Watch Once Upon a Texas Train For Free

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Written and directed by Burt Kennedy, Once Upon a Texas Train stars Willie Nelson, Richard Widmark, Shaun Cassidy and Chuck Connors. Music is by Arthur Rubinstein and cinematography Ken Lamkin.A TV movie that Western fans can enjoy more for nostalgia value than anything bordering must see entertainment. Plot essentially has aged criminals led by Nelson's John Henry Lee, being pursued by aged law enforcers led by Widmark's Captain Oren Hayes. The passing of time a persistent theme as Kennedy throws in fun and sparky dialogue, narrative twists to make characters unlikely allies, while action flits in and out to off set the threat of impending boredom.Made with love no doubt, and with the likes of Jack Elam and Royal Dano joining the Western roll call cast list, it's a passable Oater for lovers of such. 5/10

This film starts off with John Henry Lee, (Willie Nelsen) trying to rob a train of its gold and he is caught by Capt. Owen Hayes, (Richard Widmark) who was an old friend of John Henry, but they had a difference of feelings over a woman named Maggie Hayes, (Angie Dickinson). John Henry is sent to prison for twenty-years and as soon as he gets out, he rounds up some of his old old time gang and is bound and determined to rob a bank and maybe another train. The film goes around and around in circles with old time actors like Nash Crawford, (Chuck Connors) and many more who all have their own story to tell, and sometimes it is very boring. The only person in this film that seemed to keep their looks was Angie Dickinson and she played a very brief role.

When I watched this movie I had no idea it followed the exploits of the characters of "The Over-the-Hill Gang", so that was a pleasant surprise, since I liked those two old corny TV movies.This entry has some pretty good dialogue, at least in the first half. Then, unfortunately, the movie bogs down and kind of drags toward a silly ending. But what the heck. Can't expect "Gone With the Wind", can we? There are a lot of errors in the movie; geographic, anachronisms, that sort of thing. But I doubt that anyone watches a movie like this expecting to find a realistic portrayal of the Old West. At the very least, it beats the heck out of watching "reality" TV.

Director Burt Kennedy took the same foursome of Texas Rangers from the Over The Hill Gang of 1969 and now has given them a new quest. Captain Richard Widmark is on the trail of Willie Nelson, an old war buddy from the Confederate Army and now a bank robber, who's back to his old tricks again. Only this time some young guns led by former teen bubble gum idol Shaun Cassidy have stolen the loot that Nelson and his gang had stolen from the gang in Del Rio.Widmark and his cronies, Chuck Connors, Jack Elam, and Stuart Whitman turn out to have a lot more in common with the old outlaws, Nelson, Dub Taylor, Ken Curtis, Royal Dano, and Gene Evans than they think.This group of old character actors were what made the movies so enjoyable back then. They had faces and identities you couldn't miss. We should all thank Burt Kennedy for assembling this whole crew for a last roundup.As Willie Nelson says they may be old, but they are professionals and that's what counts when the chips are down.There's a romantic subplot here. Widmark has always suspected his wife Angie Dickinson of having a yen for Nelson back in the day. That's a good deal of the reason he's pursuing Nelson with such vehemence.It's a treat to see all these old timers again and the film is worth seeing just to see Jack Elam trade in his horse for a bicycle to keep up with the times.