Yet again, I may have watched this in the past but watching this new restoration is like watching the film for the first time. Found it more engaging than I remember. James Coburn steals the show.

From IMDB trivia... I identify with this:

Walter Hill says his cinematographer Philip H. Lathrop was incredibly useful during the shoot: "Before we started I was in my office later at night and Lathrop came by, noted I wasn't in a good mood. "Anything wrong?" I had never done it, worried if I will make it look alright. He immediately said, "Don't worry about that. We will make a film, make the shots. If you are having a problem we will make the shots.…

The great Walter Hill's detectable style is already fleshed out to a large degree with his debut, an impressive period drama/actioner, that's gifted with a peerless one-two punch of a top-billed cast in Bronson and Coburn.

This depression-era tale of bare-knuckle brawlers, and the con men who profit from them, is pitch-perfect tonally from start to end. Bronson is smartly cast, in one of his finest roles, as the largely stoic drifter simply looking to make some money outside of minimal paying part-time work. Coburn, of course, oozes fast-talking charm as Bronson's possible manager. It's the third time these two shared the screen, and they play off each other beautifully. It's hard imagining these roles played better by anyone else,…

Walter Hill directs this Depression Era-based fighting-drama, starring Charles Bronson and James Coburn. A straightforward but very well-crafted and engaging piece of work that I'd say is a high-point for everyone involved.

Bronson plays a travelling drifter who befriends a sleazy promoter of bare-handed brawls named Speed. He makes a living for himself in New Orleans, competing against tough opponents and making a good amount of money for Speed. Sadly enough, mishandling of the earnings and a bad gambling habit brings Speed into deeper trouble with the local mob, who continue to threaten him until he pays off his debts.

Like Hill's other works, it's a very male-dominated work, though it's not another one of Bronson's action romps where he…

HARD TIMES is one of my TOP 5 Charles Bronson movies. Hell, maybe even one of my TOP 3 movies! And interesting enough, this si also the directorial debut of Walter Hill, who is one of my favorite directors. Its almost a perfect movie that can easily be put next to ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, DEAD WISH, BREAKHEART PASS, and couple of other Bronson's top films.
Hill's directing is excellent, fights are raw and gritty, and extremely fun to watch, while the atmosphere that faithfully evokes the period of depression era of the 30's is spot on. Partially that's achieved thanks to the fantastic and moody blues/jazz score from Barry de Vorzona.
As always, Bronson is perfect…

Simply a damn cool film.

Chaney is a drifter during the Great Depression who makes money by way of bare-knuckled fist fighting. Chaney is a damn good fighter, and it seems all is well after he wins a couple of big bouts. Things are complicated, however, when his handler, Speedy, gets in trouble with some mobsters as a result of not paying off his debts. Let the fighting begin, plain and simple.

In the films that I've seen from Walter Hill, he seems well-versed in taking a story that's simple on the surface, and supplementing said story with dense atmosphere. Such is very much the case here, as the grit and dirt of the Great Depression contrasts nicely with the…

‘The Sting’ (1973) with scraps. Despite that sucker winning Best Picture a couple of years prior, I’d argue this is a better movie.

‘Hard Times’ is directed by Walter Hill, who one day might finally get acknowledged for a body of work that can go blow for blow with just about any modern American director you could reel off.
It is indeed an assured job for his first outing as director, and we get hints of the strong stylistic traits that pepper his work right off the bat. The first thing that struck me was the double-act chemistry of a man-of-few-words protagonist with a very verbose foil: here it’s the double act of Charles Bronson and James Coburn that do…

Charles Bronson is Chayne, a quiet hobo. James Coburn is Speed, a promoter / hustler who is actually not very bright (it's the failure of the script). Chayne sounds like Shane, yet there the similarities end: Shane was helpful and didn't want to use his gun anymore. Chayne wants to mind his and only his business, he's adept at violent bare-knuckle fights, and he likes money.

There must have been a clause in Mr. Bronson's contracts saying he's paid by word. Thus, in Hard Times Chayne doesn't utter a sound if he can make a gesture instead, or not make a gesture, or walk away, or hit his opponent. But the smile is almost always there. That smile is his…