Customer Reviews
EVERY INCH THE CLASSIC WESTERN............... - By: L. Hay, 30 Jul 2008 
How can I say anything bad about the Duke? This movie from the Howard Hawks stable is the classic John Wayne effort. Ex-army Wayne goes to the rescue of a smalll town run by crooked lawmen.
Perhaps not as good as some of his other movies, it is nevertheless not a disappointment. The Duke is as hard-drinking & hard-hitting as always & is ably assisted by a first class Jack Elam & Jorge Rivero.
I withheld the fifth star, because I could not tell the girls apart & thought one would have been adequate. They were so perfectly groomed with modern eye makeup, they were totallly out of place in a one-horse-town.
The opening scene of a train robbery, I thought was particularly clever.
Whilst the Cavalry was absolutely immaculate, the Rebels were a disreputable mess but bubbling over with enthusiasm. As always, I was rooting for the South.
Was the director by any chance a Yankie?
Fans of the great man will not want to miss this one.
A very good film.
Howard Hawks last film - By: websurfer, 11 Jul 2004 This 1970 western marked the end of director Howard Hawks carrer. Although this film is not as good as the previous classic Hawks westerns(Red River, Rio Bravo or El Dorado) & this one as a story line similar to Rio Bravo & El Dorado, it is a nice western one of the last made in a classic Hollywood style.
Beguining at the end of the civil war with a fantastic train robbing sequence, Rio Lobo gives Wayne one more chance to display his carisma & blow off the screen the young actors that appear in this picture.
Also with veteran Jack Elam in an amusing role that reprises the Walter Brennan caracther in Rio Bravo.
The dvd presents a nice copy of the film with mono sound & lots of subtitles but being one of Hawks & Waynes westerns & the last film of the director it should have had a documentary. Essential for Wayne/Western/Hawks fans.
