Watch Big Jake For Free

The Worst Film Ever

Did you people see the same film I saw?

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara appeared together in five films over 20 years. In most of those, they co-starred as the leads. But in this final pairing of 1971, O'Hara's part is little more than a cameo. That's because it's all guys and guts after their reuniting after many years of separation, and the guys ride off into danger. The Duke plays "Big Jake" McCandles, and two estranged sons join him in his quest to save his grandson. Little Jake, whom he has never seen, was kidnapped and is being held for ransom. Apparently, Martha (O'Hara) is a rich woman and has agreed to pay the $1 million ransom. But, only Jake can be trusted to make the swap. Of course, the local sheriff and a posse with new-fangled horseless carriages think they can get to the kidnappers faster. After they are ambushed and taken out of action, Jake's sons see the wisdom of his ways and join in his quest. Surprises are in store for the kidnappers and for others as well. Wayne plays an older man - or his age, in this film (64), and so he's slowed down. Wisdom in this case encompasses taking one's time and not rushing headlong into things or places. I can identify with that. Otherwise, it's a solid Western with plenty of action. It's a good tale in the John Wayne tradition of Westerns. Among the very good supporting cast is Richard Boone as John Fair, the "brains" of the kidnappers. The Duke's son, Patrick Wayne plays his son, James, in the film. Others are Bruce Cabot, Harry Carey Jr., and Christopher Mitchum, son of actor Robert Mitchum. The film's cast is as much a family affair as is the story and their parts in it.

I'm a huge fan of John Wayne and this was the first Wayne western I saw in a theater on first release. It's a treat seeing Wayne and O'Hara again and many of the veteran character actors such as Bruce Cabot, Harry Carey, Jr. and Hank Worden that have appeared in many films with the Duke. Richard Boone also gives a marvelous performance as the vicious villain and he's the perfect foil for Wayne in the film. No one could play a slimy bad-guy like Boone. Having said all that however, this still is not a very good picture. The direction is shoddy (reportedly director Sherman was ill during the shoot and Wayne directed scenes himself), the script weak and many of the performances are sub-par (Patrick Wayne is particularly bad). Most of the humor in the film comes across as forced and some of the violence is kind of gratuitous and in bad taste. This was typical of most of Wayne's 1970's films (the exceptions are the classic "The Shootist" and the underrated "The Cowboys"), he often gave clichéd performances during this era and was mostly just going through the motions and playing his "personna." I almost gagged when I saw an earlier reviewer state that this is better than "The Searchers." Sorry - not even close. Still, it's The Duke and most of the movie is kind of fun - just don't compare it with Wayne's best Westerns. "Stagecoach," "Red River," "Rio Bravo," "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," and the aforementioned "The Searchers" and "The Shootist" are all miles ahead.

BIG JAKE is another solid western for the dependable John Wayne, here playing up his age as an old-time gunslinger drawn back into action once more when his own son is kidnapped. The film charts the progression of the Old West with the advent of new technology; I never thought I'd be watching motorbike stunts in a John Wayne movie! I loved Wayne's character in this one, as his one-liners are tougher than ever and he has lots of little neat touches, like needing his glasses to read anything and sticking to short-range weapons due to his failing sight. The rest of the story is familiar but the cast is well populated by familiar faces and the action hits home.

Several things about director George Sherman's last western shoot'em-up "Big Jake" are significant. First, this represented the last time John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara co-starred in a film. Earlier, Wayne and O'Hara made "Rio Grande" (1950), "The Quiet Man" (1952), "The Wings of Eagles" (1957), and "McLintock!" (1963). O'Hara has two scenes in "Big Jake," but she appears in only one with the Duke. Second, this was the tenth and last time Wayne and Sherman worked together. Sherman had called the shots on several strictly average "Three Mesquiteers" B-movie westerns with Wayne for Republic Studios back in the late 1930s. Reportedly, Wayne stepped in to helm some scenes when the ailing Sherman could not. Third, this oater also re-teamed Wayne with a poncho-clad Richard Boone as an unsavory main villain. Previously, they appeared together in "The Alamo" (1960) and ultimately confronted each other again in a bar room shoot-out in Wayne's final western "The Shootist" (1976). "Dirty Harry" scenarists Harry Julian Fink and Rita M. Fink penned the entertaining but formulaic screenplay about the kidnapping of a wealthy but aging cattleman's grandson. Indeed, the villains are a dastardly bunch, and they give our the heroes a difficult time. As "Big Jake," John Wayne spends most of his time riding around Mexico trying to keep himself and his two inexperienced sons alive. Although this is largely a traditional Wayne western, "Big Jake" pits the weapons and transportation of an old-fashioned western (horses, revolvers, and shotguns) against the new-fangled western where people ride in cars or on motorcycles and wield automatic weapons. Predictably, 'Big' Jake wins the day with his old-fashioned approach. Sherman does a solid job of establishing the setting of this sagebrusher and the time period with a lengthy prologue. John Fain (Richard Boone) leads a gang of murderous cutthroats who raid the McCandles ranch. This opening shoot-out qualifies as the bloodiest gunfight in a Wayne western. When bullets hit bodies, huge smears of red paint appear. Remember, the Duke objected to those exploding blood squibs in Sam Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch" and described them as "obscene." Since most of the ranch hands are away on a cattle round-up, Fain and his trigger-happy gunmen have little trouble when they start blasting away after some friendly conversation with the foreman. Without a qualm, they wound and/or kill ten men, women and children. They wound McCandles' eldest son Jeff (Bobby Vinton of "Surf Party") and kidnap his eight-year old grandson (Ethan Wayne) and then post a ransom of $1 million. 'Big' Jake McCandles' wife, Martha (Maureen O'Hara of "The Quiet Man"), summons her husband through some messengers. They meet at a railway station, and she hands him the ransom note. Jake and Martha have been estranged for almost a decade, but they both love little Jake, and 'Big Jake' vows to bring him back. Waiting for their father at the depot are sons James McCandles (real-life son Patrick Wayne of "The Alamo") and Michael (Christopher Mitchum of "Rio Lobo") and their reception is soured by James' sarcasm toward his father. James calls him "Daddy" in a snide voice, and Jake pulls him off his horse and hurls him into a mud puddle. Jake informs James in no uncertain terms: "You can call Dad, you can call me Father, you can call me Jacob and you can call me Jake. You can call me a dirty old son-of-a-bitch, but if you EVER call me Daddy again, I'll finish this fight." Jake takes custody of a huge red strongbox with a million dollars in it and rides off with his old friend Sam Sharpnose (Bruce Cabot of "King Kong") while James and Michael follow Buck and the Texas Rangers.A conventional and often predictable oater, "Big Jake" springs no real surprises. The revelation about an hour into the action that our heroes have been guarding a strong box that contains nothing but paper clippings comes as no surprise. No sooner have Buck and the Texas Rangers entered Mexico than Fain's men ambush them, kill three of them, and riddle their cars with gunfire. Meanwhile, it appears that Michael has been shot because he crashes his motorcycle and lays sprawled in the dust. Jake is more surprised than we are when his son gets back up. Naturally, this calls for Wayne to punch Michael's lights out. Jake leaves the Texas Rangers to fend for themselves while he rides off to the rendezvous with Fain. At about a hour into the plot, Jake and Fain meet in Jake's camp. Fain instructs them to go to the nearby Mexican town of Escondero and await their orders. Later that evening, gunmen try to storm room number eight where our heroes are lying in wait for them. Jake, James, and Sam leave Michael alone in the room. Jake stages a distraction so Sam can slip back into the room, while James guns down to bullies in the saloon with his automatic pistol. Not long afterward, a suspicious Pop Dawson fetches Jake and company and they ride out to meet Fain and ransom the youngster. It is a classic stand-off again when Fain and Jake confront each other with Little Jake in plain sight. Michael has ascended to the top of water tower and uses his high-powered rifle to knock out a sniper in an adjacent belfry. What started as an interesting scene degenerates into a free-for-all shoot-out without a shred of suspense. The brute with a machete manages to slash poor old Sam to death and later kills the dog. Jake throws a lantern at Fain and lights him up before he perforates him with a bullet. No sooner has Little Jake been reunited with his family than the film freeze-frames them and comes to an end."Big Jake" qualifies as an above-average Wayne effort with more blood than usual, and the Duke makes a memorable entrance that overshadows everything that follows.