3.10 To Yuma (2007)

Yee-haw, I sure loves me some Western action!

It was the Deadlands roleplaying game (the original, pre-Savage Worlds, pre-d20 detour, version) that rekindled my childhood passion for the Wild West.

However, it really blew up when I was at university and researching my major, final third year project - a film script based on the life of Elfego Baca, the wannabe lawman who held off a veritable army of riled cowboys from within an adobe hut. The hut (a jacal) took about 4,000 bullets during the 36-hour gun battle but Baca was unharmed!

During that time at university, I watched wall-to-wall Westerns, from the true classics (such as Shane and Hombre) to the cult favourites (like Django and The Magnificent Seven), and read whatever text books I could lay my hands on, to immerse myself in the culture and language of those wild, frontier times.

Sadly, after University, my love of the genre kinda cooled. I'd probably rather overdosed and none of my old gaming buddies shared my interest in the genre (we are British, after all, so I guess it's not even our history!) so except for a few shoot-outs with a homebrew miniatures system I knocked up and the odd DVD purchase, the West rode out of my life and into the sunset.

However, as the 2000s dragged on, I noticed it sneaking back in on the coat tails of my 'discovery' of the whole 'pulp' thing (that is, putting a name and classification for a style of entertainment I already enjoyed), helped by Deadwood and several mainstream cinematic releases, such as Seraphim Falls and this one.

Turns out that as a cinema genre, Westerns weren't dead - they'd just raised their standards.

In 3.10 To Yuma, Christian Bale is crippled, ex-Union sharpshooter-turned-struggling-farmer Dan Evans, who volunteers to escort charming, stone cold killer and outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) to the train station to catch the 3.10 to Yuma prison.

Evans' 14-year-old son, William (Logan Lerman), who sees his father as a coward and rather idolises Wade, tags along in the small posse - which includes a grizzled bounty hunter (Peter Fonda) and the town's doctor (Alan 'Firefly' Tudyk).

The film starts in Unforgiven territory, but becomes increasingly Young Guns as the escort party's troubles escalate and numbers are whittled down by Wade's pursuing gang, renegade Apaches, troublesome railworkers and in-fighting.

It all builds to a dynamic, heroic and rather far-fetched climax as - having turned into a reluctant buddy flick - Evans and Wade make a final dash for the train, facing up to Wade's merciless gang and vigilante townsfolk.

The ultimate conclusion is suitably powerful and emotional, undermined only by a rather silly final scene.

Crowe is perfect as the supremely confident and calm killer, while Bale is, simply, superb as always; both of these actors are at the top of their game and guarantee a solid performance with every role they take.