Curapedi
I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
AnhartLinkin
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
Benedito Dias Rodrigues
Noir western on a fear atmosphere of shadow of ruthelessness against the weakest in name of foolish revenge those didn't has nothing with,psychological plot where shown where can take a group of young men strong together,but didn't nothing if was alone.....B wersten which was the last one of Chander in this genre,the young actor Ray Stricklyn as Jeb gang's leader was nominatet by Golden Globe awards as best supporting actor.....look at the old drunk man who came together the gang,a interesting character and how he had behavoir changes aftewards!!Resume:First watch: 2018 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD-R / Rating: 7
greenheart
There is an underlying tension running through this movie from the first frame. Relationship tension between the residents, tension between the group of strangers and tension between the strangers and residents. I'd have liked to of seen 5 minutes at the beginning of the movie showing what the 4 strangers had been up to prior to them arriving at the town, it was briefly mentioned in the text but not in sufficient detail for me and I couldn't help wondering why they were sticking around as only 2 people in the entire town seemed to be under the age of 50. Jeff Chandler as the hero with only one working arm smoldered his way through the movie and although very watchable, never seemed to get out of second gear. Some nice use of angles by the director and a couple of very effective lighting shots particularly one with a swinging lamp in the bedroom. It was 75 minutes of waiting for the inevitable showdown but was still extremely watchable.
bkoganbing
As a player Jeff Chandler had several westerns to his credit most notably Broken Arrow where he got an Academy Award nomination. His last film in the western genre is The Plunderers where he's cast as a crippled Civil War veteran who is forced to lead his town of Trail's End in taking a stand against four juvenile toughs.Some people are born leaders and like it or not in tough situations the job falls to them. John Saxon, Dee Pollock, Ray Stricklyn and Roger Torrey all come to town and start essentially pushing people around. They beat up bartender James Westerfield and later shoot down sheriff Jay C. Flippen who is a tired old man who should have retired from that job long ago. Flippen is symbolic himself of this post Civil War Texas town.Chandler is a former cavalry leader in the Civil War and he's like Lucas McCain in The Rifleman, the one in the town the people look up to in a moment of crisis. He's as tired as any of the rest of them and just wishes they would ride away, but when that doesn't happen despite his physical limitations Chandler steps to the plate.There is a lot of criticism of The Plunderers with some saying this is just a modern juvenile delinquent story set in the west. That maybe so, but what was Billy the Kid for instance if not a most murderous juvenile delinquent. This film is a harbinger of the Young Guns films or the Lee Marvin classic, The Spikes Gang. The only difference is that the punks aren't glamorized here. I swear all that was needed was for Sal Mineo to be cast as one of the punks.The Plunderers was done for Allied Artists which we know was formerly Mongram Pictures. Back in their day they did their share of B westerns and the sets were used most notably for The Cisco Kid movies. The Plunderers is a great deal above the quality of those horse operas and it's one of Jeff Chandler's better latter day films.
Sleepy-17
Better-than-usual western has interesting premise: Four young cowboy-hoodlums take over a sleepy town population 50. The whole thing looks and feels like a Twilight Zone episode (black and white) without the fantasy. Two gorgeous women, Delores Hart and Marsha Hunt; a fair performance from Jeff Chandler; and vivid portrayals by the relatively unknown youngsters including a promising one by John Saxon. Sleazy early 60's B-Movie fun of the Juvenile Delinquent genre.
