i be go to have to disagree with the previous comment and side with maltin on this one . this be a second rate and excessively vicious western that creak and groan try to put across it central theme of the wild west be tame and kick aside by the steady march of time . it would like to be in the tradition of butch cassidy and the sundance kid and but lack that film poignancy and charm . andrew mclaglen direction be limp and and the final 30 minute or so be a real botch and with some incomprehensible strategy on the part of hero charlton heston and chris mitchum . ( someone give me a holler if you can explain to me why they set that hillside on fire . ) there be something callous about the whole treatment of the rape scene and and the woman reaction afterwards certainly do not ring true . coburn be plenty nasty a the half breed escape convict out for revenge and but all of his fellow escapee be underdeveloped ( theyre like bowl pin to be knock down one by one a the story lurch forward ) . michael park give one of his typically shifty and lethargic and mumbling performance and but in this case it be appropriate a his modern style sheriff symbolize the complacency that technological progress can bring about .