Junior Bonner

I like steve mcqueen but this was not for me. Modern rodeo movie and very slow start. I say start as I did not see all of it. Switched off after about 20 mins or so.

Junior Bonner is a truly great and frequently overlooked film in the Sam Peckinpah canon. It contians no violence, sex or bullets and is a close to contemporary John Ford movie as could've been made in 1972. It is criminal how unknown this truly great film is - arguably one of Steve McQueen's best roles and unusually in a Peckinpah movie - it features a great and truly belivable female character - played by Ida Lupino.However it is a film made in to be seen in widescreen only and this dvd is in 4:3 pan & scan ratio which utterly ruins it. DO NOT WATCH THIS VERSION!

This is quiet, sedate little movie when compared to most of Steve McQueen's other work but that is what makes it so good. it's filled with a lot of charm and substance. The dedication to the film can be seen in the work of the actors, the director and the local townspeople themselves. It even looks like Steve himself got really involved in the lifestyle as he can be clearly seen doing a lot of the stunt shots himself, unusual for a Hollywood actor of the time.

This is another of Sam Peckinpah's tributes to the 'Old West', this time he is aided by Steve McQueen and Robert Preston.

Here we see the Rodeo Show hitting JR (Jnr) Bonner's (McQueen) Home Town and of course the limping but not broken cowboy goes to look up his parents.

His father is the legendary Ace Bonner (Preston) whose run down ranch house is now in the middle of a gravel pit, being flattened by bulldozers and diggers. Ace is in the local Hospital with cuts, scratches and alcohol poisoning. JR's mother Elvira (Ida Lupino) lives in town in modest comfort, whilst his brother Curley (Joe Don Baker) and his family are doing well selling mobile homes.

The film shows how the old west, where men were men and cattle were tamed, is becoming settled and industrialised while the excitement it generated is sold as a side show.

The cast are excellent, especially Steve McQueen, who won his spurs as a Stuntman by tackling the Rodeo rough riding himself. You should see the size of that Brahman Bull!

This is another of Peckinpah's films that I had not seen for ages and the benefit of getting them out on DVD is that whilst each story is unique, you can spot the themes of masculinity, human frailty and the passing of time and the old values of yesterday.

The stunts are good, you can follow the plot as it strolls through the sunny antics of the cowboys and the girls are gorgeous.

It is a melancholy tribute to the Wild West that is no more, with such a realistic feel to it that it could almost be a documentary tribute.

Well worth the money!

this was the last film i ever saw with my father in cinema, that's it really