I saw this picture for first time in 1992 with a low grade,right now seen that they made with the horses l stayed upset by such stupid suffering and cruelty,today this movie could not ever possible to be made in this way as did....Hachman who always was against any kind of violence in the movie make something about that....apart this brutality the movie has an original screenplay indeed,with nice landscape along the picture,some jokes from James Coburn and a great performance of Ben Johnson as an old man looking for glory...Candice Bergen already made a best performance in Blue Soldier that is infinitely better than this...anyway the movie is good but with will be honored by horse's blood!!

Sensational Western excellently acted , marvelously photographed and well screen-written with fine eye by Richard Brooks . It deals with some aging riders as Hackman , Coburn and Ben Johnson who get chance redeem themselves along with a young gunslinger , a Brit lord , a Mexican and an ex-whore . The film was based on a real , endurance race at the turn of the century ; it was inspired by the 1908 , 700-mile cross-country horse race from Evanston , Wyoming to Denver , Colorado. It was sponsored by the Denver Post , which offered $2,500 prize money to the winner . At the beginning of the 20th century, a newspaper organizes a grueling horse race : 700 miles to run in a few days . A bunch of ex-rough riders and a gunfighter enter a horse race in the desert . The motley group of disparate adventurers are competing , among them a woman , ex-prostitute (Candice Bergen) , Miss Jones, a Mexican , an Englishman (Ian Bannen) , a young gunslinger (Jan-Michael Vincent) , an old one (Ben Johnson) and two friends , Sam Clayton (Gene Hackman , though Charles Bronson turned down the leading role) and Luke Matthews (James Coburn) . All those individualists learn to respect for each other and develop a grudging and growing friendship . An overlong and dangerous horse race is the subject of this stunning and grand adventure , an epic in every sense of word . Impressive and breathtaking ending with the finalists terminating the grueling race . Exciting , funny and well acted , especially by Gene Hackman and James Coburn as two tough , two-fisted riders . Special mention to Ben Johnson as a veteran rider in his last feat . Colorfully photographed in Technicolor and Panavison by Harry Stradling Jr in Valley of Fire State Park and its Coyote Pass and Deah Valley (Nevada), Chama, New Mexico , Lake Mead, Taos , Nevada, White Sands National Monument, Alamogordo, New Mexico . Exceptional and thrilling soundtrack by Alex North (Cleopatra, Spartacus) , now a classic score .Directed and screen-played with magnificent style by Richard Brooks . He was a fine writer/director so consistently mixed the good and average which it became impossible to know that to expect from him next . Firstly he worked regularly as a Hollywood screenwriter . After that , his initial experience of directing was one of his own screenplays called ¨Crisis¨. The Richard Brooks films that have the greatest impact are realized during the 50s and 60s as ¨Cat on a hot tin roof¨, ¨Something of value¨ , ¨Elmer Gantry¨, ¨Sweet bird of youth¨, ¨In cold blood¨ , ¨Lord Jim¨. Brooks was a writer and director of Chekhovian depth , who mastered the use of understatement, anticlimax and implied emotion . His films enjoyed lasting appeal and tended to be more serious than the usual mainstream productions . Richards formerly directed another good Western titled ¨The professionals ¨ also with various tough stars as Burt Lancaster , Lee Marvin , Jack Palance and Robert Ryan , including the same musician , Alex North , and similar outdoors . The ¨Bite the bullet¨ is an authentic must see , not to be missed for buffs of the genre . A magnificent movie , hardly noticed for its theatrical release ; however , being nowadays very well considered . Rating : Above average because of its awesome acting , dialog , score are world class.

Much to admire in Bite the Bullet, but the plot, setting, and editing are so ungainly as to undermine the overall cinematic experience.What's right about the film shouldn't be underestimated. Like a lot of 70s films, Bite the Bullet has a conscience. The representations of that conscience may make you wince, but the story treats its characters justly and insightfully. The Hackman character's recurrent decency to animals and humans creates a counter-narrative to all their suffering that bears good fruit as the story develops. The actors are all-star and well-cast--Hackman is in his prime, Coburn is best as a supporting actor, Ian Bannen was among 20c England's most likable talents, Candice Bergen looks like she looks, J-M Vincent shows good movement and range, and Ben Johnson gracefully reprises the old-timer from The Last Picture Show. The dialog and cinematography are often fine enough that individual scenes feel ravishing.Despite all these good vibes, the scenario's too big even for cinema. So many characters, stunt doubles, changes of landscape, and minutes strain attention. In the final plot-turn the soundtrack painfully echoes comedies like The Great Race while the actors go hammy. Suddenly one sees the undisciplined, indulgent, undiscriminating side of the decade. The finish-line scene appropriately comments on the race's inevitable exhaustion, but I had to fight to keep my finger off the fast-forward. Anyone not so devoted might wonder why they spent quite so much time watching or how a director might expect anyone to care about so many many people for so long.

Here's a movie with a good cast and nice looking location work but it just don't have it. Director Richard Brooks must have been a little bit tired at this stage of the game; How much better his THE PROFESSIONALS was! The horses and the rest of the action seemed to be in slow motion even during the non-slow motion scenes. This film needed to be sped-up, if anything. That horse lather sure looked awful phony to me and the obvious tire tracks in those desert tracking moments- just lazy. sloppy work. Too bad. The actors did OK, but I've certainly seen all of them do better. Ben Johnson's always a joy, though. I first saw this flick almost 30 years ago; was disappointed then and remained so upon second viewing 30 years later.