6 Guns (2010)

Judging by the cast list, this looks like it was very much a family affair, with Barry Van Dyke in the lead role as bounty hunter Frank Allison, and his sons Shane and Carey portraying members of outlaw Lee Horn's (Geoff Meed) gang, Chris and Joe Beall. Financing for the movie was provided by Frank's dad, Dick Van Dyke, which had me searching my memory to recall if he ever appeared in a Western himself. Possibly one of the few big name celebrities who haven't done so.I didn't know anything about the production company, The Asylum, going in, and from reading other viewer comments it appears it's a cheapie film outfit that's had it's share of hits and misses. I didn't think this one was too bad, though it's routinely formulaic and pretty much a by the book Western effort. Sage Mears, who has the revenge seeking female role as Selina Stevens, has a look that one has to consider whether she's attractive or not, sort of like Sondra Locke in any number of her roles. For the most part I'd say she's pleasing to the eye, but not very credible as a female gunslinger, though I don't think that's the impression the director was trying to achieve. What she needed to do was pick up the gun and fire it straight ahead at a live target, which she managed to do successfully a couple times when it came time for the final showdownI did have to wince during a conversation Frank Allison had with Sheriff Barr (Greg Evigan) when they were discussing a location bordered by the Gila Trail. Both men pronounced the word as 'guy-la' instead of 'hee-la', as in Gila Monster. That was just such a bad pronunciation I had to laugh to myself. I mean, how could they get that one wrong in a Western.And speaking of Evigan's character, he was just such a wuss of a sheriff I didn't mind it too much when the bad boys mocked him before taking him out. That pretty much cut down the odds against Allison as five against one, let's say two if you count the inexperienced Selina Stevens. Allison had a good point about her being married to a former lawman and not knowing how to use a gun. Considering that Will Stevens (Brian Wimmer) didn't make much of a stand against Horn and his henchmen, I guess that wasn't a surprise. Fortunately, an element that didn't show up here was a clichéd romance between the embittered Selina and her gun slinging mentor, that would have made the story a lot harder to take.

I'm not very far in, and I'm not sure I'll make it to the end, but it's pretty obvious that this movie is Hannie Caulder except that they gave the woman two kids that also were killed. She'll learn to shoot by befriending a bounty hunter and then track down the killers. Minus the acting of Raquel Welch, Robert Culp, Ernest Borgnine, and Christopher Lee. Just a shame that the entire script was heisted without mentioning the original. Just go watch Hannie Caulder. Not to say the original was perfect either, clearly she got really lucky at several turns. But luck happens. The camera work is a little better in this version, but that's about it. It feels like they tried to add in some different scenes - you could try to show more in-depth conversations with the killers.

A through and through western revenge drama. Being filmed in 2010 do we expect more than we do from a classic like Hang 'Em High? Yes we do, and the film is lacking Clint Eastwood. Nonetheless taken at face value it's an hour and 30 minutes of overwrought entertainment. The woman protagonist who's family has been murdered, of course learns gun craft in less than the time it takes to bake a cake. Nice 20th century coins in the poker scene, BTW. The sheriff is a decent actor and gives the movie a bit of character, the bounty hunter is a stern father figure but is reaching. Almost all else is stilted and seems forced to a greater or lesser extent. Anyway, "bottles don't shoot back"..

Sage Mears is a very attractive actress. One would think she might get better roles. She is really the only one worth mention in this straight- to-video western. With the exception of 3:10 to Yuma, I didn't even know anyone way still making westerns, but here we are.There isn't a lot of great acting here, but how many westerns feature acting giants. It's the action you come for. There isn't a whole lot of that, either.It's a revenge movie. The bad guy (Geoff Meed) kills her husband (Brian Wimmer) and two sons and his gang rapes her. She becomes the town drunk until the bounty hunter (Barry Van Dyke) arrives in town. What happens next is not entirely believable, but it makes for a fairly good story. I can't say as much for the very end. That goes off into fantasy land.