this hard hitting and often violent western in the peckinpah or leone tradition be surprisingly direct by andrew v. mclaglen and whose previous western ( particularly those that star john wayne ) be mainly in the john ford mode . it be both surprisingly traditional ( good guy or bad guy ) and incredible up to date as well . heston portray a former captain of the arizona territorial police who have be in retirement for a year and have turn over the law enforcement rein to a reform mind sheriff ( michael park ) and find his way of enforce the law be take over by auto and telegraph and telephone and and the railroad in the first year of the 20th century . but soon he be confront with a menace from his past a half breed outlaw ( coburn ) that he put away more than a decade before for a train robbery that kill four guard . in a subsequent shootout and coburn wife be kill while and so coburn be out for a most nasty sort of revenge . it involve the kidnapping and and eventually and the rape of heston daughter ( hershey ) by him and his gang . the result be a taut and violent pursuit through the mountain and desert of southern arizona . the last hard men and base on brian garfield novel gun down and be violent in many place and include the showdown between heston and coburn and and the rape scene involve hershey and two member of coburn gang ( quade and paull ) be probably every bit as questionable a similar scene in straw dog and deliverance . but that doesn not detract too terribly much from the film psychological approach to the western genre . mclaglen be able to handle the bloody story with significant panache and and heston performance a an age lawman be probably the best one he ever give in any of his 1970s film . coburn make for an especially cold blood heavy and and both park and chris mitchum ( a hershey intend husband ) do good turn as well . the music here be crib from jerry goldsmith score to 100 rifle and the 1966 remake of stagecoach and but it still work here . wisely film totally on location in southeastern arizona and and utilize the old tucson set and the last hard men need to be release by fox on vhs and or or dvd soon . it be a western that deserve nothing less .