Released in 1976 and directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, "The Last Hard Men" is a Western starring Charlton Heston as Burgade, a retired law enforcement officer in Arizona, 1909. When a vicious half-breed outlaw, Provo (James Coburn), escapes from a Yuma prison with several other thugs Burgade gets back in the saddle, literally, because Provo's coming after him and his daughter (Barbara Hershey). Michael Parks plays the sheriff who initially assists Burgade while Jorge Rivero plays Provo's right hand man.This movie's an interesting cinematic study: It has all the right elements for a great Western, but it's curiously mediocre in execution. The screenplay was taken from Brian Garfield's 1971 novel "Gundown" and Garfield was on set for uncredited rewrites. If you're not familiar with him, he wrote the book that birthed the 1974 hit "Death Wish." Add to this a proved Western director and a great cast (How can you go wrong with Heston and Coburn?). Furthermore, the movie features authentic Arizona locations (where Garfield's from) with much of the story taking place in the rugged wilderness of the high country. Moreover, the film has a quality score. While Leonard Rosenman was supposed to compose an original score, it fell through and so the producers concocted a pastiche from four of Jerry Goldsmith's past compositions: "100 rifles" (1969), "Río Conchos" (1964), "Morituri" (1965) and "Stagecoach" (1966). This explains why the music sounds pleasantly familiar to those who've seen any of these movies. Lastly, this isn't a lame old-fashioned Western, it was shot in the gritty realistic style of Sam Peckinpah, one of Garfield's favorite directors, and, as such, there's a lot of wicked violence, including a rape scene.Unfortunately the movie's only decent. There are some interesting bits interspersed throughout, but the characters come across as dull and the story's strangely un-compelling (your mind frequently wanders). Burgade (Heston) and Provo (Coburn) are two prime examples of the flat characters. The former's just an uninteresting person (the express opposite of Taylor in "Planet of the Apes") while the latter comes across as a one-dimensional vengeful villain whom Ricardo Montalban probably used as a prototype for his cartoony portrayal of Khan in 1982's "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan" (which is in contrast to his fascinating portrayal of Khan in the 1966 episode "Space Seed").Garfield complained about the title of the movie on the grounds that it was originally set to be called "Burgade" (again, from his novel "Gundown") and "The Last Hard Men" sounds like a porno flick, he argued. But both "Gundown" and "Burgade" are pretty dang generic sounding to me. At least "The Last Hard Men" ties into the theme of the film, which, incidentally, was nothing new at the time in light of "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968), "The Wild Bunch" (1969), "Big Jake" (1971) and several others, not to mention "The Shootist" (1976), which came out a couple months after "The Last Hard Men." So I don't have a problem with the title. That said, I asked my wife if she wanted to see a Western and she replied "Which one?" I said, "The Last Hard Men." She responded, "Ooh baby, yes!" The film runs 98 minutes and was shot in Arizona (too many places to cite).GRADE: C

"The Last Hard Men", based on the novel "Gun Down" by Brian Garfield of "Death Wish" fame, is an effectively harsh, intense Western made in the Peckinpah style, utilizing the common Western theme of changing times and the weary veterans coming to terms with this reality.Charlton Heston displays quiet strength as former lawman Sam Burgade, whose nemesis Zach Provo (James Coburn) has escaped from a road gang with his accomplices. Provo, a half breed, is obsessed with exacting vengeance upon Burgade after a past shootout had resulted in the death of Provo's wife. As Burgade puts it, vengeance is basically all that Provo lives for now and that there would be a big hole in his life to fill without that hatred. Provo's particularly insidious plan involves the kidnapping of Burgade's daughter Susan (ever lovely Barbara Hershey), upon whom Provo will unleash his drooling degenerate pals if Burgade doesn't come to face him.Give this movie, directed by Western pro Andrew V. McLaglen, credit for going to a place not typically considered in the Western by having the outlaw gang actually force itself on poor Susan. The violence is also definite post-"The Wild Bunch" stuff with a fair bit of the red stuff flowing as the movie goes along. As would be important for any Western, the scenery is shown in all of its breathtaking glory, and the period recreation handled well. The music score by the consistently reliable Jerry Goldsmith hits all the right, rousing notes. As the climactic action plays out, it's equal parts suspenseful and exciting.Coburn oozes menace as the seething, vengeance-crazed Provo, and his gang is comprised of men such as Jorge Rivero, Thalmus Rasulala (who unfortunately doesn't get a whole lot to do), Larry Wilcox of CHiPs, Morgan Paull, John Quade, and Robert Donner. Quade is especially good as a true creep. Christopher Mitchum, son of Robert, also comes off well as the "greenhorn" who Burgade realizes he has underestimated. But the most interesting performance in the whole thing is that by Michael Parks, playing the low key, reform minded, not terribly efficient sheriff."The Last Hard Men" is good if not great, and is a suitably entertaining movie while it lasts.Seven out of 10.

"The Last Hard Men" is a typical western for the 70's. Most of them seem to be inspired by Sam Peckinpah. Also this one, but Director Andrew McLaglan is a John Ford Pupil and this can be obviously shown in many scenes. IMO the beginning is very good. In a certain way McLaglan wanted to show the audience a travel from the civilization to the wilderness. In the third part there are some illogical flaws and I complain a bit about Charlton Heston. He has to play an old ex-lawman named Sam Burgade but he is in a fantastic physical shape. I never got the feeling that he really has problems to climb on a horse or on a rock. For me he didn't looks very motivated as he usual do in most of his epic movies. Same goes to the beautiful Barbara Hershey who is playing the sheriff's daughter. Maybe both had troubles with the director or were unhappy with their roles. Hershey and Coburn are not showing their best but they are still good. If the scriptwriter had John Wayne in their mind as Sam Burgade? Also Michael Parks as modern sheriff is a bit underused in his role. On the other Hand there is James Coburn as outlaw Zach Provo. Coburn is a really great villain in this one. He is portraying the bad guy between maniac hate and cleverness. His role and his acting is the best of the movie.Landscapes and Shootouts are terrific. The shootings scenes are bloody and the violence looks realistic. Zach Provo and his gang had some gory and violent scenes. What I miss is the typical western action in the middle of the movie. I would have appreciated a bank robbery or something similar. Overall it's an entertaining western flick. Not a great movie but above the average because of a great Coburn, a very good beginning and some gory and violent scenes.

This movie's not so bad, but I went into it with really low expectations. Yes, it's violent...no big deal. The movie's flaws are many, but it's heart is in the right place in trying to play around with the concept of a traditional western. Only problem with this is that by the mid 70s when it was made, everybody was doing the same thing, with better results I might add. What I mean by that is the script and story just copy some of the innovations of other new-style westerns -- the casual violence, the moral ambiguity, etc. -- but doesn't seem to really appreciate the full import of what it's doing in terms of the narrative and the characters. So what you get is the packaging of a new-style western draped across the same old saccharine BS that westerns typically have; hence the ending, when 'hero' and 'villain' shoot each other, the villain dies, and then the hero's daughter and fiancé attend to the hero's wounds...fade and cut. So it goes. All in all, better than I would have thought, but far from good.