Back to trending
Big Jake

Big Jake

Western · 1971

An aging Texas cattle man who has outlived his time swings into action when outlaws kidnap his grandson.

Movie details

Big Jake

“They wanted gold. They gave them lead instead!”

1971 Western 1h 50m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

An aging Texas cattle man who has outlived his time swings into action when outlaws kidnap his grandson.

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 Big Jake?

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.

The Wild Bunch

The Wild Bunch

Western · 1969

An aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is disappearing around them.

The Shadow Riders

The Shadow Riders

Western · 1982

After starring in "The Sacketts", Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott team up again but this time as Mac and Dal Traven, in a movie based on a classic Louis L'Amour novel. They are brothers, who meet up at the end of the Civil War fighting on opposite sides. They go home only to find their family in dire need and their sisters and brother kidnapped by ruthless raiders. They set out to rescue their family.

Appaloosa

Appaloosa

Drama · 2008

Two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow.

Hannie Caulder

Hannie Caulder

Drama · 1971

After she's raped by the outlaw trio who murdered her husband, a frontierswoman hires a bounty hunter to instruct her in the ways of a gun in order to exact her revenge.

Valdez Is Coming

Valdez Is Coming

Western · 1971

Old Mexican-American sheriff Bob Valdez has always been a haven of sanity in a land of madmen when it came to defending law and order. But the weapon smuggler Frank Tanner is greedy and impulsive. When Tanner provokes a shooting that causes the death of an innocent man and Valdez asks him to financially compensate the widow, Tanner refuses to do so and severely humiliates Valdez, who will do justice and avenge his honor, no matter what it takes.

Hell or High Water

Hell or High Water

Western · 2016

A divorced dad and his ex-con brother resort to a desperate scheme in order to save their family's farm in West Texas.

Jubal

Jubal

Western · 1956

Jubal Troop is a cowboy who is found in a weakened condition, without a horse. He is given shelter at Shep Horgan's large ranch, where he quickly makes an enemy in foreman Pinky, a cattleman who accuses Jubal of carrying the smell of sheep.

El Dorado

El Dorado

Western · 1966

Cole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with an old friend, Sheriff J.P. Harrah. Together with a fighter and a gambler, they help a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher that is trying to steal their water.

The Missouri Breaks

The Missouri Breaks

Western · 1976

When vigilante land baron David Braxton hangs one of the best friends of cattle rustler Tom Logan, Logan's gang decides to get even by purchasing a small farm next to Braxton's ranch. From there the rustlers begin stealing horses, using the farm as a front for their operation. Determined to stop the thefts at any cost, Braxton retains the services of eccentric sharpshooter Robert E. Lee Clayton, who begins ruthlessly taking down Logan's gang.

Joe Kidd

Joe Kidd

Western · 1972

A band of Mexicans find their U. S. land claims denied and all the records destroyed in a courthouse fire. Their leader, Louis Chama, encourages them to use force to regain their land. A wealthy landowner wanting the same decides to hire a gang of killers with Joe Kidd to track Chama.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

George Sherman

Written by

Harry Julian Fink · Rita M. Fink

John Wayne

John Wayne

Jacob McCandles

Richard Boone

Richard Boone

John Fain

Maureen O'Hara

Maureen O'Hara

Martha McCandles

Patrick Wayne

Patrick Wayne

James McCandles

Christopher Mitchum

Christopher Mitchum

Michael McCandles

Bobby Vinton

Bobby Vinton

Jeff McCandles

Bruce Cabot

Bruce Cabot

Sam Sharpnose

Court is in session

Put Big Jake 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 Popcorn Loyalist

“A test of endurance, your honour.”

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