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Vera Cruz

Vera Cruz

Western · 1954

After the American Civil War, mercenaries travel to Mexico to fight in their revolution for money. The former soldier and gentleman Benjamin Trane meets the gunman and killer Joe Erin and his men, and together they are hired by the Emperor Maximillian and the Marquis Henri de Labordere to escort the Countess Marie Duvarre to the harbor of Vera Cruz.

Movie details

Vera Cruz

“The Giants Battle In The Biggest Spectacle Of Them All!”

1954 Western 1h 34m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.0 / 10

12.3K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

93 %

Tomatometer

TMDB

6.7 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

After the American Civil War, mercenaries travel to Mexico to fight in their revolution for money. The former soldier and gentleman Benjamin Trane meets the gunman and killer Joe Erin and his men, and together they are hired by the Emperor Maximillian and the Marquis Henri de Labordere to escort the Countess Marie Duvarre to the harbor of Vera Cruz.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Vera Cruz?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Ramrod

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After the Civil War, ex-Union Colonel John Henry Thomas and ex-Confederate Colonel James Langdon are leading two disparate groups of people through strife-torn Mexico. John Henry and company are bringing horses to the unpopular Mexican government for $35 a head while Langdon is leading a contingent of displaced southerners, who are looking for a new life in Mexico after losing their property to carpetbaggers. The two men are eventually forced to mend their differences in order to fight off both bandits and revolutionaries, as they try to lead their friends and kin to safety.

Return of the Gunfighter

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A gunfighter and a cowboy help a Mexican girl avenge the land-related murder of her parents.

Rancho Notorious

Rancho Notorious

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A man in search of revenge infiltrates a ranch, hidden in an inhospitable region, where its owner, Altar Keane, gives shelter to outlaws fleeing from the law in exchange for a price.

Hud

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The Horse Soldiers

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Western · 1959

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The Shooting

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Western · 1966

Two miners agree to guide a mysterious woman, who has appeared in their camp from nowhere, to a nearby town; but soon, because of her erratic behavior, they begin to suspect that her true purpose is quite different.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Robert Aldrich

Written by

James R. Webb · Roland Kibbee · Borden Chase

Gary Cooper

Gary Cooper

Benjamin Trane

Burt Lancaster

Burt Lancaster

Joe Erin

Denise Darcel

Denise Darcel

Countess Marie Duvarre

Cesar Romero

Cesar Romero

Marquis Henri de Labordere

Sara Montiel

Sara Montiel

Nina

Ernest Borgnine

Ernest Borgnine

Donnegan

Charles Bronson

Charles Bronson

Pittsburgh

Court is in session

Put Vera Cruz on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Patience is part of the point.”

Duration becomes texture. The film asks you to inhabit its world instead of merely processing its plot.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“A test of endurance, your honour.”

Stillness keeps submitting itself as meaning. At some point, contemplation needs something worth contemplating.