A fine western, but I also feel it is an overrated film. Gary Cooper is very good, the screenplay is excellent, nice pacing. It has some tense moments. It's hard to believe that theme song won an Oscar.

Sneered at by film geeks as professional than personal, craftmanlike than artistic. it's true that the quirkier westerns of boetticher, mann, hawks, etc offer more in the way of originality and eccentricity. but, high noon is a work of near perfection in terms of performances, dramatic structure, and moral dileneation. cooper's all the more effective for playing it vulnerable as well as tough. hawks complained high noon violated some key rules of western conventions but these very 'flaws' give it a richer texture. … Collapse

High Noon is more than a Western. It is commentary on the weakness of the human race. Fear rules the day and most succumb to its presence. Only a few brave souls are truly willing to risk death (or political office) in order to right a wrong. What is more cowardly, to look for help or to deny that you need to help?

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. High Noon plays out in near real time - realistically building tension at a steady pace. There's little action before the climax of the film, with a huge focus on character interaction, as sherfif Will Kane (played by the excellent Gary Cooper) struggles in vain to enlist the townspeople's help. After the seventy minute long buildup, I was hoping for a worthy shootout, and was rewarded with a tense and dramatic finale. High Noon is a true classic that holds up easily today, and is a telling reflection on the cowardice and fear that can strike us all.… Expand