Colorado (1978) – A Strange Trip Through the Wild West

You know that weird feeling when you bite into a dammsugare expecting it to be fresh, but it’s just a bit off and yet kinda charming? That’s sort of how I felt after watching Colorado, the old-school western with, let’s face it, a totally bonkers cast. I mean, John Wayne, William Holden, and, outta nowhere, that director Robert Aldrich who also gave us The Dirty Dozen (still can’t believe they let him go nuts with horses and dynamite in the same film).

The film kicks off with all the classic prairie stuff: gritty gunfights, pistols, men mumbling into their beards… you know, the good stuff. But then it throws you off with these moments that feel way too theatrical, almost like Aldrich lost a bet at a student theatre in Vasastan and had to let the actors improvise. Sometimes it’s wild fun, sometimes you just scratch your head and go “va?”.

I once watched this with my uncle Per during a Midsummer’s Eve rainstorm, rain battering the old stuga roof, and I remember him dropping his herring mid-air just as Holden’s character got ambushed next to a river. We just sat there, him cursing at the TV in full Skånska, me loving every silly plot twist.

But is Colorado a great film? Ehhh… Not sure. There’s real tension and snappy dialogue, plus Wayne’s eyebrows deserve their own billing. But the story kind of loses itself in its own dustcloud. Still, if you love westerns almost as much as a strong kopp bryggkaffe, you’ll probably find something to chat about.

Anyway, if you get the chance: see it with someone who loves arguing about cowboy hats. That’s where the real fun is.

watch the full movie on Mavshack Movies on YouTube

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