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Cowboys & Aliens
Cowboys & Aliens Image
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Metascore
50 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 41 Critics What's this?

User Score
6.1 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 274 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde
  • Summary: 1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don't welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde. It's a town that lives in fear. 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 one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known. Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he's been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force. With the help of the elusive traveler Ella, he pulls together a posse comprised of former opponents—townsfolk, Dolarhyde and his boys, outlaws and Apache warriors—all in danger of annihilation. United against a common enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival. (Universal Pictures) … Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 41
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 41
  3. Negative: 5 out of 41
  1. Tampa Bay Times
    Reviewed by: Steve Persall
    Jul 28, 2011
    83
    This movie, saddle sores and all, is a lot of fun.
  2. Movieline
    Reviewed by: Michelle Orange
    Jul 27, 2011
    60
    Like the Inuit and their many words for "snow," Jake has a thousand squinty faces and they all mean "Bugger off."
  3. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Rick Groen
    Jul 28, 2011
    38
    Over on the aliens side, it's hard to make out faces, but there's no doubt about their place of origin: These slimy, growling, bug-eyed and distinctly non-scary things are straight from central casting.

See all 41 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 70 out of 111
  2. Mixed: 24 out of 111
  3. Negative: 17 out of 111
  1. Zilcell
    6
    Cowboys and Aliens turned out better than I expected it to be. The idea of the film is well executed and has an interesting was of telling the story. The ideas are not as tired as they seem.… Expand
    • 2 of 2 users said yes
  2. heyitsmegrif4
    5
    It offers great performances from Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde not so much Ford and it is very entertaining, but sadly the two genres do not blend well thanks to the Director. And offers some just dumb twists along with it. I give this movie 52%.… Expand
    • 1 of 1 users said yes
  3. PollosHermanos
    2
    Jesus. This movie is so overwhelmingly mediocre. C&A is a prime example of Hollywood cashing in on overly bland and unoriginal movies that have so much hype built up on them (and a ridiculously unnecessary budget). Jon Favreau is an extremely overrated director with no originality whatsoever. Boring cinematography. Boring script. Boring editing. Seen-that-before action sequences. And questionable casting (Olivia Wilde with her im-trying-too-hard-to-be-serious expressions and dialogue, and Daniel Craig, the Englishman who you can easily tell is trying oh so hard to cover up his accent). The story is FULL of action movie cliches that make the following scenes hugely predictable. The Aliens: not scary, that **** has been done before, and MUCH better. Favreau tries to make the movie out to be epic and dramatic, but it sadly ends up being another run-of-the-mill ****ty summer action movie. But, I'm sure this movie will gross millions and millions of dollars and the "public" will say that it's a "great movie, so entertaining and funny!" and blah blah blah. The dialogue is boring as hell and some scenes are so over-acted that it almost feels as if they are making a parody of themselves. If you have any sense of the many possible quality that defines a movie as "good", stay away from this one. If you want to sit for two hours and have your intelligence insulted with unoriginality and bland mediocrity, go see it. I was anxiously waiting for this movie to come to its predictable, dumb ending, so I could GTFO out the theater. I know that this movie was intended to be just an entertaining summer blockbuster, but jesus, actually make it worth my time and bring SOMETHING new to the table. This movie had virtually nothing to offer, which ultimately made it completely unentertaining and pointless.… Expand
    • 4 of 7 users said yes

See all 111 User Reviews

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