DbcultAccessing Vault...
5.5/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.5/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Heroes of the West remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Honestly, only if you have a very high tolerance for 1930s dust and guys in oversized hats yelling about steel. It’s a 1932 serial, which means it was designed to be watched in little chunks at the theater, not all at once on a laptop.
If you like old-school Westerns where the horses do 90% of the acting, you'll probably find it charming. If you want a story that makes sense or doesn't repeat the same three plot points, you're gonna have a rough time. 🌵
The whole thing is about building the transcontinental railroad. It sounds big and epic, but mostly it just looks like twelve guys in a desert standing around some wood.
Noah Beery Jr. is the main guy, and he looks incredibly young here. He has this very earnest face that makes you want to give him a glass of milk and tell him everything will be okay.
He spends a lot of time looking worriedly at the horizon. I think I counted four times in the first thirty minutes where he just squinted at nothing while the music got louder.
The villains are led by Rance, played by Philo McCullough. He’s got that classic movie villain sneer that feels like it was factory-ordered.
He doesn't have much of a motive other than 'I don't want the railroad to happen.' I guess that's enough for 1932.
The action is incredibly repetitive. It’s basically: horse chase, someone gets tied up, an explosion happens, and then everyone meets back at the camp to talk about it.
It reminds me a bit of the pacing in West of the Rio Grande, but with more steam engines. If you've seen one of these Universal serials, you've kind of seen them all.
One weird thing I noticed—the 'Indians' in this movie are clearly just white guys in very dark makeup. It’s awkward to watch now, and their 'warpath' behavior is just a collection of every cliché ever written.
It lacks the weird charm of something like A Child of the Prairie. That one felt a bit more grounded, whereas this feels like it was written on a napkin during lunch.
I really loved the actual construction shots. You can tell they actually had to move those heavy rails and hammers.
There’s a scene where a guy is hammering a spike, and he misses. He actually misses the spike and hits the wood. They kept it in the movie! I love that.
The sound quality is pretty terrible. Half the time, the horses are louder than the people talking. 🐎
Actually, I think the horses might be more interesting than the dialogue anyway. One horse in the background of chapter three looks like it’s trying to eat a wagon wheel.
It’s not a total disaster, but it’s definitely thin. It’s like a sandwich that’s mostly bread and very little meat.
The cliffhangers are hilarious. One person falls off a cliff, and in the next episode, they just... didn't. They just rolled slightly and got up.
It’s much more entertaining if you watch it with a friend and make fun of the hats. Some of those hats are so big they look like they have their own zip codes.
I found myself thinking about Buster's Mix-Up while watching this. Even though that’s a totally different kind of film, it had a bit more energy.
If you're a film historian or you just really like trains, go for it. It’s a neat time capsule of how movies used to be made before anyone cared about 'realism.'
But if you're looking for a gripping Western, you're better off looking elsewhere. It’s mostly just dust and noise.
I think the best part was the title card. It’s very fancy. The rest of the movie doesn't quite live up to the title card. 🚂
Maybe it’s better than A Made-to-Order Hero, but only because of the train. Everyone loves a good train.
Just don't expect it to change your life. It’s a movie for a sleepy Saturday afternoon when you don't want to think at all.
IMDb 7.1
1923
Community
Log in to comment.
