aeh-72808 The reason is that a new life of the family is waiting there. Why does Maddox kill the Hurd Price? I think the answer is that Maddox wanted to marry Laura.

TankGuy One night in the quiet frontier town of Bannock, dozens of rowdy cowhands working for rancher Vincent Bronson(LEE J. COBB)come drunkenly tearing out of the saloon and proceed to shoot up the town, causing tremendous damage and scaring the locals. An innocent old man is accidentally killed in the chaos and Bronson and his men flee from the scene. Several months later Jared Maddox(BURT LANCASTER),the marshal for Bannock, arrives in the town of Sabbath, which is owned and controlled by Bronson, intent on arresting Bronson and the men responsible for the incident. Maddox is met with hostility from the townsfolk, who are loyal to Bronson and gets little help from Sabbath's sheriff, Cotton Ryan(ROBERT RYAN)who is merely a puppet for Bronson. When Bronson suggests that he pay for the damages and send his condolences to the old man's family rather than be taken back to stand trail, Maddox refuses, still intending to fulfil his duty by taking the men back to Bannock. Maddox later kills one of Bronson's men in self defence,and both Bronson and Maddox now know they must use violence in order to stay alive...Burt Lancaster, my favourite actor, is awesome as tough,unyielding,by-the-book Jared Maddox. Maddox as a character is one of the greatest western antiheroes and throughout the course of the film develops magnificently, he is portrayed with the kind of awe striking brilliance that I expect from Burt. Lee J. Cobb is outstanding as the cigar chomping,corrupt,rugged,hard nosed land baron/rancher Vincent Bronson. Bronson is everything I imagine a rancher to look and sound like and Cobb's extremely talented and incredible portrayal of the character made him a pleasure to watch, at times he nearly upstaged Lancaster, His deep, rough voice was just amazing and reflected Cobb's talent excellently. Robert Ryan was superb and succeeded in giving his character an engaging and intriguing edge, Ryan himself is as craggy as the western landscape. Albert Salmi and Joseph Wiseman are reunited with Burt Lancaster 11 years after THE UNFORGIVEN,both give terrific performances and portray strong, interesting characters. Robert Duvall was really impressive and gave an exceptional portrayal of a wild west cowboy. John Mcgiver,Walter Brooke and Charles Tyner were excellent as some of the townsfolk and some of the characters like the mayor and the hotel manager were quite amusing.The camera-work was magnificent and quite unique. British director Michael winner, who gave us the DEATH WISH movies, gives the film a raw and intense feel with the camera-work contributing majorly to this. The short, lingering shots as well as numerous shots of characters eyes and mouths gave the film a spaghetti Western feel which complemented it greatly.The shots of the rocky,blistering,arid landscape were remarkable, the energetic, dizzying shots of Cattle being roped,wrestled to the ground and branded and the shots of Maddox tracking Adams into the hills were spectacular as well as close-ups of guns being fired. The shootout at the end was fantastic, probably the most interesting shootout I've ever seen in a western, it says a lot about the characters involved. Neither Bronson nor Maddox want to kill, but both men feel obliged and duty bound to do so because the harsh western frontier refuses to let them do otherwise and because they must stay alive. The stunts and deaths were awesome, the shots of Maddox jumping off his horse, taking cover under gunshots and return fire and the shots of his opponents being shot to death were stunning. The use of blood gave this sequence a realistic and violent edge. I was really impressed with the brutal shot of blood exploding out of a man's back and spewing out of his mouth after he is shot by Maddox. The culmination of the shootout is also brutally chilling, but I won't spoil it, the succeeding zoom in shot of Maddox' face summarises his inner torment as well as what the film is saying. The storyline was appealing, it's not just a story of one determined mans quest for justice, it delves deep into the darker side of the law. Jared Maddox is a man consumed by crippling emptiness, he feels enslaved by his job and by killing. Deep down, he is sickened and disgusted by the latter but feels he must do it, out of duty and the will to survive, as the film progresses, he becomes disillusioned and by the end of the film, he feels as if his life has been a waste. Vincent Bronson is similar, he's not a bad man, he just made a mistake and simply wants to get on with his life, but the unforgiving world in which he lives will not let him. Cotton Ryan is a character who was once a feared and respected man who built his reputation on a violent incident several years previous, but now he has been reduced to nothing and is used and walked over by everyone around him, possibly because he didn't keep up expectations.LAWMAN is a fascinating look into the mind of someone who must uphold the law and the burden they carry because of it, the price they must pay for upholding justice and keeping people safe. It's got a strong and intriguing storyline, excellent script rich in character development, there was one quote which made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up ("You'd ride a man to hell wouldn't ya Maddox").It's full of legendary acting talent, amazing characters and camera-work and has a dramatic,electrifying,finger biting, thought provoking finale which packs a bruising punch and poses a question significant for us today. All incredibly directed by Michael Winner.10/10.

dougdoepke A no-nonsense marshal is sent to apprehend roistering cowboys who've accidentally killed a townsman.The movie comes across as a revisionist western in keeping with its counter-cultural period. For example, none of the characters ends up as particularly likable, including Lancaster's and Ryan's. That way we're denied the usual hero to root for. Ordinarily, Lancaster's lawman would be expected to furnish the white hat, but here he comes across as a merciless enforcer, with no life apart from a professional one. Ryan too, as the burned-out sheriff, is sympathetic but hardly heroic, while Cobb's boss rancher transcends the usual black hat with some sympathetic character qualities. Even the scalawag gunsels show considerable regard for one another, with their own stories to tell. On a morality level, the movie is pretty complex, with no easy answers.All in all, it's an interesting story even if overdone at times, especially the big showdown that sprawls unconvincingly. Nonetheless, there's an aging Ryan and Lancaster, two of Hollywood's finest actors, lending authority to the proceedings. The supporting cast may be crowded and difficult to keep up with, still the movie definitely merits a look-see.

jeremiah59 Recently, when I was creating and synchronizing Croatian subtitles, I noticed that subtitle's timings didn't match between different versions. I have 3 versions of Lawman: 1. DVD PAL (duration 1:34:53) 2. DVD NTSC (duration 1:38:41) 3. DVB-T PAL (Croatian TV) (duration 1:34:37)Besides, there is a version from TCM which I don't have: 4. TCM DVB-S (duration unknown)All versions are different, so there are 4 different cuts of this movie.First, the comparison between PAL and NTSC DVD's: There are 2 distinctive scene cuts and neither version is uncut! NTSC DVD sold on Amazon, claims to be uncut, but it isn't.The scene which is cut from PAL DVD, is a 4 second horse fall (at 1:00:12 h).The scene which is cut from NTSC DVD, is a love scene (starts at 1:22:54 h) in which Sheree North (Laura) has naked boobs. This scene was replaced with a scene in which the boobs were completely covered with a blanket and never seen. The durations of these scenes are different and even the conversations are slightly different. It is interesting to notice Burt Lancaster's attitude in these scenes. In the scene with naked boobs, his face is bitter and his hand never approaches the boobs. But in the alternative scene with covered boobs, his hand repeatedly squeezes the boobs and his face has a cheerful expression. :-)The differences between TV captures are less important, but are as follows:DVB-T PAL (Croatian TV) is basically the same as NTSC DVD, but in PAL TV standard with slight indistinguishable differences in timings, full-screen, very crisp and clear video with more natural colors than on DVD's.TCM DVB-S "…is cut losing the horse fall & the 'squib hit' when Burt Lancaster shoots his wounded horse."