Just went to see the new True Grit

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Great movie. Much closer to the book then the original which is good and bad in my mind.




Although as good as he is Jeff Bridges and no one in my mind can fill the Duke's shoes.





No one else does it or did it like the Duke.


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When Mattie shot Chaney in the river, you could see that all chambers were empty in the Dragoon. They should have loaded a ball in the end of the empty chambers, to at least make it look like the gun was loaded. And I love John Wayne too, but overall I think this movie was a lot better than the original.

Very glad to hear that this movie is good. I have watched the TV promotions about it and being a TRUE John Wayne fan just didn't want to accept that someone else could do justice to it. Hopefully it will be released in rental soon, think the last time I went to a theater to watch a movie was to see Red Dawn with my son.

Mattie Ross carried a Walker, not a Dragoon in the True Grit movie. Here's a quote from the IMFDB website.....

Mattie Ross (Kim Darby) inherits her father's civil war handgun when he dies, which is a Colt Walker 1847 revolver with a cartridge conversion (although it is said to be a percussion gun to stay true to the novel). Mattie uses it when she encounters Tom Cheney (Jeff Corey) and is knocked down by the recoil of the gun (which is a bit unrealistic) and manages to shoot him in the gut with it. He then manages to charge her and take the gun due to several misfires (which were Rooster's fault, as he had loaded it incorrectly while drunk, and also overloaded the chambers with powder which caused the tremendous recoil). The gun manages to fire once more in the hands of Mattie and grazes Cheney's head though the recoil knocks her into a snake pit. When Mattie first shows the gun to Rooster, he calls it a Colt's Dragoon but it is clearly too large and lacks a loading lever latch that the Dragoon models had.

junkman you are doing what I always have done. Pick a movie apart and my wife usually tells me to sit down and shut up. Then you have to remember what a cartoon wolf said while climbing a set of invisible stairs "IN A CARTOON ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE"

I was referring to the scene in the new movie.

The new version was great. The Cohen Bros did a good job of showing the darker side of the book while infusing a dry humor creating a nice contrast. Closer to the book I remember.

Also John Wayne was a fraud.... Played the tough guy and war hero all his life yet when faced with the real thing choose to be a movie hero instead of a real one.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1055/was-john-wayne-a-draft-dodger

Of course, don't blame me if the family screams at you for taking them to see True Grit instead of some silly Santa film.

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I saw it yesterday by myself while the rest of the family went to see the Little Fockers.

I'll be going to see it by myself also...Not a bad way to spend a peacful day

Merry Christmas

Also John Wayne was a fraud.... Played the tough guy and war hero all his life yet when faced with the real thing choose to be a movie hero instead of a real one.

Careful - the quoted biography was a bit less than than complimentary about Wayne. Such books are a great way to make money. And, aren't most actors frauds - they're actors and we pay money to be entertained by people that are not in real life what they portray? Let's take the high road and stick to the movie...

There's "True Grit" a great John Wayne movie, and there's "True Grit" a great novel.

I hope the new movie will be compared to the novel, not to the previous movie. To go to it expecting it to be a re-make will only lead to confusion or disappointment.

Also John Wayne was a fraud.... Played the tough guy and war hero all his life yet when faced with the real thing choose to be a movie hero instead of a real one.

Careful - the quoted biography was a bit less than than complimentary about Wayne. Such books are a great way to make money. And, aren't most actors frauds - they're actors and we pay money to be entertained by people that are not in real life what they portray? Let's take the high road and stick to the movie...

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The high road is to stick to the facts. Which of the ones mentioned in that piece are you disputing. Are you saying that he did not ask for and was not granted 2 deferments? That he never served? That he never followed through on what he said he would do regarding serving his country? You cannot talk about the current movie without talking about Wayne. You are entitled to your opinion on the man. I am entitled to mine. I will respect yours if you will respect mine. What is not high road about that?

To speak directly to the new version of True Grit. IMHO the Cohen Bros version is well done. It is closer to the book I remember reading. It tells the story sticking closely to the original dialogue in the Portis novel. Many confirm my recollections stating that it sticks closer to the book. This version lacks the rose colored glasses of the original film. There is a darkness to the tone and to the images themselves that remind me of the way they did Blood Simple and No Country for Old Men. It is heavy.... as I think it should be. I plan on reading it again this week and going back and watching the movie a second time to see my recollections are true.

I was impressed with the nuances of the film. The intellectual knowledge and sophistication of Mattie Ross placed in direct contrast with the innocence she displays as the real world, which is short ugly and brutish, hits her smack in the face. Her narrative is beautifully told by the Cohens and acted skillfully by Hailee Steinfeld. Steinfeld is very believable in this role. She looks the part. She is much more rugged and believable than the 1969 version. In the end Steinfeld performance illustrates that Mattie above all the other characters in the movie has "True Grit" .

The whit and humor of the dialogue stand in stark contrast to the brutal violence and the bleak cold barren picture of the vast open wild west the Cohens display. This version lacks the softness of the Hathaway's version. There are no blue skies. With the ending restored I enjoyed it right through to the credits. I was an enjoyable film on many levels.

Mattie's Revolver,

Everything happens to me. Now I'm shot by a child.

A bit dissapointed

I liked the girl who played Mattie, and Matt Damon did a good job, but I was dissapointed that Jeff Bridges just didn't deliver. While I enjoyed the movie, it wasn't that great. I do give them props for the BP guns and the authentic sounds and smoke. I too saw that Mattie's Dragoon was not loaded in the confrontation with Tom Chenney.

Also it's not necessarily a mistake in the '69 version l when Rooster calls the Walker a "Colt's Dragoon" I've heard the pistol refered to as a "Walker Dragoon" many times.

Also John Wayne was a fraud.... Played the tough guy and war hero all his life yet when faced with the real thing choose to be a movie hero instead of a real one.

Let's take the high road and stick to the movie...

The high road is to stick to the facts. Which of the ones mentioned in that piece are you disputing. Are you saying that he did not ask for and was not granted 2 deferments? That he never served? That he never followed through on what he said he would do regarding serving his country?

Many different ways to use facts, aren't there? I don't dispute the fact that he never served - nor have many actors who portray tough guys, either as cowboys or soldiers. I don't resent them, nor Wayne, as it appears you might by your "drive-by-facting" that has nothing to do with the new movie.

You cannot talk about the current movie without talking about Wayne.

Speak for yourself. I can, others have right here.

You are entitled to your opinion on the man. I am entitled to mine.

Yes, we all have opinions on Wayne as a person (or many of us do).

I will respect yours if you will respect mine. What is not high road about that?

Nothing is not high road about that. It's just that your opinion of the man has nothing to do with the discussion of the new movie - which was not based on a Wayne movie, or Wayne the man, but on a novel (fiction) performed by actors (who are nothing like what they portray).

And wouldn't it be funny if we both had the same opinion of Wayne (as I haven't expressed mine...).

To speak directly to the new version of True Grit.

Which was my point and my suggestion.

Speak for yourself. I can, others have right here.

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And others did not. 3 of the 6 posts prior to mine mentioned John Wayne. Read the reviews of the new film. 99% of them mention and make comparisons between the new version by the Cohens and the older one by Hathaway.

Nothing is not high road about that. It's just that your opinion of the man has nothing to do with the discussion of the new movie - which was not based on a Wayne movie, or Wayne the man, but on a novel (fiction) performed by actors (who are nothing like what they portray).

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Maybe you miss-understood. I was speaking about respect for other peoples opinions being the High Road. Opinions are just opinions which as the saying goes are like.... LOL. For me that is one of the definitions of the high road. It is very easy to respect those we agree with. It is the test of ones character when one has and shows respect to those they disagree with. I have the right to express my thoughts on the new movie and John Wayne, who relates to topic IMHO.

Other posters felt the need to bring him into the discussion before I did. Others brought up the earlier version of the film yet you are not attempting to moderate them? Maybe I missed it but I did not see a moderator title under your name. It is not your place to dictate what should and should not be in this thread. I discussed the new film in depth yet all you seem to be able to fixate on is the Wayne comment. You cannot even focus on the movie yet you feel it is your place to chastise me for going astray.

If you want to discuss the movie I am all for it. Have you seen it? Did you read the book? How did you think it compared.

Getting back on topic. As an period piece it is heads and shoulders above the original. In its sets, scenery, costumes and language. The scenery alone made a huge difference. The Cohen Bros film was true to the books setting. It looks like the Ozarks in the winter. Sort of bleak... LOL. It seems like this error in detail was corrected in the latest film. The Cohen Bros are very good at capturing the era that a film is supposed to be set in. Like Millers Crossing or Oh Brother Where Art Thou.



I am not an expert by any means but it looks like a Dragoon to me. Which were very popular in civilians hands after the civil war. IIRC

5:05 at the AMC hear in Omaha. I will be back with my review. Untill then?
MERRY CHRISTMAS every one

think the last time I went to a theater to watch a movie was to see Red Dawn with my son.

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Which rumor has it they're remaking also.

It looks like the Ozarks in the winter.

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Haven't seen it yet, cursed family Christmas obligations, but I do find it odd that it looks like the Ozarks since it was filmed about 50 miles from my house here in Central Texas. I even have an aunt who did some work with the film company on finding locations etc. I really can't wait, I'm thinking tomorrow.

I liked the girl who played Mattie, and Matt Damon did a good job, but I was dissapointed that Jeff Bridges just didn't deliver. While I enjoyed the movie, it wasn't that great. I do give them props for the BP guns and the authentic sounds and smoke. I too saw that Mattie's Dragoon was not loaded in the confrontation with Tom Chenney.

Also it's not necessarily a mistake in the '69 version l when Rooster calls the Walker a "Colt's Dragoon" I've heard the pistol refered to as a "Walker Dragoon" many times.

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Racebannon, I think Jeff Bridges delivered.....but like I said earlier, I don't think anyone can fill the Duke's shoes and whoever does a remake of one of his films will be subconsciously or consciously compared to him.

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Just back from a Christmas Day matinee with my wife and grown son. All of us enjoyed the movie. I will probably get the soundtrack CD as well.

I learned something today. I never knew that Blood Simple was a Cohen Bros work. I always liked it, and have an original VHS copy from the first year when it came out. I almost never get wrapped up in movie minutia. I could care less who wrote or directed them, I just want to know if its good.

I could care less who wrote or directed them

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That's strange since the director 'makes' the film.