What Do The Critics Say?

"The big budget action scenes are well realized, often highlighted by Harry Gregson-Williams's resounding score, while the aliens are suitably repulsive, scary and slimy. There are touches of humour and the characters are well enough developed for us to care and get involved. The cinematography (by Matthew Libatique) transports us into the reality. We can taste the dust, feel the isolation and smell the danger: in anticipation for the adventure ahead." Louise Keller URBAN CINEFILE "Director Favreau knows how to work charm and humour into his films, so even if the action scenes are never truly exhilarating, there's enough going on here to keep us hooked.An entertaining Western that sticks very close to the genre and only incidentally features bad guys from another planet." Rich Cline SHADOWS ON THE WALL "Cowboys and Aliens, much like the revered Snakes on a Plane from 2006, delivers exactly what it promises. But what is surprising is that this blockbuster from Iron Man's Jon Favreau is actually a very passable and very standard western. Cowboys and Aliens isn't the self-aware, campy romp I was expecting. This movie plays its ludicrous idea dead straight and pulls it off with firm conviction." Tim Martain THE MERCURY "The story doesn't stretch credulity so much that it's ridiculous, but that's due to the terrific peformances by Craig, Ford, and Abigail Spencer as the mysterious Alice, Keith Carradine, as Sheriff Don Taggert, who wants to arrest Craig, and Sam Rockwell as Doc. The special effects, and they are very good, take a back seat to the acting. The less you know about this movie the better you will enjoy it." Tony Medley TOLUCAN TIMES "It does actually seem to work, giving audiences a healthy number of action pieces and a solid storyline that isn't as bonkers as it looks on paper. Craig is essentially in Bond mode, dispatching attackers with cold, clinical, dead-eyed ease, while Ford gets to indulge in a little light torture and bullying before quickly finding the soft centre within. Director Jon Favreau keeps things bubbling along, steering clear of flooding the film with too much CGI and, hallelujah, without a sniff of gimmicky 3D." Catherine Jones LIVERPOOL ECHO

"The gold plated cast gives us comfort that we're in good hands when it comes to macho machinations: Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig at the front. The aliens and their spacecraft are not of predictable design, thank goodness, and it's unusual to see Indians shooting bows and arrows at life forms from outer space. Ella turns out to be quite a surprise package, but I won't spoil your viewing pleasure here. I'm not sure if it's going to launch a new sub-genre of Western-sci-fi, but it's fun while it lasts." Andrew L Urban URBAN CINEFILE "Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford join forces in this preposterously serious $180-million, sci-fi Western action-adventure, set in 1875 in the territory of New Mexico and based on Platinum Studios Comics chief Scott Mitchell Rosenberg’s 2006 graphic novel about the Old West besieged by a menacing terror from outer space. Authentic & entertaining, it pushes the envelope of frontier folklore." Susan Granger SSG SYNDICATE "It is difficult to know what is more puzzling about this odd genre hybrid from Iron Man director Jon Favreau: its reason for existing, or the curious pounding it's received from critics in the US. Despite the lashings at home, Favreau's monster blockbuster is surprisingly effective with its straightforward plot: aliens descend on 19th-century New Mexico, share an unlikely thirst for gold and inadvertently give the humans a lethal alien-zapping device that levels the playing field, to some extent. Craig in particular reminds us why he is so much more than merely Bond. Very watchable blockbuster fare." Ed Gibbs SMH LIFE & STYLE There's an obvious thrill to seeing James Bond and Indiana Jones sharing screen space (something the film wisely chooses not to acknowledge), and Craig is terrific as the Man Who Can't Remember His Name, to the point where you hope he does more Westerns. Similarly, Ford is on top grouchy form as Dolarhyde and there's superb support from Beach, Carradine and an absurdly gorgeous Olivia Wilde. Enjoyable, well made and superbly acted sci fi-slash-Western adventure that duly delivers." Matthew Turner VIEW LONDON

The Inside Story The promise of the title "Cowboys and Aliens" was so compelling that the movie rights to Platinum Studios chief Scott Mitchell Rosenberg's graphic novel were snatched up before the book was even completed. It was so intriguing, as executive producer Steven Spielberg ("Men In Black" & "Catch Me If You Can") recalls: "I kept wondering why no one had done anything like this before." The cover art for the comic made Oscar® winning producer Ron Howard ("A Beautiful Mind") a believer from the first time he saw it. He summarized: "It was everything I hoped for and beyond: the coolest version of the West meeting some badass aliens. It's the West, with all of its tensions. It was cool for me to see characters who would have been shooting at one another a few days before suddenly forced to try and survive together." Rosenberg's graphic novel detailed a terrifying invasion set in the mysterious land of the American West in the late 19th century. Replete with gunslingers, outlaws and saloon fights, the harsh backdrop provided a unique place for the otherworldly assault on our planet. With the end of the Civil War only a decade prior, innovations in technology and industry: from the light bulb to telegraphs and transcontinental railways; shared space with a violent expansion of the young country. It would not be uncommon for cattlemen to encounter Chiricahua Apache in the New Mexico Territory during this time, and encounters were rarely friendly. When these classic antagonists realize they have a shared enemy, interactions move from grim to cooperative. In the fourteen years since Rosenberg first showed what was to be the "Cowboys and Aliens" graphic novel, many have grappled with the conundrum of how to bring these two classic genres together on film. Screenwriters Mark Fergus ("Children of Men") and Hawk Ostby ("First Snow" starring Guy Pearce, Piper Perabo & J.K. Simmons), as well as writer Steve Oedekerk ("Bruce Almighty"), crafted the screen story that would serve as the basis for the screenplay of "Cowboys & Aliens" for which Fergus and Ostby ("Iron Man") shared screenwriting credit on the film. "We were brought onto "Cowboys & Aliens" just as the "Iron Man" shoot was wrapping up, and were offered a chance to create an entire story universe on a blank slate. There was an existing graphic novel, which we very much admire, but we chose instead to be inspired by the novel's indelible cover art: a cowboy on horseback, racing away from a looming spaceship overhead," Ostby recalls. Fergus loved that residents of the Old West didn't possess the mindset to "process the impossible. That image, not to mention that title, said it all for us. Bring the classic Western genre together with the alien invasion movie and the results could be mind blowing on the big screen." Indeed, the writing partners had the same reaction that Spielberg had to the source material. "It occurred to us as we started writing our first draft, 'Why hasn't anyone done this before? These two genres belong together.' We imagined the epic grandeur of John Ford's "The Searchers", infused with the magic of Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". Every character in the piece touches on a classic Western archetype, but each also strives to be a rich, unique character in their own right," Fergus added. The project would have to wait until 2008 before it would fire on all cylinders. Spielberg, who had joined earlier with Imagine's Howard and Brian Grazer, brought writers/producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci onto the project to get it ready for preproduction. With Damon Lindelof, the men reworked the screenplay to create a shooting script. With the blockbuster successes of such films as the first two "Transformers", "Mission: Impossible III" and the reimagining of "Star Trek" to their credits, Kurtzman and Orci had more than proven themselves as exceptional storytellers on a big scale. The same was true of Lindelof, through his work as the showrunner of the television phenomenon "Lost" and producer of the Kurtzman & Orci-scripted "Star Trek". All were eager to work with the group of influential filmmakers whose work had so impacted them over the years. Oscar® winning producer Grazer ("A Beautiful Mind") felt that the stars had finally aligned for the team to make the action-thriller. "Ron and I have discussed that the Mayan culture is infused with the possibility of alien visitation," Grazer, a five time EMMY Award winner notes. "We thought this was a brilliant starting point and wondered, 'Why couldn't it have happened in the Wild West?' After reading Scott's story, we knew we wanted the film not to be tongue in cheek, but an entertaining look at what happens when two disparate worlds collide. The writing teams were able to capture that vision perfectly. "What I respect about Alex and Bob is that they wanted to keep this concept authentic," says 1987 Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award winner, Spielberg. "They've made it all real from the standpoint of the characters. If it was just cowboys, it would be a pretty darn good cowboy story. If it was just aliens, it would be a pretty good alien story unto itself, but then when you combine the two: it's wonderful." "When we heard the title, it immediately evoked some of our favorite titles that inspired us as kids," Orci stated." "In a world where studios are frequently looking for big titles, there aren't many that stand out, and this one did that for us. Not just because it's catchy, but because it held the possibility of genre blending in a way people had never seen before. That got us incredibly excited," 2010 George Pal Memorial Award winning producer Alex Kurtzman recalls. In July 2009, Kurtzman and Orci made what was becoming for them (and many successful filmmakers of their generation) the annual pilgrimage to San Diego for Comic-Con. Coming off of the staggering success of the first "Iron Man", director Jon Favreau (who played Franklin 'Foggy' Nelson in "Daredevil") was one of the convention's rising stars. "I had heard about the project during the time that I was making "Iron Man". I thought it sounded cool, so when Alex and Bob approached me, I read the script and signed on. It was a great script, a real page-turner," Favreau remembers. Back in Los Angeles, Favreau outlined his thoughts on the film, in a meeting with Spielberg, Howard and Grazer. They were sold. "My idea was to embrace both genres, and through the juxtaposition of the classic form of both the alien-invasion movie and the Western create something new and exciting. I believe that people are thirsting for something like this." To inspire the team, Spielberg arranged for a screening of a new print of the 1956 John Ford classic, "The Searchers", which starred 1953 Henrietta Award winner John Wayne. Favreau was determined to draw on the elements that made classic Westerns successful, and in Spielberg, Grazer and Howard he had something few filmmakers had at the ready. "Steven's strong visual language is something I grew up on; it's influenced my work. Then to actually speak to the guy and to have him present me with an education in the Western, that was great." For creator/producer Rosenberg, seeing his labor of love finally come to the big screen has been a powerful experience. "I created this comic in 1997 when Platinum was simply a piece of paper that was stuck to a door." While 2000 & '07 British Independent Film Award winner Daniel Craig may not be the first person one considers when the words 'American cowboy' come to mind, Favreau, who transformed Robert Downey Jr into a superhero in "Iron Man", has a knack for inspired casting. He saw something both familiar and iconic in the British native that would fit the character of Jake Lonergan, the lone, amnesiac stranger who wanders into the former boomtown of Absolution just in time to save it from total annihilation. "He was the first cast member we brought on. I realized in talking with him and looking at him that he has this gruff, handsome, Steve McQueen type quality." A longtime fan of the 1969 George Roy Hill quadruple Oscar® winning "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid": as well as Ridley Scott's Oscar® winning "Alien" and BAFTA winning "Blade Runner"; Craig didn't feel as if it would be a big leap to bring these genres together. Admitting that he “based his character very much on the silence of Clint Eastwood,” Craig prepared for the part by seeing as many Westerns as he could. "I watched a lot of John Wayne Westerns, but my favorite ones are the ones from the '70s: movies like "Little Big Man" and those so-called dirty Westerns where there's a little more reality." The other stranger in the film, Ella, brings further mystery to the denizens of Absolution and the surrounding territory. For the role, the filmmakers sought an actress who would embody both the mystery and the toughness required of the only woman in a begrudgingly assembled posse of cowboys and Indians. Olivia Wilde (House M.D.), was hired before anyone had seen her in the trailer for "TRON: Legacy". "Ella was immediately fascinating to me. I read the script and fell in love with it. I thought, 'I have to play her.' In Westerns, the female characters tend to be the prairie woman or the cowgirl, often very strong and stoic but not usually one of the gang and rarely as intrinsic to the story as Ella is." Three time Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival Best Actor winner Sam Rockwell, was cast as the towns saloon owner, Doc. "Cowboys and Aliens" tapped into his childhood fascinations. "It takes me back to the stories we told as young boys. We'd play with our little cowboys, and then we'd get our dinosaurs, our army men and our Indians and we'd mix them all together and make our own pretend movies." Paul Dano ("There Will Be Blood") was cast as the weasely thug Percy Dolarhyde. Noah Ringer (M. Night Shyamalan's "The Last Airbender"), plays Emmett Taggart, grandson of the town's sheriff. "He is really strong inside but the smallest person. He grows up a lot on this journey," Ringer revealed. The Chiricahua are a formidable force that joins an already unlikely alliance of cowboys, outlaws and cattle baron to fight the aliens. New Mexico born Raoul Trujillow ("True Blood") was cast as the Chiricahua Apache chief, Black Knife. And what Western would be complete without a nod to the 'Duke' himself? John Wayne's grandson, Brendan Wayne, was cast as Deputy Lyle. One of the final roles to be cast was Harrison Ford's character, Woodrow Dolarhyde, Absolution's cattle-rancher benefactor, and the only man keeping the decaying town and its inhabitants from financial ruin. A Civil War colonel, his bitterness calcified after the bloody battle at Antietam. Dolarhyde's a brutal and cold-hearted tyrant. Favreau recalls Ford ("Blade Runner") was initially intrigued but also skeptical. In the tradition of a lot of classic Westerns," Orci says, "no role was too small, because every character is a stop along the way of the genre. We had people coming out of the woodwork to be on the film, and we ended up with an amazing cast." What's It All About?

1875. New Mexico Territory. A stranger with no memory and a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist, stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution, where no-one makes a move unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde. It’s a town that lives in fear and doesn’t welcome strangers. But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless townsfolk one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known. Now, the stranger they've rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslingers memory slowly returns, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the townfolk a fighting chance against the alien force. With the help of the elusive Ella, he unites them against a common enemy.

The Verdict "Countless surveys have revealed, that most of us list our top two favourite past-times as shopping or going to the 'flick's. When asked why we love going to the movies, the majority of those surveyed respond with: 'to be entertained' or 'to retreat from the world for a while'. Of course another big factor is that cinemagoers also want to get their monies worth (after all, going to your local multiplex these days isn't all that cheap). We just want to switch off. Sure we love the occassional film that requires a bit of brainpower, but there's nothing wrong with leaving your brain at the box-office, suspending belief and just soaking it all up. So, when it comes to "Cowboys & Aliens", I like many who have seen the film are asking, 'why have the critics come down so hard on it?' Is it the title? Here some film titles that came up when I did a search. Of Kings & Cowboys, Cowboys & Angels, Cowboys & Zombies, Cowboys & Indians, Space Cowboys, Cowboys & Communists, Cowboys & Vampires, Cops and Cowboys, Cowboys and Idiots, Cowboys, Indians & Lawyers, The Actress and The Cowboys, The Count and the Cowboys, The Cowboys and the Bachelor Girls, Urban Cowboy and way back in 1898, Procession of Mounted Indians and Cowboys. Hands up anyone who was stupid enough to think the Clint Eastwood film "Space Cowboys" (2000) was about cowboys ranching in space? So why not a film about "Cowboys & Aliens" that does in fact, feature Indians. In the USA, the film copped a beating from the critics but has managed to take nearly $US 90 million. Now in worldwide release, its just opened in Australian cinemas. The feedback I've gotten from the Adelaide premiere is all good. Crikey! The audience even clapped at the end. The feedback I've received from callers is that its very good and people should forget the critics negativity. Daniel Craig (who, as we all know is a deadset star) certainly makes the transition from suave 007 to rugged cowboy. Ford, Rockwell, Carradine, Wilde and the support cast are all very watchable. There's added appeal with the Indians playing a 'good guys' role and a notable Harry Gregson-Williams score. The setting, SFX and the Aliens are all excellent. Certainly worth having a look at. Recommended. 4 STARS." Who Is Playing Who?

Daniel Craig Harrison Ford Olivia Wilde Abigail Spencer Keith Carradine Noah Ringer Buck Taylor Sam Rockwell Matthew Taylor Cooper Taylor Clancy Brown Paul Dano Chris Browning Adam Beach Ana de la Reguera Brian Duffy Gavin Grazer Toby Huss Wyatt Russell Jimmy Jatho Kenny Call Walton Goggins Julio Cedillo David O'Hara Chad Randall

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Jake Lonergan Colonel Dolarhyde Ella Swenson Alice Sheriff John Taggart Emmett Taggart Wes Claiborne Doc Luke Claiborne Mose Claiborne Meacham Percy Dolarhyde Jed Parker Nat Colorado Maria Deputy Ed Roy Murphy Little Mickey Saloon Patron Greavey Hunt Bronc Pat Dolan Bull McCade

The Production Team Directed by Jon Favreau Written by Roberto Orci/Alex Kurtzman/Damon Lindelof/Mark Fergus Written by Hawk Ostby/Mark Fergus/Hawk Ostby/Steve Oedekerk Comic Book by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg (Platinum Studios comic book) Produced by Brian Grazer/Ron Howard/Alex Kurtzman/Damon Lindelof/Roberto Orci/Scott Mitchell Rosenberg Co-producers Daniel Forcey/K.C. Hodenfield/Chris Wade Executive Producers Bobby Cohen/Jon Favreau/Randy Greenberg/Ryan Kavanaugh/Steven Spielberg/Denis L. Stewart Original Music by Harry Gregson-Williams Cinematography by Matthew Libatique Film Editing by Dan Lebental & Jim May Casting by Sarah Finn Production Design by Scott Chambliss Art Direction by Christopher Burian-Mohr & Daniel T. Dorrance Set Decoration by Karen Manthey Costume Design by Mary Zophres Run Time 118 minutes Rated M [AUST] Copyright ©2011 - Paramount Pictures - All Rights Reserved ©1999-2011 - The Movie Pages & Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved. Protected by Australian & International Copyright, Trademark Laws & Intellectual Property Rights.