Stars: John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Howard Keel, Keenan Wynn, Bruce Cabot, Robert Walker, Joanna Barnes, Valora Noland

Director: Burt Kennedy

Summary: Frank Pierce is a ruthless man bent on manipulating the cattle business towards his own wealth and prosperity. When Taw Jackson, interferes with his plans, Pierce imprisons him and confiscates his gold-filled land. Escaping the prison, Taw plans a raid on Pierce's heavily guarded payroll carriage, but not if Pierce has anything to say about it.

Frank Pierce (Bruce Cabot) is a ruthless man bent on manipulating the cattle business towards his own wealth and prosperity. When Taw Jackson (John Wayne), an honest rancher, interferes with his plans, Pierce imprisons him and confiscates his gold-filled land. Escaping the prison, Taw plans a raid on Pierce's heavily guarded payroll carriage, but not if Pierce has anything to say about it. After assembling a group of misfits and hired guns, Taw runs into serious opposition when he encounters the madcap gunslinger Lomax (Kirk Douglas). Sent by Pierce to stop the raid, Lomax winds up taking a liking to Taw and they decide to join forces and stage a raid on Pierce's war wagon. Famous for its fighting scenes between John Wayne and Kirk Douglas, THE WAR WAGON is quintessential of its genre, featuring astonishing stunts and pyrotechnics. Advanced for its time, one would think durector Burt Kennedy produced it in the mid 1970s. The climactic end scene which pits Douglas and Wayne against a Gatling gun has spawned similar scenes in RED DAWN and YOUNG GUNS.

WIN DVDs by rating this DVD

Average User Rating:

WIN DVDS by being amongst the first to review this DVD. Reviewing DVDs earns you bonus entries and lets you WIN DVDs!Please login before reviewing this DVD. If you're a new user, register for free and enter to WIN FREE DVDs!

John Wayne and Kirk Douglas make a delightful duo in this comedic Western in which Wayne seeks revenge on a ruthless mine owner (Bruce Cabot) who had him framed and sent to prison. Upon his release, Wayne recruits Douglas in a scheme to raid and rob one of Cabot's gold-laden wagons, despite the fact that Douglas had been offered good money to kill Wayne. He joins Wayne instead (the potential profits being much greater), and they set out to ambush the War Wagon, so named because it's heavily armored, mounted with a Gatling gun, and guarded by a dozen gunmen on horses. Costarring Keenan Wynn and Howard Keel as a wise-cracking Indian, The War Wagon was a Western precursor to the action buddy films of the 1980s and '90s, serving up plenty of exciting action and constant comic relief. The interplay between Wayne and Douglas is sharp and sarcastic, and their motley crew of accomplices provides yet another source of character-driven humour. Not one of the greatest Westerns ever made, but certainly one of the most lightly entertaining. --Jeff Shannon

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Year:	1967
Release Date:	September 18, 2006
Runtime:	96 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	8203191
Keywords:	War, Wagon, Westerns
Genre:	Westerns