Although James Mangold’s remake of 3:10 to Yuma is essentially based on the same movie as Glenn Ford’s original 1957 version, it almost seems as if you’re watching a completely different movie along similar plotlines. Ford’s original version has all the great qualities of a classic western, while Mangold’s remake is more of a revisionist interpretation of the same story.
One of the key differences is the way the alpha cowboys are represented. They are less clean-cut and traditional looking in the remake of the film. While Ford did well in developing Ben Wade’s character as the alpha bad guy with a twist of good in him, Mangold’s version of the same character is more of a cold-blooded psychopath, unexpectedly becoming a better person in the end. Ford originally develops the plot in slightly surreal lines where everybody seems to follow cowboy ethics. Mangold, however, creates a much more action-packed film. You can see the difference in the part where Dan Evans escorts Ben to the train. In Ford’s version, Wade’s men seem threatening but don’t do much in the end other than create tension for Dan, letting it all happen smoothly. In Mangold’s film, however, they go crazy shooting their guns from everywhere, more people are killed along the way, and even Dan ultimately dies from one of the shots. It’s a much more ferocious and realistic approach to the Western environment, which essentially is what revisionist Westerns seem to represent.
The last scene is one of the most defining ones as to point out the revisionism in Mangold’s remake of the film. In the original film, Ben subdues into jumping along with Dan into the train. It’s almost like a happy ending, especially for Dan. However, in the remake, Dan is shot to death, which makes Ben kill everyone around him, and then jump himself in the train and leave. Needless to say, it’s all about action and violence in the remake.
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