Review of Chisum

Chisum (1970)
8/10
John Chisum Meets Billy `The Kid'
1 November 2003
As much as I like this movie…

…what its storyline does, especially as it gets further along, is simply to re-tell the story of Billy `The Kid' Bonney. It supposed to take place after Chisum has made that famous cattle-drive and shows the start of the Lincoln County war. Towards the end, the battle between Chisum and Murphy (the war) is completely set aside and we end up seeing all the same things happen to Billy that we've already seen in all the other movies about him, i.e., his relationship with Tunstall, meeting Pat Garrett and becoming friends (at first, then their falling out, well, kinda), him getting revenge on everybody, and the ol' shootout at McSween's store. The movie alters history in some interesting ways, though, like instead of the U.S. Army helping the sheriff (a fictitious character that replaces Brady) during the McSween's store shootout, Chisum becomes the cavalry and he and Pat Garrett help Billy out. The movie ends rather abruptly, never letting us know what happens to Chisum, Billy or the Lincoln County war.
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