3:10 to Yuma (1957)

It is not typical for me to like a Hollywood remake more than the original, but I would say that this is one instance where the remake is better. This western film is about cattle rancher, broke from a drought, who takes a job of escorting a captured outlaw to the town of Yuma to put him on the 3:10pm train to jail.

The remake stars: Christian Bale, Russell Crowe, and a very scary Ben Foster. If I compared the role of the outlaw Ben Wade then I would say I liked Glenn Ford in the original just as much if not more than Crowe. If I compared the rancher Dan Evans then I would say that I definitely favored Bale over Van Heflin [the guy with the bomb in Airport]. If I compared Foster's character to the one in the original... well there is no comparison... this is by far the difference between the two for me. Foster plays Charlie Prince in the remake, the #2 in gang of outlaws who is trying to stop Mr. Evans from getting Ben Wade on the train. Richard Jaeckel did nothing memorable with this role, he was a yes man and seemed weak in his role. For me this Foster's best performance to date, and has been enough reason for me to watch just about everything he is in now.

The movie is actually pretty boring, they wait on the train then get on at the last second, the remake is much more complicated and has a lot more action. It almost makes me want to give the remake an 8/10 instead of my original 7/10 after watching this. So don't watch this, watch the remake.

Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050086/

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