UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

mike48128 Actually a 9.5 due to a bit of very minor bloodshed (a knife fight between Lucius and a 15-year old boy), some cuss words and the "N" word. Otherwise, almost "Pollyannish" but with a slightly rougher edge. (A few "adult" situations, as part of it takes place in a "whore" house!) "The Reivers" ("river pirates") is a coming of age adventure story, set in (circa) 1905 Mississippi. The three "Reivers" are Ned (Rupert Crose), Boon (Steve McQueen) and 11 year old Lucius (Mitch Vogal) Also starring Sharon Ferrell as Corrie and Will Geer as "Boss". Music by John Williams and novel narration by Burgess Meredith. Superb cinematography. Fine period locations, sets and costumes. Just beautifully done. Also one of Steve McQueen's best comedy films. "A bumpy automobile journey" by a 1905 Winton Flyer to Memphis, involving a beautiful prostitute and a "spellbinding" horse race. (Comments from the DVD cover) (The horse loves sardines!) From a great novel by William Faulker. Most enjoyable. Worth watching and worth owning. Some drama, but a lot of good humor as well. Quite "respectful" of the black actors. It portrays them as real, honest people and not stereotypes. Not suitable at all for children under 13. (See the 1st two lines of this review.) Often with "edited dialog" and a shorter knife scene for cable, which really improves the movie quite a bit for a younger audience.

edwagreen I'd like to know why the motion picture academy felt that Rupert Crosse deserved an Oscar nomination in the supporting category for this 1968 film? There was nothing to him as a black member of a Mississippi family in 1905. If anything, acting honors should have gone to Mitch Vogel, as the young boy caught up in the mayhem that pursues when Steve McQueen and Crosse persuade the young man to take to them to Memphis to a house of ill repute.The film, which is the typical coming of age movie, even for the period, tells the adventures that they encounter on their way and at Memphis.There is plenty of racism. Ruth White as the head of the brothel? Come on. She, who was so good, as Rod Steiger's first victim in "No Way to Treat a Lady," is as sexy as an old prune.Will Geer shines as an understanding grandfather,and Burgess Meredith recounts the story as the man the Vogel character was as a young boy. Vogel gave a very sensitive, restrained performance.

Tom It's hard to believe Steve McQueen turned down the roll of Sundance in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid simply because he would have been billed second behind Paul Newman. Oh the enormous egos of Hollywood. Instead, he accepted this film which is rather forgettable judging by the lack of reviews on IMDb.He constantly fought with the director, walked off the set, and even demanded the director be fired from the project. The studio refused. Ego somewhat back in check Steve finished the film.It's a simple coming of age story based on the Pulitzer prize winning novel by William Faulkner. Plenty of character actors do their best to carry the load but it's ruined by McQueen's constant overacting.A couple of highlights were the early score by John Williams and the excellent photography, but neither were enough to give this anything better than a so-so rating. Best to read the book instead.

Shooturiout For a movie that starred one of the greatest box office stars of his time, based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by one America's greatest writers, "The Reivers" has continued to be something of an answer to a trivia question ("In what movie did Steve McQueen portray a semi-comic character involving a stolen automobile and a horse race?") I'm not sure of the reasons myself, but this movie has remained at the top of my "Favorite Movies" list since I first saw it in 1969. Maybe it was the out-of-character role of McQueen. Maybe it was the excellence of his supporting cast that includes Mitch Vogel, Rupert Crosse and Will Geer. Maybe it was the direction by Mark Rydell. Or maybe it was the outstanding score by John Williams (which has remained my favorite movie score of all time). Most likely, it is a combination of all the above. All I can say is that this movie has never lost its appeal for me. Watching the movie is like visiting an old friend with whom the passage of time will only strengthen the bonds of affection. This movie may not be for everybody, but I recommend it on the chance that you may be smitten by its special charm.