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STAGECOACH (1986)
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
This 80s remake of the John Ford classic is better than it should be but it still isn’t more than mediocre.
With a cast of “outlaw” country singers, the movie attempts to recreate Western magic and falls short. It’s greatest strength is distancing itself from the original Ford/Wayne masterpiece, often succeeding when it does and failing when it tries to replicate that past glory. Example: the stagecoach chase is an embarrassment, the stunts and action photography are nothing compared to what Ford and Yakima Canutt pulled off. Director Ted Post and co. would have been better off staging a stagecoach station raid by the Apaches rather than recreating a classic sequence with lesser stunt performers (and most likely more safety restrictions).
The male cast plays pretty well. Kristofferson and Cash play their parts with ease and confidence. Waylon is the weakest and Willie is the best. His Doc Holliday is a distinct take on the famous gambling dentist and refreshingly does not mimic the impersonation that came before or would after. I could have watched a whole movie of Willie as Doc; sadly he takes up only a quarter of the screen time. It’s the women who really fair badly here and hurt the movie. Elizabeth Ashley is such a bizarre choice for Dallas and a romantic mismatch with Kris. She doesn’t have the looks or sex appeal to pull off the role. Mary Crosby is worse… I didn’t believe a single word she said in the whole picture, trying to play a phony accent with desperate delivery. Without good female counterparts, the male cast just can’t make this movie work and that’s a shame because it did have some potential.
Watched on Tubi.
