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6.5/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.5/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Kid Courageous remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Look, if you need something deep or life-changing, keep walking. Kid Courageous is basically just a Saturday afternoon filler that gets the job done if you want to watch some horses trot around and people get angry at each other in the desert.
If you like old-school B-movie grit, you’ll be fine. If you’re the type of person who needs perfect logic in their plot, you are going to hate every single second of this.
The whole thing feels like it was filmed in a weekend, which is kind of charming. Bob Steele is doing the heavy lifting here, and he’s got that specific kind of stoic energy where he just nods and shoots stuff.
The plot is as thin as a piece of paper. Kincade is the bad guy, and man, does he look like he’s having a blast being a jerk. He’s taking the gold, he’s planning a kidnapping—the whole checklist is there.
There’s a moment where a character just sort of… vanishes from the narrative. Nobody mentions him again. It’s like the editor just gave up halfway through a reel and decided we didn't need to know where he went.
It reminds me a bit of the rough-around-the-edges energy you get in Battling with Buffalo Bill, though maybe with less ambition. It’s definitely not trying to be Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness, and that’s probably for the best.
The ending happens so fast you’ll blink and wonder if you missed a scene. One minute Kincade is cooking up a scheme, and the next, Bob is wrapping things up. It’s not elegant. It’s barely professional. But it’s got that dusty, sun-baked feeling that makes these old westerns worth a look if you’re bored on a Tuesday. 🤠
Don't expect it to change your life. Just watch it for the horses and the guy falling off the balcony. That's enough.
