Now I’m not fan of westerns but believe me this film is an absolute cracker, IMO far better than the original made in the late 50s I think.
Russell Crowe and Christian Bale are excellent but for my money the guy that takes full honours is Crowes gang 2nd in command bloke.
Portrays a right evil bastard with excellence
Ben Foster.
Did a great job in 30 Days of Night, too.
3:10 was fun, all in all. And decent as a western. Still can’t hold a candle to Unforgiven, but a fun movie none the less.
The best thing in that movie was definitely Ben Foster, he played loyally deranged so well. Great actor.
Ben Foster also played Claire’s art school boyfriend Russell in Six Feet Under. I was blown away when I found out because he looks completely different.
Funnily enough I got 30 days off a pal of mine the other day.
Not very well explained but you know what I mean 
He really is a chameleon. He also played a mentally retarded kid in Freaks and Geeks, Tim Allen’s son in Big Trouble, the neighbor with multiple facial piercings in The Punisher, and Angel in X-Men 3.
Ben Foster is amazing. I’m always impressed with him.
Encore Westerns was running the original (1957) a while back. I thought Ford and Crowe were about equals, but Heflin and Jaeckel don’t even come close to Bale and Foster. They seemed to beef up the Charlie Prince role in the remake, and the movie really is better for it. I don’t like westerns much either, but I enjoyed the remake a lot.
I had to look Ben Foster up after watching this movie, and seeing that he was Angel in X-Men made me slap my forehead (not literally).
If I can play devil’s advocate: it’s a kind of silly shoot-em-up. It’s good fun, but if you’re looking for realism, then move along.
Ben Foster is THE MAN ! Go watch Alpha Dog and tell me how great of a job he did in that. That guy is a great actor.
Oh yeah, 3:10 to Yuma was a very unrealistic movie. Fonda gets shot in the gut, gets the bullet taken out and is ready for riding without so much as a menacing look on his face? He just had a .45 taken out of his stomach and he isn’t in pain? yeah right.
And that’s just one instance of fakery I spotted.
That’s kind of the point. It is supposed to be a mythical Western rather than a realistic one. Bale’s son reading his dime novel in the beginning is supposed to set the tone of this story being a larger-than-life account of the Old West, rather than anything approaching realism. In a more realistic movie, Ben Wade would never have given Bale’s character the chance to redeem himself by delivering him to the train, but 3:10 To Yuma was all about archetypal heroes and legendary feats.
Another movie that Ben Foster plays deranged really well in is Hostage. I was shocked to find out that he was behind his character in that movie.
As for 3:10 to Yuma, I rightfully enjoyed it. I think I like Russell Crowe portraying a bad guy better than him as the hero.
[QUOTE=diggleblop]
Ben Foster is THE MAN ! Go watch Alpha Dog and tell me how great of a job he did in that. That guy is a great actor.
Oh yeah, 3:10 to Yuma was a very unrealistic movie. Fonda gets shot in the gut, gets the bullet taken out and is ready for riding without so much as a menacing look on his face? He just had a .45 taken out of his stomach and he isn’t in pain? yeah right.
Yes but weren’t the cowboys of the old west real men, hard as nails.
What’s a .45 in the gut to them?
A mere pinprick
I was just worried that somebody, looking for another movie like There Will Be Blood or The Assassination of Jesse James…, would read all of the praise here, and decide that this would be similar.
But this has really turned into a “In praise of Ben Foster” thread, now hasn’t it?