El Dorado, a review by Antares
El Dorado (1966)
78/100 - Sometimes a film can be just like an old coat that you've worn for years and brings such warmth that you always feel comfortable when your wearing it.
The Shootist is my favorite John Wayne movie, but
El Dorado is the film that I return to at least three or four times a year. It's jut like that comfortable old coat, in that it always entertains me and never lets me down. But just as you spot little tears and loose seams in that coat over the course of time, with repeated viewings, you start to notice flaws you never saw before in cherished films. This time, I seemed like certain musical passages in the soundtrack sounded eerily like music I'd heard in
Batman episodes on TV. And lo and behold, Nelson Riddle, who scored this film, also scored an episode of that program and the music for the Batman film made in 1966. There were a couple of moments when I was waiting for William Dozier to break in to the action with,
"Meanwhile, back at the Penguin's secret hideout"... Something else I noticed this time too, is that Ed Asner is horribly miscast as Bart Jason, the money man behind the guns in the range war. Every time he was onscreen, he reminded me of George Costanza from
Seinfeld. Another goof is having Bull say that he'll play
Marchin' through Georgia on his bugle to warn Cole and J.P. about the three gunman their trying to apprehend at the mission. Bull is obviously from the deep South with his thick Arkansas accent, so he definitely would have fought for the Confederacy. And no southern rebel would be caught dead playing a Union song on a bugle. But even with these little ticks and tremors, I still love this film. I know that I'll return to it every few months or so, probably until the day I die. It's what a western should be. Good storytelling, mixed with just the right amount of action and of course, some great looking sixties eye candy, Michele Carey and Charlene Holt...Meow!!!
Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is(From Antares' Short Summations on March 14th, 2015)
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April 21, 2018, 07:43:41 AM
