I have seen a lot of westerns in my 75 years; and BONE TOMAHAWK is the best I have seen this century, if not ever. It is CERTAINLY the best Western MOVIE since the Ron Howard/Tommy Lee Jone/Cate Blanchert masterpiece, THE MISSING, itself similar to THE SEARCHERS and BONE TOMAHAWK. That being said, I think the three best westerns of all time are actually, in ascending order, LONESOME DOVE, BROKEN TRAIL and, best of all, HELL ON WHEELS.

On its face, the remake of 3:10 TO YUMA seems like a pretty good movie. That is, until you see the original. The worst change is in the conclusion, which produces one of the most ridiculous redemptions I've ever seen on the screen.

As good as Russell Crowe is in this movie, I don't think you can hold a candle to Glenn Ford in the original. That was Ford's best performance and he had a lot of great ones. As for Christian Bale, he returns the kind of brooding character I genuinely dislike. Van Heflin did a much better job at balancing the self pity, self-interest and heroism of his character. However, Heflin was greatly aided by the original ending as well as the co-stars playing his wife and child.

If you want to see a really good, unapologetic 21st century western, I strongly recommend BONE TOMAHAWK; but only if you have a strong stomach. It features graphic scalpings, dismemberings and other things inappropriate to describe in a review. Interestingly, it starts Kurt Russell!