Clevercell
Very disappointing...
Stometer
Save your money for something good and enjoyable
BoardChiri
Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay
drjgardner
TV writer and director Burt Kennedy brought together a great collection of western actors (e.g., Henry Fonda, Warren Oates, Royal Dano, Paul Fix, Denver Pyle, Edgar Buchanan, Lon Chaney Jr.) and then wasted their talents on this heavy handed and predictable script. Even Aldo Ray as the sadistic villain fails to impress, and the climactic confrontation is one of the worst in cinematic history. What worked for Kennedy on TV (e.g., "The Lawman", "How the West Was Won") doesn't translate onto the big screen, especially the close-ups and the overly dramatic musical score. If you want a film where someone dominates a town, you'll get more out of "High Plains Drifter".
cjlong3-1
I have to give Critical Eye UK and jimakros both the prize for spot-on reviews. Each one gave us pearls of great wisdom. UK: '"Welcome to Hard Times" inadvertently delivers so much in the way of good times that it seems uncharitable to criticise.' Ji: "It seems to be trying to promote pacifism but its so stupidly done that it actually manages the complete opposite,the viewer is convinced by the end of this movie that guns and violence are absolutely necessary." I was 22 when I saw it and unprepared to appreciate unintended comedy at the time so I found it one of the most frustratingly boring experiences of my life--it actually contended with our high school's football games for top honors. Though I was and remain a pacifist, neither I nor Ghandi--take that, fedor8 you caps lock addict--would ever condone letting evil win. It's just a very bad movie.
qormi
Ranks as one of the worst westerns ever. A fat madman comes into town and starts raping and killing people. As if that weren't enough, he decides to burn down the whole town. All the male citizens of this town of around 20 people are armed. They don't have to fight the guy. They don't have to argue with the guy. They don't have to reason with him. All they have to do is shoot him. He's constantly breaking the tops off whiskey bottles and guzzling enough booze to kill a horse from alcohol poisoning. Yet his vision is perfect - he shoots straight.He jumps on and off his horse in his inebriated state. All they have to do is shoot him. He is alone. He turns around. He bends over. Shoot him. What's wrong with these people? They let him do whatever he wants. It's insane. It's as if Custer and the 7th Calvary stood around while one Indian shoots and scalps them one at a time. This is how the movie begins. Then, he rides away.The next hour is filled with commiserating, arguing, and preaching. Then, he returns and rapes, kills, and burns again. Nobody does anything until it's too late. Do not watch this movie unless you are in a hospital, comatose, and cannot use the remote control.
plorenzini-1
Well, I can't add much to what has already been written. But I would say that the best roles, for me, were those played by Lon Chaney Jr and Aldo Ray. The former, playing a barkeep, is memorable as his sole concern is protecting his whiskey and bar/prostitute business from the "gentleman" (as he calls the crazed killer). Meanwhile, Aldo, an actor of significant abilities, is memorable as well but mainly due to the fact that while being forced to sink so low to do this role, he makes it work. Playing pure and barbarous evil, what is most striking is that he says nothing in the film. All he is given to do is drink, rape, beat, kill and laugh as a man who is insane with violence of all kinds. How strange that an actor whose voice was particularly distinctive, was given a role with no lines to speak of. And how strange too that this same man would some 24 years later die of throat cancer.
