The Undefeated (1969)

Popular reviews

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  So this really has a small dalliance with our month of Jan(uary) Michael Vincent really being a Pseudo-love interest in a sub plot to the main story but hey I am sure this was just his step in the door to what was to come. Really this movie is interesting for what do you do after a civil war is done. The Union Col. John Henry Thomas(John Wayne) chooses to wrangle horses to deliver them to the army but gets a better offer with the president of Mexico instead and his alternative confederate Col. James Langdon(Rock Hudson) doesn't seem interested in the picking up the pieces more that as patriarch decrees they move to Mexico to start anew. There is…

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  This western stars John Wayne and Rock Hudson as a Union and a Confederate officer, respectively, who join forces after the Civil War against Mexican bandits.

  The film benefits from an interesting story, with Emperor Maximilian and the French occupation of Mexico in the background, and has a lot of good characters, with the dynamic between the different soldiers adding conflict. Wayne and Hudson do well in their roles, and are supported by some great character actors, with Ben Johnson,  Roman Gabriel and Antonio Aguilar all putting in memorable performances.

  Although there are sections that don’t really move the plot forward, like a comedic brawl in the middle, and it has a fairly standard plot that uses a lot of western tropes, The Undefeated is a solid and entertaining adventure.

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  Film # 10-Andy's April Trip to Tombstone

  I've seen Andrew V McLaglen's The Undefeated several times and always enjoyed the hell out of it. It was one of those Westerns that put a smile on your face, it had plenty of humour, plenty of action, and two stars who complimented each other perfectly. Given John Wayne's political views, I wonder if he knew that Rock Hudson batted for the other team, and whether like Mike Pence, he'd have blamed Hudson for hurricanes and the such? Regardless, the two spar beautifully here as former officers on either side during the Civil War, with Wayne the Union Cavalry Colonel, and Hudson the Confederate Colonel who cross paths in New Mexico shortly after…

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  John Wayne was a man's man. He said what he wanted, when he wanted, and was arguably the most misogynistic, homophobic, commie-bashing, American screen icon of all time. He had faults, plenty of them, but when he put on a cowboy hat and straddled a horse, few could touch him as a heroic leading man. Winning an Oscar in 1969 for True Grit, a great performance, but far from his best, was the culmination of a career spent kicking ass and symbolizing American values, values that today most people would find offensive.

  The Undefeated came out in 1969, a great year for Westerns. We had The Wild Bunch, Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, and Paint Your Wagon among others, but…

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  The plot is practically none-existent. Now is this due to there being no plot or the plot being told in such a shoddy manner? I don't know the answer to that to be honest.

  John Wayne is as solid as ever, there's some excellent location filming so not an entirely wasted 100 minutes. Pretty close to though it we're being brutally honest.

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  Interesting plot where John Wayne and Rock Hudson lead their own groups into Mexico during the period the country was under French occupation. Neither really gets what they went there for but a lot of stuff happens on the way. Hudson plays a Confederate officer while Wayne's a Union colonel and when their paths cross in Mexico they eventually come to terms that they're from the same country after all. It features Roman Gabriel playing an Indian who is Wayne's adopted son and Merlin Olsen as a Confederate soldier as well as Jan Michael Vincent. In that regard it's Wayne doing what he's done before playing along side a young generation but who don't bring much in the way of…

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  This obviously doesn't compare to another western from the same year about a bunch of Americans in Mexico, however, taking it on its own merits, I thought this was very watchable. It's the usual pro-Confederacy western but it had a great cast and an interesting narrative. It's quite long but never really dragged. The ending is the complete opposite to The Wild Bunch as they bargain with the Mexicans and all survive. I wonder how Ben Johnson compared the experience of being in both films.

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  Looks like we got mixed up in somebody else's war

  First time watch: August 2021
  Source: Great Action Movies Channel

  The Undefeated is the 1969 western and Civil War film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. Starring John Wayne and Rock Hudson the film focuses on Col. John Henry Thomas at the end of the Civil War who finds himself aiding the opposition when facing off against hostile Mexicans.

  Nobody knows what's on a woman's mind

  An underwhelming western, beyond the pairing of Wayne and Hudson the most interesting element is the idea of two opposing sides working together to take on a new opposition. There are long periods with unnecessary scenes that fail to progress the plot and a romance…

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  This was bad even by John Wayne Westerns standards, even when ignoring all the Confederacy apologetics.

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  Released in the same year as the far superior John Wayne western True Grit, The Undefeated stars the Duke as a post-Civil War Union Colonel, and Rock Hudson, a Confederate Colonel who are forced to work forces to fight off a group of Mexican bandits.

  Whilst it may be true that True Grit is better, that's not to take anything away from this movie as it is quite a decent, above average western in its own right. Finding a mutual respect between the two diametrically opposed characters is a rather simple plot, but it plays out rather nicely. Both Wayne and Hudson have interesting characters who I enjoyed watching come together, putting aside their ideals.

  There's some gorgeous shots of…

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  Decent Hollywood western with John Wayne and Rock Hudson that while nothing earth shattering is still a good time and moves at a good clip!

  It’s no “true grit” from the same year but it has merits, among them are some fun action set pieces and a fairly large scope to it!

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  Solid but almost completely unremarkable as a Wayne vehicle except for the novelty of seeing him act alongside Rock Hudson. Felt like there was a bit too much fiddle in the soundtrack for my liking.

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