What a grueling depressing over two hours that felt like a lifetime. Beautifully filmed and excellent accuracy to guns, clothes, etc., but that’s it. Like “Yellowstone” can they amplify the dialogue so we can hear what they’re bleepin’ saying?! And it’s 1892. Why the long dangerous ride from NM to MT? Just ride to the nearest town and take a train north. I think I better watch Animal House or something else funny now as a hot shower to wash this pile of......off me.

Thanks for the heads up.

I’ve considered watching it, but not so interested now.

I'm prone to avoid the newer, "grittier" westerns unless the chatter on the few sites I frequent is pretty positive. And I second the comment on dialogue. I know my hearing isn't what it was, but it seems like all the characters mumble.

I actually thought it was excellent—beautifully filmed and acted. But I do believe that it was a box office flop and the financial fully support Wyatt’s assessment.

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Possum—The other white meat!

I loved it. If you are looking for an uplifting good-time-had-by-all movie, you probably shouldn't watch a movie named Hostiles.

I'm deaf as a post and I could follow it.

It made 38 million bucks, so it broke even. It'll go in the black with streaming and premium play. I'm happy anytime Hollywood decides to make a grownup Western.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

I'm very upset with Yellowstone as per above, can not hear the actors 1/2 the time, actresses 1/10 of the time. Also, in Yellowstone the plot seems to have been written by several people who never communicate
with each other. Hence a disjointed plot that never quite comes together. Oh yeah, the music and commercials are to loud!

Of course in westerns I demand lots of shootin’ and bloodshed for our viewing pleasure. but since the theme seems to be guilt, penance and redemption towards the indians, and justifiably so, it’s rough watching people do things that we as viewers know is really stupid and predictibly the worse happens. Good thing we watched it for free, minus 2 hours of my life. At least they speak Indian a lot and there’s subtitles so you know what the heck they are saying.

Have not seen it, but I plan to -
Hold on there - Teddy Roosevelt rode a horse to Las Vegas, NM when he was recruiting Rough Riders.
OK, you got me there!
He rode a borrowed horse after he got there on the train!
After the tracks were laid, the only reason not to ride a train, except for maybe the law is after you,
Would be lack of funds.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

I too didn't enjoy Hostiles.

Older Hollywood Westerns too often stereotyped all Indians as bloodthirsty savages.

Newer Hollywood Westerns too often stereotype Indians as benign ecologist victims.

I liked it.

It was better than a Marvel production. That garbage has run its course!

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"The Dude abides"

Once the year was shown as 1892 I had a
hard time with the mode of travel and that
Comanche's were still raiding.
In addition, that homesteader made a terrible fighting
choice.

I really enjoyed Hostiles. But what do i know as i enjoy the Marvel movies as well. 😉

I thought it OK. Neither race portrayed as good or evil, just a product of the times.
Wondered about the distance covered by horseback but I guess the movie would have been otherwise pointless.
May watch again just to figure out exactly when the Bale character's attitude changed.

I liked Hostiles. Yesterday is about the 4th time I watched it. I'm thinking the only reason the guy left the house to face the indians was to draw attention to himself and away from his family running up the hill. Their indian escape plan was pretty poor. It amounted to having his wife and kids run a couple hundred yards in plain sight. They shoulda stayed in the house and shot as many indians as possible.
Talk to an average millennial an ask him if he's ever seen "Red River", "Fort Apache" or "The Searchers". Horse Operas are not in demand anymore. Too bad all they want is zombie robot movies.

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SOS USA

Watched it last night.
It’s on Netflix.
Not that good a movie.
What do I like?
Godless , also on Netflix.
NM is way South for Cheyennes. When they come here, it’s usually to attend the PowWow.
Enjoyed seeing the Ghost Ranch scenery.
At the end, delighted to see Narrow Gauge Steam Engine 463.
It appeared to be in an ‘augmented’ Chama, NM.
The last time I saw 463 it was based in Antonito, CO.
It was once owned by Gene Autry.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

Even if they were running out the back, shooting from cover would have been obviously better. I saw it Friday night, a social worker edited the script. Joe

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Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

LOL you should watch the 2018 film "Mohawk"...though I should warn you it is not a good film.

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Smith. And Wesson. And Me!

This family obviously never watched "Conagher", or "The Unforgiven" (Burt Lancaster, not Clint) when it came to planning ahead for just such an attack. Kathrine Ross and especially her teenage son in Conagher did it right.

Wish I'd seen this before I watched one hour of it. What a boring movie!

People who watched and liked "Hostiles"...might also like "The Ballad of Lefty Brown." It is also a film with a simple plot, full of good scenery, high production values...but painfully long with stretches of boredom and unnecessary dialogue in between critical points of the story.

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Smith. And Wesson. And Me!

I love that movie too!

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Possum—The other white meat!

Regarding the family's plan or lack thereof for dealing with hostiles, I would recommend the book "Fate Worse Than Death". It is a non-fiction account of capture narratives from colonial times until the end of frontier days. The authors rely on predation claims made by settlers to the government, which had the power to award monetary compensation for damages suffered in Indian attacks, particularly when captives were taken and held.

It is some grim reading, not sanitized for political correctness. One thing that stands out is how nonchalant many of the settlers were - working outside the house with no guns, giving alcohol to natives, and building homesteads well past the line of any protection. It is fascinating stuff, and a real glimpse into the past.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

Lots of low budget Westerns coming out lately. Here's another one I've watched about an aging outlaw, changing times in the Old West...plus it has a revenge theme like Unforgiven and a hint of the supernatural like Pale Rider.

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Smith. And Wesson. And Me!

Last of the Mohicans, 1992:

YouTube

Thoroughly enjoyed that one!

I don't know if Hostiles was profitable or not, but I think it must have been a relatively (key word here) cheap film to make. No CGI or exploding space ships to pay for.

Here are the numbers so far. I'd guess that it was a profitable film for the makers, even with the creative accounting methods historically employed by Hollywood.



When compared to The Searchers or Red River or Tombstone, it suffers. However, I saw Hostiles in the theater and was glad to have done so.

I also think that if Western film fans don't support Westerns at the box office, film makers will conclude there is no market and will stop making them altogether. Profit remains the goal of the film industry and every other business that wants to stay in business.

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Charlie Flick
SWCA 729 HF 215

The ‘They’ need to make better Western movies!
Like what? Like Unforgiven. No Country, etc.
And Netflix series Godless.
Godless is so much better than Hostiles!
Jeff Daniels is outstanding!
Ballad of Lefty- Checked online, too much money.
Checked Redbox, can’t find Lefty, will try to watch it when I can.
There are a bunch of Western series and movies on Netflix.
Most of them are just bad!
And some have some name actors.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

I just watched Blazing Saddles for the 229th time...

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Certified Curmudgeon

I too am a fan of the contemporary Westerns genre. Let's not forget while Unforgiven is a great movie; what brought back these iconic movies to the big screen and rentals we all enjoy was the movie Silverado I believe.

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"The Dude abides"

I saw Silverado about four times in 1985 then ordered a Ojala gun rig because of it. We’ve watched it many times since and when it pops up on TV I always put it in. It of course is unrealistic and an intentional homage to movie/TV westerns.
One of my favorite contemporary westerns is “The Hi-Lo Country” set just post WW2. Woody Harrelson is great in it. If anyone doesn’t like him, check him out in this.

It surely wasn't Woody and Keifer
and I'll bet it wasn't this guy either...

but not tactics.
Look at the ambush about 48 minutes in.
Trooper gets shot off horse.
Indians attack from two distant hills.
A Capt with 20 years experience in Indian fighting can't do any better than leading a panic dash for 50-60 yards, abandoning the wounded trooper to be killed, and then they all dance around in a 3 minute melee that is every man for himself, getting the Corporal shot twice???


Bad performance, Captain.


They would/SHOULD have dismounted on the spot, pulled carbines, gone to prone or kneeling, and the Indians wouldn't have gotten within 50 yards.

They had plenty of non-combatants to act as horse holders. The normal action was for every fourth trooper to act as a horse holder, taking on three mounts along with his own, so no more than one trooper should have been able to manage the horses and horse holding women if the women couldn't manage on their own.


Dismount!
Form a skirmish line!
Horse holders to the rear!
Hostiles in the open- Engage at will!



The charging horses make a pretty easy target for a prone rifle shooter.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Interesting..... there was a family massacred about a mile from our cabin in the Laurel Highlands/Somerset Co. Pa in the 1750-60s (don't have the book here)...... he was out plowing .... didn't believe in guns so didn't have one...... rest of the family was killed while he watched from the woods unable to do anything............. he walked back to the Fort at Carlisle.

Saw it in the theater. Just OK. Not as violent as I thought it would be. One that was violent for the time was Soldier Blue with Peter Strauss and Candice Bergen. That was around 1971 though. Based on true events of the Wounded Knee battle I believe.

I don't know if Atlantans claim him as one of thier own, and it was the opposite situation with dismounted Calvary engaged in a holding action against Infantry. But, I have always liked the way Ted Turner depicted John Buford against Harry Heth at Gettysburg.

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Certified Curmudgeon

I thought not as terrible as, say, the remake of 3:10 to Yuma. The gun fights were bogus. If they were going to kill the three fur trappers that kidnapped the women, why would you not shoot them down when you had the drop instead of going hand to hand in the tents? Even in the final shoot out with the landowner, hard to believe "the boys" could be that accurate from horseback with revolvers to take down four people.

But one must be willing to suspend disbelief for the sake of entertainment.

OMG, thank God my wife and I's hearing is OK. I thought it was just us, we almost stopped watching Yellowstone after the first episode. Couldn't hear a dang word they were saying. Finally cranked the TV up loud enough that we could hear but the sound during the ads would make your ears bleed.
Not seen Hostiles but we may.

I almost did not watch Hostiles because of the reviews. I thought it was a fine movies and enjoyed it very much. I recommend it.

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That's gonna leave a mark.

Not a western but someone here mentioned "Generation War" 5 part mini-series. German made with subtitles but actually quite good. Available off Netflix if ya got it.

I just watched it again now that it is on Netflix, and I enjoyed it even more this time. Poor Ryan Bingham (the newest felon on Yellowstone) plays Malloy, the guy sent along to guard Ben Foster. He gets one campfire song then gets killed off-screen in the rape tent!

I agree the subtitles help. I missed some of the dialogue in the theater.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

I liked it OK and agree with the criticism of some of the tactics.

I got about a third of the way in before I turned on the Closed Caption. It detracted a little, but overall helped decipher a lot of the mumbling.

Spoiler if your gonna watch it...go no further..................................















My wife stated if Blocker had not stepped on that train she
would have throw something at the computer.

That's because they do. And they don't BOOST the signals for a commercial, but drop the level on the show. Have you EVER MISSED HEARING a commercial?

Everybody is asleep. I turn the TV up to hear the dialogue. Commercial comes on. BOOM BANG THUD HAVE EVER TRIED TO USE CHEAP WHATEVER?......

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

I liked Hostiles and so did my wife. Good story and some decent action.
I watch movies for entertainment not for education.
Oh, despite my poor hearing I didn't miss a word...that's what close captioning is for.

After reading this thread I watched it for myself on Netflix.
It was no Unforgiven, but it was OK, IMO.
I have to agree that a lot of the dialog was recorded too low to be readily heard.
Of course that is what the volume control is for.
I'll actually probably end up watching it again at least once.