dude, The Big Sky, Friendly Persuasion and Guns of Navarone, rock, hey!

great to hear from you mike and that you like this classic! :-) Fred

I think BIG JAKE was a Spaghetti Western in story line as well, the opening scenes were especially darker, men died more violently, even if it was off camera.

Like Max Steiner's The Searchers, yes?!

Gotta disagree, though I deeply admire Tiomkin and his music, Elmer Bernstein gives him plenty of competition for that title.

Don't forget Jerome Morross

That makes sense, because most Comanches could speak Spanish, and most Texans picked up at least a working comprehension of it.

You'll find that in a number of Wayne films; something he picked up from his days with John Ford.

Yes to both. It's a little factually correct aspect that you don't find in many classic westerns. Same with actual Chinese actresses speaking in their native Cantonese, as most Chinese-Americans with generational roots came from Guangdong, as is evident in Chinese-American food (buffet fodder as opposed to legit Chinatown food). It's good to see western films with the authenticity of history.

I don't know if THE WAR WAGON is available on DVD.....but I do have a copy of this on VHS from MCA Home Video from the 80's

+robert szvetics One of the problems with re-mastering a movie is that the music stems might not match the actual film. Eastwood's movies, for the most part, probably have separate tracks, synced to the film. When they did The Magnificent Seven, the available music tracks had been combined with the effect tracks and only the theme could be presented in stereo.

was available at one time.

hello there! this is the original soundtrack, conducted by tiomkin himself, as heard and recorded for the movie. as far as i know a re-recording of that score does not exists. all the best! :-) Fred

i dont know the film soundtrack was in mono but it sounds great

Frederik Riesberg thanks for uploading this

vincent, you're definitely right, this is obviously a re recording of the original soundtrack; fred, you should listen carefully to the first minutes of the movie and you would certainly realize your mistake...

Geoffroy Mazeau vincent wilson , Hey there you both! I don't want to tell any lies, here is what the soundtrack label said to this production, maybe it brings some light into the dark! Fred :-) "Intrada proudly offers complete score, newly mixed & mastered in full stereo from actual multi-track session masters stored in mint condition in Universal vaults. CD includes terrific opening "Ballad of The War Wagon", sung by Ed Ames. Happily, all "sweetener" elements also survived in perfect condition, allowing Intrada to remix all stereo chorus overdubs for main title, including additional harmonica & piano tracks! Tiomkin creates great main theme for armor-plated gold wagon, then fashions dynamic variations underlining preparations by Wayne & Douglas to destroy it along with villainous owner Bruce Cabot. Latter half of score features several incredible action set-pieces with Tiomkin in spectacular form as he nears end of composing career. Hearing it all in vivid stereo makes for an exciting listen!"