loved Bite the Bullet, and on re-viewing
it, liked it just as much as when I first saw it, maybe more.
Unlike 109, I liked the characters, the performances, and didn't
find Bergen invisible at all. What I DIDN'T like about her
character is that she appears to be sending the "liberated"
female message of the mid-70's (gad, I'm tired of being reminded
of its simplicity) while being involved with a total jerk of a
man.
Side Note:
Just once, I'd like to see an interesting,
smart, woman do something smart by being involved with a smart
and worthy man in these sorts of films. But that too, I think was
a part of the 70's. Women getting a feminist conscience while
still not knowing how to spot a loser of a man from 10 yards away.
Anyway, I thought both Hackman and Colburn were
at their finest in this film. Colburn suffers from the same
problem Nickolson does, he took his on screen persona too far
into the characture rather than remain a great actor. And surely
this IS Jan Michael Vincent's finest picture and best performance.
His career has been completely forgettable ever since.
Finally, I really liked the ending. So much of
the western myth was portrayed in that ending. So much of the
myth of the cowboy was captured right there. It could only have
been better if all THREE who made it to the end had crossed
together. The myth of the honest man, more interested in the
sportsmanship of the game, than in the final tally.
And also despite 109's dismissal of "the
Mexican guy", the character was one of the more honorable
portrayals of mexicans during that era and before. Most mexican
characters were filler in westerns, or one dimensional (the cook,
the unquestioning servant, the loyal hand), yet here we see this
guy in pain, as a family man, as a religious man, and competent.
It was not usual to see in films during this period (we could
have only one competent minority at that time, and blacks were
the anointed souls).
Interestingly, however, Brooks (the director),
never gives him a name. Only tolerable because Ben Johnson's
character had the same fate.
