Bardlerx Strictly average movie

Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Ron Yearwood This is a great and fun old western. She's awesome and The Duke is at his late career best as Rooster Cogburn. It's not a comedy but there's lots of laughs in this one. Some very cute scenes between the two of them and also a fun adventure to boot.

Michael_Elliott Rooster Cogburn (1975)** 1/2 (out of 4)After being fired for violent conduct, Marshall Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne) is asked by Judge Parker (John McIntire) to track down a gang who stole some explosives in order to rob a bank. Cogburn heads out and runs into missionary Eula (Katharine Hepburn) whose father was killed by the gang. She demands to go with Cogburn and the two head out for revenge.ROOSTER COGBURN isn't the best movie out there but it's certainly entertaining enough thanks in large part to its two legendary stars as well as some nice supporting performances. I really can't blame the filmmakers for bringing Wayne back in his Oscar-winning role from TRUE GRIT but I do question why they also seemed to want to remake THE African QUEEN since Hepburn is playing the same type of role and the two films share some other connections.With all of that said, this here is the basic type of Western that you'd expect to see Wayne doing. He plays that lovable, tough-as-nails character who does things his way and usually that means killing off the bad guys. I must admit that I wasn't crazy for Hepburns's role here but there's no question that she's good in it and the two stars have some nice chemistry. The two of them work extremely well together and have some nice back-and-forth as they throw insults and quotes off one another.The film benefits from having some nice action as well including the finale, which I won't spoil but there's some nice tension as well as some loud action. The cinematography is quite good and technically speaking this is a well-made film. Still, I just wish something more had been done with the story and I think the attempt at remaking THE African QUEEN didn't help matters. Still, it's Wayne and Hepburn and that's worth watching.

Wuchak Released in 1975, "Rooster Cogburn" stars John Wayne as hard-drinking, but formidable Marshal Rooster Cogburn, who reluctantly teams-up with a missionary, Eula Goodnight (Katharine Hepburn), and a Native orphan, Wolf (Richard Romancito), to take down a band of ruthless outlaws who stole a wagon of nitro and guns in the Oregon wilderness. Richard Jordan plays the hardened leader of the owlhoots, who is assisted by a man that used to work for Cogburn (Anthony Zerbe). John McIntire has a small role as a judge.I've been wanting to see this movie for years, but never got around to it till now. I was a little apprehensive as I heard it was seriously flawed, but was pleasantly surprised by how good it is. In fact, it won a spot on my favorite Westerns list.Let's first consider the nitpicky criticisms. One critic complained that a Gatling gun pops up out of nowhere when the protagonists are cornered, but Cogburn explained to Eula earlier at the Native Mission that there were guns in the wagon that the outlaws stole, along with nitro. Thus when they're later camping out (after confiscating the wagon) Rooster pulls out the Gatling gun in case the gang shows up. Where's the beef? Another complaint is that the guy who plays Eula's father is only a year younger than Hepburn in real life. Who cares? He LOOKS old enough to be her father. Besides, his role is a glorified cameo and so it isn't even worth mentioning. Another criticism is that the tone is "too light," but the film has the same air as "True Grit" and Wayne's other latter-day Westerns. It's an entertaining Western mix of serious drama with intermittent spurts of violence and occasional moments of amusement. Isn't that the way real life is? This is one of the things I like about the movie, it's not one-dimensional. One last beef is that Ms. Goodnight constantly spouts platitudes and homilies and it gets old after a while, but this ties-in to her character arc: She just lost her father and many Native friends and so when she meets Rooster she's grim and intent on justice. But, as she & Wolf get to know the Marshal, she increasingly lets her hair down, so to speak. Speaking of which, the highlight of the movie is the relationship that develops between Cogburn and Eula, as well the father/son rapport that grows between Cogburn and Wolf. They develop into a family of sorts and it's heartwarming. The banter between Rooster and Ms. Goodnight is well-written and consistently amusing, particularly if you're familiar with the Bible. Another highlight is the Oregon locations, some of which are spectacular, like the river canyon in the final act. Not many Westerns were/are shot in Oregon and this makes for a unique Western ambiance. This isn't to say that the movie is without flaws, however. For instance, is it likely that they would handle the nitro as seemingly careless as observed in the movie? Would any sane person cart boxes of nitro on a raft going down a river with a section containing serious rapids? It would be suicidal. But movies often amp-up things like this to make the characters and events larger-than-life. In short, this ain't real life; it's a MOVIE meant to entertain (but, don't get me wrong, I prefer realism). The film runs 108 minutes and was shot in Oregon (Deschutes National Forest, Rogue River, Smith Rock State Park & Grants Pass) with a few scenes shot at Six Points Texas, Backlot, Universal Studios, California. GRADE: A-

TheLittleSongbird That does seem to be the general consensus surrounding Rooster Cogburn and I agree. The best asset of the film is easily the performances and chemistry of John Wayne and Katherine Hepburn, who are wonderful individually and together, and I was also impressed with the handsome cinematography, beautiful scenery and rousing score. There are some moments of witty and fun dialogue too.Conversely, the film is rather sluggishly directed and also the film does drag in spots. I wasn't taken with Richard Jordan, I thought he overacted to the point it was somewhat distracting. The weakest asset of Rooster Cogburn is the story, it feels very cobbled together and is clumsily told.In conclusion, it is a decent movie that could have been more. That said, Wayne and Hepburn actually prevent it from being any less than it turned out to be. 6/10 Bethany Cox