Taw Jackson (Wayne) and Lomax (Douglas) are the ultimate western bromance and set the foundations for decades of 'buddy (insert profession here)' movies that would follow. Pitted against the machinations of a greedy business man, Jackson and his gang of misfit wage war against the might of Pierce and his hired guns - not to mention a horse drawn tank that infuses the action packed adventure with a slight the steampunk element. While this film is not ground-breaking, it is without doubt one of my favourite Westerns and - I firm believe - is one of the Duke's most fun and entertaining films.

Released in 1967 and directed by Burt Kennedy, "The War Wagon" is a Western starring John Wayne and Kirk Douglas as Taw and Lomax. Taw is a recently-released prisoner who wants to get his ranch and gold back from the rich business man who framed him and now lives on his ranch, Pierce (Bruce Cabot). While Taw enlists Lomax to heist half a million in gold from Pierce's "War Wagon," an armored stage coach with a Gatling gun on top, Pierce also hires Lomax to assassinate Taw. The other members of the heist team are Howard Keel as a Native who has learned the white man's ways, Robert Walker Jr. as a young drunkard who's skilled in explosives, and Keenan Wynn as a curmudgeon who plays on both teams. Valora Noland has a small role as the babe while Joanna Barnes and Bruce Dern have glorified cameos. People say this is a Western Comedy, but that's just not the case. It has the same general tone as Wayne Westerns like 1967's "El Dorado," 1971's "Big Jake" and 1973's "The Train Robbers." Sure there are a couple amusing moments, like those other Wayne flicks, but it's generally a serious Western. Anyway, if you liked those movies you'll like this one too; it's about on par, although everyone has their favorites ("El Dorado" is the best, IMHO, followed by "The Train Robbers," although "The War Wagon" is marginally better than "Big Jake"). Wayne was 59 while filming in 1966 and still looked good, all things considered; he fits the role of a likable, but intimidating, take-no-sheet Westerner. Douglas was 50 during filming and was in tip-top shape, even performing many of his own nigh-acrobatic stunts. His smiling charisma is palpable. Highlights include the breathtaking Mexican Southwest vistas, the camaraderie of the two stars, several quality action sequences, Keel's interesting take on a Native American who's assimilated into civilized culture and the suspense build-up to the heist of the so-called War Wagon. The film runs 96 minutes and shot in Durango & Zacatecas, Mexico, and Universal City, California.GRADE: B

. . . for ripping off a key aspect of a great Western, then trying to "dumb it down" to what he feels is the intelligence level of his target audience, and winding up with a weak stew more paltry than the sum of its parts. Wayne collaborated most infamously and overtly along these lines with director Howard Hawks, in "Batjacking" (his trademark term for "hijacking") Gary Cooper's Classic HIGH NOON into the thin broth of RIO BRAVO. Since THE WAR WAGON is directed by an even lesser never-was (Burt Kennedy), its attempt to steal story lines from John Huston and Humphrey Bogart's masterpiece--THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE--is more pitiable than offensive. John Wayne's personal Real Life credo is spelled out twice in THE WAR WAGON. Kiowa "Levi Walking Bear" summarizes it as, "Grab all you can, any time you can." Earlier, in the opening WAR WAGON ballad, Ed Ames sings, "But, wrong or right, I have to fight." Wayne's characters often were wrong in his flicks (such as his "Davy Crockett" murdering scores of Mexican law enforcement officials battling to keep him and his henchmen from RE-ENSLAVING the free Black People of Texas Province), and "Il Duce" himself was wrong 99% of the time in Real Life, especially as he wreaked havoc in the 1940s and 1950s as America's self-appointed Snitch-in-Chief. (The production notes for the 2003 DVD release of THE WAR WAGON reveal that during this Durango shoot Kirk Douglas courageously tried to nip the political career of turncoat Democrat\Assistant Snitch Ronald Reagan ON HIS OWN TIME, but then Wayne put WAR WAGON over budget by rushing from Mexico to L.A. ON ONE OF HIS SCHEDULED SHOOTING DAYS to undo Kirk's Good Deed!) Many of Hitler's generals bought into Davy Crockett and WAR WAGON's philosophy of "Wrong or right, I have to fight." Do you?

Mr Douglas was clearly determined to prove that he had lost little of the athleticism he had shown a decade or so earlier in "The Vikings" as he invents more and more imaginative ways to get on his horse.Just about the only approach he doesn't make is from underneath it.Probably if it had had oars he would have run along them. His silk shirt is a tad tight but he dispenses with that at the drop of a hat and bares his chest,grinning ferociously.He wears his ring outside his leather glove,a trait I find rather disturbing in a family Western. As a gunfighter who had previously failed to kill the Duke one might think his days were numbered,but Mr Wayne believes in keeping his friends close and his enemies closer so he hires him and some rather disparate companions to rob a security waggon and recover the ranch he was cheated out of whilst in prison. "The War Waggon" is a fast - moving enjoyable outing for Wayne and Douglas with a little help from Mr H.Keel who wears a wig and talks in a funny voice,pretending to be an Indian.Not,perhaps,his most enduring role, Mr Robert Walker jr and Mr Keenan Wynn make up Wayne's firm and add their particular talents to the mix. The celebrated Mr Bruce Cabot is the uber villain who gets his in the end. Nothing in the least bit surprising happens - and that's half the movie's charm. If you enjoy Kirk and the Duke doing their familiar thing and having fun whilst doing it then I can recommend watching it.