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Bite the Bullet main poster

Bite the Bullet

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6.4/10 • 112

1975-09-262h 12m

ActionWesternAdventure

At the beginning of the 20th century, a newspaper organizes an endurance horse race : 700 miles to run in a few days. 9 adventurers are competing, among them a woman, Miss Jones, a Mexican, an Englishman, a young cow-boy, an old one and two friends, Sam Clayton and Luke Matthews. All those individualists will learn to respect each other.

Directors
Richard Brooks
Writters
Richard Brooks
Editors
Richard Brooks, George Grenville

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Gene Hackman

    Gene Hackman

    Sam Clayton

  2. Candice Bergen

    Candice Bergen

    Miss Jones

  3. James Coburn

    James Coburn

    Luke Matthews

  4. Ben Johnson

    Ben Johnson

    Mister

  5. Ian Bannen

    Ian Bannen

    Sir Harry Norfolk

  6. Jan-Michael Vincent

    Jan-Michael Vincent

    Carbo

  7. Dabney Coleman

    Dabney Coleman

    Jack Parker

  8. Sally Kirkland

    Sally Kirkland

    Honey

  9. Buddy Van Horn

    Buddy Van Horn

    Slim

Reviews1

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Wuchak Avatar

Wuchak

Aug 28, 2019

6/10

Big-budget Western about a 700-mile endurance race with a top-notch cast In 1906, a 700-mile horse race in the Western wilderness is sponsored by a newspaper. The racers include two former Rough Riders (Gene Hackman & James Coburn), a part-time prostitute (Candice Bergen), a punk “Kid” (Jan-Michael Vincent), an aged cowboy (Ben Johnson), a Mexican with a toothache (Mario Arteaga) and an English gent (Ian Bannen). “Bite the Bullet” (1975) was written & directed by Richard Brooks, who said the movie is based on several historical cross-country races subsidized by newspapers and cities from 1880-1910. The most well-known was a 1908 race from Evanston, Wyoming, to Denver backed by the Denver Post with a $2500 prize, which was his main inspiration. While this was a big budget production with a kick-axx cast it’s not often cited on Best Westerns lists, probably because the long race makes it a one-of-a-kind Western that’s not about a suspense-building story, but rather an episodic adventure with character-defining vignettes. Speaking of which, it helps if you utilize the subtitles to keep up with the sometimes mumbled dialogues. Unfortunately, the escaped convict subplot seems shoehorned into the last act. It's like Brooks tried too hard to concoct an "exciting" ending, but ended up almost ruining the movie.
The film runs 2 hours, 12 minutes, and was shot in Nevada (Carson National Forest & Lake Mead), New Mexico (White Sands) and Colorado. GRADE: C+/B-

Media

  • Bite the Bullet poster
  • Bite the Bullet poster
  • Bite the Bullet poster
  • Bite the Bullet poster
  • Bite the Bullet poster
  • Bite the Bullet poster
  • Bite the Bullet poster
  • Bite the Bullet poster
  • Bite the Bullet poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$4,000,000.00
Revenue
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Keywords
horse racehorseenduranceex prostitute