3:10 to Yuma
Lionsgate | Release Date: September 7, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
35
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
James Mangold's 3:10 to Yuma restores the wounded heart of the Western and rescues it from the morass of pointless violence. Read full review
100
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
The new version is a glorious, thrilling throwback that never sacrifices its solid roots in the western genre despite a sharp modern update that actually improves on the original. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
The finest American Westerns have a characteristic that 3:10 to Yuma shares. In a way that's almost mystical, they suggest a truth beyond the specifics of the tale. Read full review
91
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
The rousing new Western 3:10 to Yuma has the sweep of an epic and the economy of a stopwatch. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
James Mangold directs it with such energy and passion that it's as if he didn't know it's all been done before. Read full review
90
Film ThreatKJ Doughton
Mangold has time to build sensational, studied characterizations, brilliant pacing (courtesy Mike McCuster, who also edited the director’s previous effort, the Johnny Cash biopic “Walk the Line”), and blistering action. Read full review
88
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
The nerve-racking wait at the Contention hotel is no longer the film's centerpiece, but the deeper characterization gives Bale an opportunity to once again sink his teeth into a complex role, and offers a reminder as to why the notoriously difficult Crowe is sometimes worth the trouble. Read full review
88
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Unlike Glenn Ford, a soft-spoken studio star who was cast against type as Wade 50 years ago, Crowe is a perfect fit. Not because of his bad boy behavior offscreen, but because he can blend charm and menace better than anyone. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Both actors are among the best, most intuitively creative we have, and whatever transpires offscreen in Crowe’s case, onscreen they only serve their characters. Neither man showboats here, and it’s a thrill to watch them work. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
A riveting remake of a pretty terrific 1957 western about manhood, fatherhood and honor. Read full review
83
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
What Alfred Hitchcock once said about thrillers also applies to Westerns: The stronger the bad guy, the better the film. By that measure, 3:10 to Yuma is excellent. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
Mangold delivers a taut modern take on a lesser classic, preserving the "High Noon" themes about doing the right thing against all odds, and injecting a more modern pacing and urgency without going overboard. His film isn't Leonard's classic, but it's a solid, genre-respecting Western in its own right. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
A fine and sturdy picture, capable of standing alongside the many such films made when Westerns were one of our chief entertainments. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
A largely compelling ride on the strength of a powerful cast led by Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. Read full review
80
The New YorkerDavid Denby
In this movie, Fonda really is iconic. 3:10 to Yuma may be familiar, but, at its best, it has a rapt quality, even an aura of wonder. Read full review
80
VarietyTodd McCarthy
James Mangold's remake walks a fine line in retaining many of the original's qualities while smartly shaking things up a bit. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Period westerns are so unfashionable and costly that they usually require a top-drawer script to get off the ground -- and this one, adapted from an Elmore Leonard story and its 1957 movie version, travels with an arrow's clean arc. Read full review
80
TimeRichard Schickel
Who says remakes are always inferior to the original film? And who says the western is dead? Especially when a movie is as entertaining as this one, you begin to think this formerly beloved genre is due for a revival. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
This film is an example of a Western that ought to appeal to a healthy-sized contemporary audience, and is also a remake of the 1957 film of the same name, which is a hallmark of the type of psychological Western. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
This is how a Western today tries to give us more bang for the buck. By working this hard to be a crowd-pleaser, though, it may please fewer crowds. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The 30-minute finale, which includes a tense stand-off with Ben's gang, is masterfully executed. It's perfectly paced, suspenseful, and ends in a way that's both appropriate and satisfying. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Maybe this redo didn’t need so many bells and whistles, but Mangold brings it home. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Mangold has been smart or fortunate in casting, and personalities sustain interest even when the narrative flags. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Captures a potent sense of the Old West with its multidimensional raw performances and captivating final shootout sequence. But with its emphasis on emotional truths, it transcends the confines of a cowboy movie. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie Punter
While the newer version's darker ending lends a more contemporary twist, overall 3:10 to Yuma is reverent to the original – a few more bullets and more spilled blood notwithstanding. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
An extremely well-acted and well-directed remake of a 1957 oater. Read full review
75
PremiereGlenn Kenny
In the battle of the leading men, Crowe's character has a slight edge, and the actor really makes the most of it, showing us how boyishly mischievous charm and utter venality can exist without seeming contradiction in the same being. But Bale builds to a pretty impressive boil himself after laying back for about three quarters of the film. Read full review
70
NewsweekDavid Ansen
What this version offers is the chance to watch Russell Crowe and Christian Bale—two of the more charismatic, macho leading men around--duke it out psychologically, while another fine but less well-known intensity artist, Ben Foster, steals Read full review
70
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
The movie's best performance belongs to Peter Fonda. Tough, terrific, and totally unrecognizable as a bounty hunter, this cantankerous old hippie is so leathery he deserves his own line of rawhide apparel. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
Under Mangold’s sure if uninspired hand, the new Yuma is reasonably exciting and terse, and, like its predecessor, built around a memorable villain of ambiguous villainy. Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
More likely to be recalled as a moderately satisfying entertainment than remembered as a classic. Read full review
70
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Overall, the picture is accomplished, intelligent and, in places, a little dull. Mangold isn't an economical filmmaker, and parts of 3:10 to Yuma suffer from needless bloat. The new version doesn't use the same kind of blunt, visually arresting shorthand as Daves' original...And yet somehow, maybe just barely, Mangold -- succeeds on his own terms, largely because the actors he's working with here. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
As Ben Wade, gang leader and murderer, he gives an ironic performance, but Crowe’s irony is more intense than other actors’ obsession. He turns the idea of having so few emotions--of being beyond caring--into a bloody joke. He upstages everyone with his laughing eyes. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
The result bears so little resemblance to the original that you have to wonder what happened. It seems more a remake of "How the West Was Won" than 3:10 to Yuma. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
The acting is its chief strength. Russell Crowe brings a cocky charisma to Ben Wade. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
The strengths of the first "3:10 To Yuma" were enhanced by its proportionality -- an intimate story told in 92 minutes. The story is no bigger in the new version, which goes on for 117 minutes. And it's certainly not better. Read full review
50
Washington PostStephen Hunter
The remake adds 24 minutes and subtracts most of the suspense. Read full review
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