Bite the Bullet (1975)

I saw this picture for first time in 1992 with a low grade,right now seen that they made with the horses l stayed upset by such stupid suffering and cruelty,today this movie could not ever possible to be made in this way as did....Hachman who always was against any kind of violence in the movie make something about that....apart this brutality the movie has an original screenplay indeed,with nice landscape along the picture,some jokes from James Coburn and a great performance of Ben Johnson as an old man looking for glory...Candice Bergen already made a best performance in Blue Soldier that is infinitely better than this...anyway the movie is good but with will be honored by horse's blood!!

Nine hardy, adventurous individuals set out on a 700-mile endurance horse race during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, the rough rider himself. Written and directed by Richard Brooks, "Bite the Bullet" profiles the eight men and one woman, who are refreshingly less stereotypical than usual. Gene Hackman's Sam Clayton has a tough exterior, but an inner kindness and a love of animals. James Coburn as Luke Matthews is equally tough, but, with less scruples, is eager to win, even if the race has to be fixed. The impeccably beautiful Candice Bergen as Miss Jones hides an ulterior motive behind her flawless make-up. Ben Johnson as an old timer, Jan-Michael Vincent as a newbie, Ian Bannen as an English man, and Mario Arteaga as a Mexican family man with a toothache are good, but more types than characters. The cast is uniformly excellent, with the arguable exception of Bergen, who is too cool to be a former prostitute in the Old West and too refined and proper to compete in a wild horse race through mountains and deserts.And oh those mountains and deserts! The location cinematography by Harry Stradling Jr is stunning. Stradling's striking work captures all the dazzling beauty of the Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico shooting sites; the scenes filmed in White Sands National Monument are awesome, in the original sense of the word. Alex North's Oscar-nominated score is another major asset, especially when backing Stradling's scenic landscapes.Compared to Brooks's earlier western, "The Professionals," "Bite the Bullet" has less action and lower star wattage. However, Brooks focuses on character in "Bullet" and provides enough action to sustain viewer interest throughout. To his credit, Brooks does not shy away from the suffering of the horses or from the needless cruelty towards them; a news reporter covering the race rides an early motorcycle, which heralds the end of horses as the primary means of transportation and to much of their mistreatment. Although "Bullet" is a bit long and pales in comparison to "The Professionals," the film is nevertheless quite entertaining, and Brooks provides a literate script, fleshed out characters, and a decent pace. A somewhat neglected, seldom seen western from the 1970's by an award-winning writer-director, "Bit the Bullet" merits rediscovery and re-evaluation.

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.

Bite The Bullet, a most unusual western from the pen and the direction of Richard Brooks. It concerns a rather strange camaraderie that develops between the seven participants in a horse race out west.This is not a race for speed, this is a test of endurance for seven miles through the desert in the American southwest. The seven participants are Gene Hackman, James Coburn, Ben Johnson, Candice Bergen, Jan-Michael Vincent, Ian Bannen, and Mario Artaega. All these people have their own reasons for wanting the $2000.00 prize offered by the newspaper sponsoring the event. Hackman and Coburn are old friends already and Coburn's hoping Hackman will throw the race his way because he's up over his head in bets he can't pay off should he lose. Ben Johnson's an old timer just wanting to be remembered for doing something important in his life. Ian Bannen is an English Lord who thinks it's all jolly good sport. Candice Bergen is both striking a blow for women and sending money to her jailed husband. She works for madam Jean Willes when not racing. Jan-Michael Vincent is a punk kid with something to prove and Mario Artaega is just a poor guy looking for a stake to feed his family.It's about the animals as well, this is not the Kentucky Derby for a mile and a quarter. The horses have to be looked after if they make it through a rough 700 miles. They kind of bind the characters together in a strange way.Bite The Bullet is not long on plot, but very deep in characterization and it works here just like it works in the Sam Peckinpah classic, Junior Bonner. Even those that don't endure develop wellsprings of character they never thought they had. It's a good film and the ending shows something about character and friendship.