John Wayne is in a group of "good guys" who must stay within the sheriff's office during conflict with criminals. The 3 films have differing varieties of this, but the main idea is the same.
This series got worse as it went on. Rio Bravo is one of my favorite films and I am keeping the other ones, but they did not live up to its standards. How can you beat Dean Martin and Walter Brennan playing music in the office while under siege? In El Dorado, the sheriff was the drunk instead of a deputy to John Wayne and the sharp-shooter from Rio Bravo became a can't-shooter with a sawed off shotgun. I won't even mention all of the character changes in Rio Lobo. Let's just say that John Wayne was a soldier during the civil war. Don't get me wrong. The plot and characters were the main focus of the 3 films and high production value for the time made them classic westerns. I do actually like all of them. I just think that the writing blew its load on #1 while 2 and 3 got sloppy seconds. 1 more beef with the series: where is my Sergio Leone style crane up and out exit shot? When exploiting western film cliches (as these films do), why not go all out and make it a complete package? I rate this series good. I know I've reviewed 2 of the films already, but this is an update/summary. If you like 1960s American westerns, watch these.
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