfortunately, co-screenwriters Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, DamonLindelof, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby did not find a logical way tosolve the problem, and as a consequence, they employ many traps,excessive inconsistencies and absolutely ridiculous notions in order togive the cowboys the opportunity to defend themselves from theinvaders. Without deepening too much in order not to get into thespoilers field, I will mention that, despite their technology anddestructive potential, the favorite method of combat from the aliensis...body-to-body fights. And besides, their vulnerability changesaccording to the screenplay's convenience; when the presence ofsuspense is necessary, the aliens are practically indestructible; butwhenever the movie decides to introduce a "cool" scene, it is easy tokill them with just one shot, an Indian spear, or a small knife.And because of that, the movie constantly "pulled me out" with itscoincidences and forced narrative short-cuts. On the positive side, thespecial effects created by Industrial Light & Magic are competent. Asfor the human element, Harrison Ford brings an adequate performance,while on the other side of the coin, Daniel Craig feels bland andantipathetic as the anti-hero. By the way, I am going to propose anhypothesis; Sam Rockwell and Clancy Brown interpret two supportingroles in this film, but they are too short and inconsequential;however, I think Cowboys & Aliens would have been a better movie withthat duet in the leading roles; Rockwell is one of the bestcontemporary actors, and he has more cowboy "looks" than Craig;besides, his less athletic physique would make the challenges thecharacter faces more interesting. As for Brown, he would have beenabsolutely perfect as the cacique from the village. Sure, none of themwould have attracted as much spectators as Craig and Ford, butanyway...I am sure this movie would have been better if that fantasywas true.In conclusion, I cannot recommend Cowboys & Aliens, because I found itinsipid, irritating, and the worst thing of all, boring. Instead ofwasting your time with this film, I recommend you three veryentertaining "western/fantasy" hybrids: The Burrowers (cowboys againstsubway humanoids -which also includes Brown in the cast!-), Dead Birds(cowboys against ghosts) and Tremors (modern cowboys against crawling"graboids"). Cowboys & Aliens might surpass them in budget, but it isnot even remotely to their levels of ingenuity and amusement.

leonmanso77

17 May 2012

Great Popcorn Fun for Summer Flick

I like Daniel Craig. I like Harrison Ford. I like action movies. I likeCowboy movies. I like Sci-Fie movies. So I like this movie.At first the protagonist was not a likable character he started as ananti-hero and so I thought I was going to be disappointed. I alsodidn't like how Harrison Ford's character started out as being a personthat was not likable. But there was plenty of character developmentbetween both of the characters throughout the movie, and the words ofthe Preacher, I think, when he said, 'I've known bad people who havedone good things, and good people who have done bad things' seem to bealmost foreshadowing the development of the protagonist. Because hestarts out as a selfish hothead. He changes though, and the shockingevents that he is thrown in, fighting against the aliens, with an enemyof his, played by Harrison Ford, seems to change both of them for thebetter. And we see that these two supposedly despicable people havegood in them.I don't know what all the fuss about this being a bad movie is about. Ireally enjoyed this movie. A great fun action movie for the summer. Ithas a decent plot, good directing, good acting, and a satisfyingending.

poe426

16 May 2012

Gold rustlers from outer space...

With a haggard Harrison Ford settling into his "crotchety curmudgeon"phase (his character comes across not unlike John Wayne's character inTHE SEARCHERS, only with the kind of sappy sentimentalism we find inmost of the Hollywood product these days), COWBOYS & ALIENS could'vebeen titled COWBOYS & INDIANS & ALIENS. Not that it matters; I'm justsaying, you know...? The storyline is by-the-numbers familiar (ain'tnothing' like some clichés to keep the cowboy fans happy), despite theintrusion of the uppity extraterrestrials. (I found it more than alittle odd that, at no point in the movie, did any of the maincharacters look around and question just who or what these eetees were.They were just some kinda flyin' varmits or airborne cattle rustlers tothese cowpokes...) While you're at it, Hollywood (and while you'reapparently itchin' to tell some supernatural western tales), why not goback to THE GHOST RIDER- the original, who was a cowboy. Giddyup.

13 May 2012

Loved It

This film is clearly not everyone's cup of tea. Despite the rating(6'ish is usually sufficient to put me off a film) my youngest, 11, andI went to see this on a wet August Saturday afternoon. We came outsmiling, high fiving, recounting our favourite bits . The film hastwists and scary moments and a good old hero versus villain storyline. The story makes complete sense from beginning to end. Daniel Craigdoing what he does best - being tough. Harrison Ford - well he is HanSolo and Indiana Jones, and Olivia Wilde is gorgeous. The rest of thecast do a fine job as well. The direction is unexpected insofar as youexpect Ironman but its not so slick and modern. It seems to be aged andis better for it. Clever.Having read some of the reviews I wonder if people expect too much fromfilms. 3D, Inception, CGI. All good in their place but they are nosubstitute for a good story, with some good action, some scary momentsand a little bit of love.Having seen Harry Potter and Planet of the Apes recently I would putthis on a par with them, if not better. If I had to choose one of themto buy on DVD it would be Cowboys and Aliens.

peter-stewart866

13 May 2012

Not the best of ether genre

Put simply this film isn't great but it isn't bad by no means. theacting is good apart from the little kid from the last air bender whois just as cardboard as he was in that film leaving me shocked as towhy he was cast in this film since a rock shaped like a boy could actbetter. My main fault with this film is that there is just not enoughexplanation for anything that happens i would love it if there was justmore of an explanation for the whole plot and i mean this film is notshort by any means but it really doesn't put any effort into developingthe characters or plot. On a good side this film is just a betteraction adventure than most of the crap that has come out this summer soif you've got some free time why it is the biggest waste of time to goand watch as long as you know it is not the best watch ether.

13 May 2012

Fun and cliche at the same time.

It's strange how a movie about cowboys and aliens can be both original and a bit cliche at the same time. Don't get me wrong, I loved the movie, but the human drama in between alien attacks is old fashioned and familiar. Example? Gruff, stubborn rancher Harrison Ford distrusts Indians, but later has to save the Indian chief in the heat of battle, and the two make eye contact and nod to each other out of respect. As a fan of westerns, i've seen that moment countless times before in other movies. Still, its all in good fun and very well produced. Daniel Craig makes a great cowboy and Harrison Ford was excellent. I bought it before seeing the film, based on the premise, and i was not disappointed.

phd_travel

12 May 2012

Not great but not that bad.

I kind of enjoyed it. Plus points: Olivia Wilde is quite bewitching.Daniel Craig is an alright strong silent type. First of all you get alot of different things, cowboys & Indians and aliens. You don't reallyget bored because it's like a large spread buffet. After the recentrather serious Westerns like True Grit there isn't much more they cando with the genre without going in another direction. It's not tooviolent and doesn't rely too much on CGI. Jon Favreau's direction is abit more lucid than Ironman. Minus points: Harrison Ford looks a bit stiff, getting a bit old forthe genre. The alien vs human combat is a bit Starship Troopers ie abit deja vu. There isn't enough humor. Although there is some tensionin some scenes, you don't get too involved with any of the cast ofcharacters.Overall: You get a half Western, half alien movie. Although neither isgreat on its own the combination keeps things from getting boring.

mtrahan97

12 May 2012

Meh. Needs more fun. (My Grade: C ; Don't see it)

Keep in mind that I am entitled to my own opinion.(Contains major spoilers even though you shouldn't see the movie)Rarely have I been so disappointed of a movie. Why? Faverau has madetwo of Marvel's best movies, and two decent children's movies (haven'tseen Made). I like his kinetic directing style, and I wanted to seethat carry over to a fun cross-genre movie. Imagine my anger when NONEOF IT was present in a film with a big budget and an all star cast.Instead of going into great detail about every plot hole, everyperformance, every special effect shot, I just want to get out myoverall impression.I like this concept, I really do. This could've been great, if handledwith the right level of humor. Yes, there were some chuckle moments,but this movie otherwise was humorless with very little joy behind it.It is like they are taking a movie about cowboys riding on horses andshooting UFOs... seriously. I'm sorry but this concept needs to betaken in some way tongue-in-cheek. It has to. It is a failureotherwise.I also didn't care about anyone in this movie. That's weird too,because everyone except for Paul Dano was decent (Paul Dano was justtoo over-the-top for my taste. It worked in There Will Be Bloodwonderfully, but here he just didn't do it for me). I don't know why Ididn't care and if I should blame Faverau or the screenwriters, but itis what it is.Also, besides the concept, there was nothing original here. It was alljust cliché and uninteresting. However, I will admit that I thought themovie started off strong (even though I've seen this sort of amnesiapremise a million times in movies like Dark City). In fact I thoughtthe first half of the movie was decent. Not great, but at B level. Butby the time they meet the Indians and we learn the TWIST that OliviaWylde is an alien, I realized that the movie was getting tiresome andcliché. So my mind shut off... and then I got bored...andthen...zzzzzzzz...(End of spoilers)I want to say that this is not a bad movie. You could do much worsewith your two hours. But you could also do better. And overall, eventhough the concept is fun, the movie isn't and isn't worth your time ormoney. However I will be generous and say this is a nice airplanemovie. Otherwise, this is by far Jon's worst movie (that I've seen).Not recommended.Oh yeah, the ending was anti-climatic.

11 May 2012

the best cowboys meets aliens movie ever

i am looking forward to buying the dvd and watching at it as many times as i can, i cannot wait until it is out. wow!

mjtastic

09 May 2012

Pure Summer Movie Fun

I saw this movie the weekend it came out and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Idon't know what people were expecting but the movie was called "Cowboysand Aliens." I saw cowboys and then aliens. Daniel Craig is reallytrying to make a name for himself outside of the Bond films.I really think he's going to have the best post Bond career becausehe's such a great actor. His accent was on point and he picks up whereCling Eastwood left off with "the man with no name" type of character.Harrison Ford was effective as his nemesis but he tends to be grouchyin several of his films as of late.Olivia Wilde was OK, any number of actresses could've played that part.Jon Favreau, who I loved directing the Iron Man movies is trying to dosomething different and I applaud him for trying. The special effectsare amazing. The aliens remind you of the creatures in Predator orAlien. This movie has potential to be a great TV show. Overall justsilly Saturday afternoon fun.

09 May 2012

A fun movie with a cool premise.

This review is from: Cowboys & Aliens (Extended Version) (Amazon Instant Video) This is a fun movie with a cool premise....basically, aliens are attacking and stealing people in the old west. It falls on a posse of cowboys to try and track the aliens down to recover their loved ones and find out why the aliens are here and doing what they are doing. Daniel Craig makes a great hard-bitten cowboy. He is both a good guy and a hardened criminal, although he is also amnesiac, and wakes to find a strange bracer attached to his wrist. As seen in the commercials, the bracer is a piece of alien technology and a powerful weapon. Harrison Ford plays an ex-Colonel, and is also a hard-a^%. They essentially represent two factions forced to team up to track the aliens. Add Olivia Wilde, who is classically beautiful as always, and a bunch of other recognizable actors, and you end up with a pretty good cast.The story itself has some highs and lows. Some points of the plotline are a little hard to swallow, even with the fantastic nature of the movie. However, the development is paced well, and the fun outweighs the flaws. They even mix in some social messages regarding racism and greed into the equation. The aliens are pretty cool looking and the desert settings are really stunning at times.This was a good movie overall. It isnt very cerebral, but if you enjoy an action film with a little meat to the story, i think you will enjoy this. If you are highly critical of any movie that isnt Shawshank or some such, you should probably stay clear of this one.Enjoy!

Alex Somethingorother

08 May 2012

A very special movie

And I mean special as in special education. When you read a title likeCowboys and Aliens you just know it's gonna end badly. However, theactual movie is not as bad as the title - it's a lot worse. The onlypositive thing I can say about this movie is that it builds the immunesystem, much like a disease. Throwing your money out the window orgiving it to charity would be a far better investment of both your timeand money. When people start calling no talent bums like Daniel Craigand Olivia Wilde actors it's like an invitation to steal. Please, ifyou absolutely have to cast a chick, at least cast one that is easy onthe eyes. I didn't even realize Harrison Ford was in this movie until Iread the cast list. Well, I can't be expected to recognize every oldgeezer. I thought Harrison Ford has been dead for years - wait, thatwas his career! But the most disgusting part is the writing. It's notjust Sci-Fi Channel bad, but downright retarded, like it's been writtenby a monkey with a typewriter, or a politician. I'm not talking aboutminor inconsistencies or plot holes. This flick is full of scenes thatmake no sense whatsoever.Scenes like the following:- why would this alien take off his weapon and put it right next toCraig, who wasn't even sedated? I guess the alien didn't expect Craigto resist anal probing.- Craig, totally disoriented, manages to evade dozens of aliens andkeeps pretty much the most powerful weapon of theirs. And this weaponis pretty neat: anyone can use it, it has no safety switch, doesn'tneed batteries (so even women can use it, I guess), it warns when otheraliens are nearby (but apparently cannot be detected itself) and candisintegrate a big-ass spaceship..... except it's a bracelet. Guess thealiens come from a planet that's big on Show Tunes...- of all the possible reasons like colonization, extermination andslavery the writers picked the dumbest idea I can think of why thealiens came. They came for the gold. Not some rare element that existsonly on Earth, or water or even oil. That is beyond lame. - why would the aliens abduct those humans? They were not used asslaves or food, just hooked up to some green light floating above themand staring at it like zombies (alien version of television?). Wildesaid the humans were abducted so the aliens could learn theirweaknesses (through invasive medical procedures). Except the aliensseem physically superior to humans. Combine that with weapons that canblow up a mountain and you don't need medical experiments, just ageneral idea on which continent your enemy is.- Wilde's character, Ella (yeah, that's an alien sounding name) claimsshe is the only survivor of a civilization that was destroyed by thealiens and she came to warn humanity (the only time I buy the solesurvivor crap is in Mass Effect). So she traveled from some unknownplanet in an unknown galaxy by unknown means. Yet she doesn't warnanybody, just uses the humans to take revenge on the aliens by blowingup their ship.- Wilde dies in Craig's arms shortly after being mistaken for an organdonor by a crashed alien (I'd like to see Craig carry her for real afew miles. Hope the poor guy didn't sprain his back). Back at the campthe posse gets captured by Indians and taken to their village. As soonas they arrive, some Indian tosses the cadaver into the camp fire. Whatthe hell? Their women were probably cooking dinner over that fire justminutes ago! Or did they keep it burning in case they happen to find acorpse? Did Indians even do that? I mean they're Indians, not Vikings.Why would Indians drag the body of a dead white chick to their villageand then cremate it? Next thing you know there's a lot of CGI, I meanflames, Wilde takes human form but clothes are evidently not part ofthe deal (don't worry, you won't go blind or anything, it's just herback).- the aliens mastered spaceflight yet they avoid daylight and makealmost no use of their technology. Their ship has no sensors inside oroutside, no security cameras, no guards, not even a freaking window.The humans had to blow up half their ship so the aliens would noticethem.In conclusion: don't watch this train wreck - unless you're a gluttonfor punishment and have eaten at least half an hour before the moviestarts.P.S.: you might wanna take a bag (preferably plastic, paper soaksthrough) with you, nothing too fancy, just big enough for, say, yourstomach contents. And maybe a friend if you have long hair...

08 May 2012

Cowboys & Aliens

This review is from: Cowboys & Aliens (Blu-ray+DVD+Digital Copy in Blu-ray Packaging) (Blu-ray) My wife and I saw this movie in the theater and it was really good. There is a lot of action and the pairing of Harrison with Craig was inovated to say the least. They worked well together and pulled off a great movie. I ordered the blue ray set for us to watch again. We would highly recommend this film as it was fun to watch.