John Wayne is Jacob McCandles, an aging cowboy in an Old West that is on the verge of modernization. When his eight-year-old grandson is kidnapped by a violent gang led by the evil John Fain (Richard Boone), Jacob’s estranged wife (Maureen O’ Hara) enlists his help to rescue the boy. Jacob and his three sons (one of whom is portrayed by Wayne’s real-life son Patrick) set out to bring the gang to justice. This late-period Wayne western is characterized by a gritty realism not present in most of his earlier works. The surprisingly graphic violence is also tempered with abundant humor.Big Jake is not one of the Duke’s classics, but a diverting attempt nonetheless. Everyone seems to think that Jacob McCandles is six-feet under (“I thought you was dead” is a running line throughout), so some bad men kidnap his grandson. They want a piece of the family fortune and will kill to get it. Patrick Wayne, the Duke’s own son, plays one of Big Jake’s kids, and together they start out after the boy’s abductors. Richard Boone makes a worthy adversary to Jake’s larger than life figure, and the final confrontation between the two contains some great gritted-teeth dialogue. Maureen O’Hara is barely in the feature, sharing the same fate as Bobby Vinton as the boy’s father. He seems to be onscreen just to get shot. –Keith Simanton
February 5, 2006
#1
John Wayne was as great as great can be when he was working for the major directors and had a good cast around him. His turkeys were invariably cooked up by his own production company Batjac, and this is one of them. Maybe when he was paying the bills he lost his sense of proportion or movie instincts, it’s hard to tell. He certainly should have examined the script more closely: “Big Jake” doesn’t have a single convincing scene or line of dialogue throughout. Wayne was 62 when it was filmed and as an action hero cuts a preposterous figure, lumbering through stunts he was a dozen years too old to do. At least earlier in “True Grit” and later in “The Shootist” this infirmity was written into the story; here it’s ignored. The supporting cast except for Richard Boone is beneath contempt and even Boone is given some howlers to declaim. He looks positively grateful to be dead in the last scene.
February 5, 2006
#2
I think bobby vinton did a excellent job in this movie!Or as i would say Bobby vinton’s movie.To bad he wasn’t in more of it.Idon’t care for the rest of the movie it’s rather boring.Bobby made it interesting.To all you Bobby Vinton fan’s it’s worth watching his part’s.Otherwise it’s a waste of time.Bobby Vinton is a excellent actor too.I’m very happy John Wayne asked Bobby to be in it,bobby is also in John wayne’s movie (bobby’s movie)the train robbers.gotta watch it.
February 5, 2006
#3
I’m a big fan of John Wayne and his movies. If you’ve never seen this movie, it’s worth a watch but that’s about it. I think it’s one of his weaker westerns. The premise is good but the writing and acting are not. I liked the juxtaposition of Big Jake’s old world, tried and true methods against his 2 younger sons embrace of new technology. Good start but the casting and acting very poor. First having Bruce Cabot playing an Indian is down right stupid. Why not get an Indian actor to play this part? Second, Big Jakes’ 2 sons continue to act very adolescent, as if they’re out on their first camping trip. I think they’re both a little to ripe (30 years old?) to be playing such goofy people. I think Big Jake would have to seriously consider that Ms Big Jake might have fooled around a bit to produce such stupid offspring. The climax is ok but still logically some stupid macho antics. i.e. Gunman gets drop on Jake Jr and ops for a fair draw instead of just shooting him. Poor, poor writing. That the movie is watchable only validates John Wayne’s star presence.
February 5, 2006
#4
This is about a grandpa, who’s in pursuit of his kidnapped Grandson. Along with his 2 sons, and an idian friend, they find him, and kill the villains, (Bruce Cabot). This movie is okay. I didnt like his son that had the motorcycle, because he did a lot of stupid things with it, i hated how the ogar dude killed his dog, and the indian. And that it was 1909. It should have been in the 1800′s. But other than that, it was a good movie.
February 5, 2006
#5
I’m giving this one four stars for the quality of the video, sound, and the fact that this movie has, for at least 90 minutes, everything you would ever want in a late-era John Wayne movie. The acting is not bad at all, the story is set up very well, the villians are believable, and you have the obligatory old codger showing up his estranged smart-aleck sons while he teaches them a thing or two.
After we’ve been through 90 minutes of establishing trust and killing a few bad guys along the way, we come to the big showdown where the Duke tries to bluff the kidnappers, and then kill them. It’s a pretty good shoot-out, and of course the good guys win.
The problem I have is that the Duke loses his best friend and his dog in the fight, as well as getting shot twice himself. When it’s all over, Big Jake, his two sons, and his grandson exit with big smiles on their faces. The camera freezes on this image while the credits are rolling. It was kind of like a bad 1970′s crime drama. I expected to see in bold letters, “A QUINN MARTIN PRODUCTION.”