Big Jake (1971)

I liked this film. I gave it an eight. However, some of the worse acting in history takes place. John Wayne's nine year old son is possibly the worst child actor in history. Sorry, but the kid couldn't act. Chris Mitchum and Bobby Vinton are just as bad; stiff and wooden and sound like they are reading their dialogue. Even the dog stinks. The only bright light is Richard Boone as a psycho's psycho. Bruce Cabot, Patrick Wayne and Glen Corbett sleep walk through their roles. But, I am a big fan of the Duke and I still enjoyed Big Jake.

Fmovies: A later John Wayne western that contains a surprising amount of graphic violence. This is by no means another "Wild Bunch" but there are more bloody gunshot wounds than usual.

The plot concerns the search and rescue of a kidnapped grandson that Wayne has never seen.

The banter between Jacob McCandles(Wayne) and his estranged sons is the source of many of the film's great lines. When Patrick Wayne tries to provoke the Duke by calling him "Daddy", the retort by the old man is priceless.

A good villan(Richard Boone), another pairing with Maureen O'Hara, some great one-liners and several references to older Wayne films make this a great choice from the westerns section at Blockbuster. Elmer Bernstein's music is wonderful too, sounding much like his "Magnificent Seven" score.

Though Big Jake doesn't go down with the greatest of John Wayne's films I put it in the class of The Comancheros which I also found entertaining. This film is the right mixture of chemistry and action. No doubt helped by the fact that John Wayne was surrounded with family literally.

John Wayne is the estranged patriarch of a family who owns a big cattle spread just as he did in McLintock. A gang of kidnappers came on the place while most everyone was on roundup and killed several people and kidnapped Wayne's grandson. Grandmother Maureen O'Hara sends for her estranged husband to deal with the kidnappers as he sees fit. Being this is a John Wayne movie, you already know how that is.

Son Michael Wayne is the producer and sons Patrick and Ethan play Wayne's son and grandson. This is a bit of a change for Patrick Wayne. From back in the days of The Searchers, Pat Wayne always played callow youths in his father's and in other films. Here he's a grown man and quite bitter at his father. The conflict between them crackles on the screen. Christopher Mitchum, the son of another Hollywood icon, plays another Wayne offspring as does Bobby Vinton.

The action flows pretty good here and the tension does not let up for a moment. There are some good comic moments, but they are well integrated into the plot of the story.

Of the Duke's films post his Oscar from True Grit, Big Jake is one of his best and a personal favorite of mine.

Big Jake fmovies. John Wayne is undeniably my favorite of all actors, and I'm happy that he was still around when I came into the world (He died when I was 5). Here's where the Duke does the stuff he's good at, dry humor, laying down the law, and pulling no punches. The whole "Your fault, my fault, nobody's fault..." exchange is Classic!! It's a great family reunion (John, Patrick, and Ethan). His oft costar Bruce Cabot does great in his supporting role. As well, the Duke and O'Hara show splendid chemistry in their final costarring. Not to mention the very intimidating performance by Richard Boone as the big villain. Gotta' love this one!!

That's one of my favorite lines from this picture and the way it's delivered, both times, is thrilling. Violent and bloody (and Bernstein's music makes one of the machete attacks even worse, his sense of drama is so good!) so don't let pre-teens or the impressionable see it! Boone is an awesome villain and Wayne and his "dog" make an odd hero combo. Big Jake is a big film, depicting the end of the cowboy era, without bemoaning the passing, and deftly incorporating new technology with the old. The tension between Wayne and his three boys is fine and there's some funny scenes, too. Highly recommended. PS: a Big Jake fan wrote into Entertainment Magazine in the 80s that this was one of his favorite Wayne films; the EM staff had never heard of it. I canceled my subscription.

He is not dead...NOT HARDLY!! This movie was great. I can't believe I had never seen it. I loved the way he put his kids in place every time they got out of line. Especially that guy with the mustache (Wayne's real life son). I have seldom seen movies where there is so much suspense. The mean man with the blanket was super good also at being a MEAN AND BAD GUY!!!! John Wayne is the best cowboy ever. He looked and acted tough and was apparently TOUGH in real life. I wish Maureen O'Hara would have been in this movie more. She is so good looking. John Wayne was so fearless. I loved the way he bled RED PAINT. Back then, the blood looked like RED PAINT. Haha.

I give this movie a perfect 10!