Bite the Bullet

1975
PG
2h 12m

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

YOUR RATING

Candice Bergen, James Coburn, and Gene Hackman in Bite the Bullet (1975)

A group of ex-rough riders, an ex-prostitute and a gunfighter enter a horse race in the desert.

Play trailer2:31

1 Video

41 Photos

Action Adventure Drama Western

A pair of ex-Rough Riders, a former prostitute, a gunfighter, an aging cowboy and an English gentleman enter a 700-mile horse race through the Southwest desert in 1908.A pair of ex-Rough Riders, a former prostitute, a gunfighter, an aging cowboy and an English gentleman enter a 700-mile horse race through the Southwest desert in 1908.A pair of ex-Rough Riders, a former prostitute, a gunfighter, an aging cowboy and an English gentleman enter a 700-mile horse race through the Southwest desert in 1908.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 1 win & 2 nominations total

Videos1

Trailer 2:31

Official Trailer

Photos41

More like this

6.2

6.2

6.1

6.5

7.1

6.8

5.7

6.3

6.4

When the Daltons Rode

7.3

The Man from Laramie

6.3

Villa Rides

7.0

Under Fire

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
The film was inspired by the 1908 700-mile cross-country horse race from Evanston, Wyoming to Denver, Colorado. It was sponsored by the Denver Post, which offered $2,500 prize money to the winner.

Goofs
As the third (Jan-Michael Vincent) of three riders is exiting the train at the race station (close to the 12 minute mark), you can clearly see a crew member wearing t-shirt, sun-glasses and wrist watch, looking perfectly mid-1970's.

Quotes
Mister: God, what ain't I tried. Pony express rider, Overland Stage driver, lawman, gambler, riverman, rancher, rodeo hand, barman, spittoon man... old man. Never much to remember. Of course, there ain't much to forget, either. Nobody's got much use for an old man. I can't blame 'em much. That's why I'm going to win this here newspaper race. When I cross the finish line, I get to be a big man. Top man. A man to remember.

Alternate versions
UK version is cut (ca. 10 sec.) to remove sight of cruelty to horses (illegal horse falls) due to the Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act 1937.

Connections
Featured in Behind the Action: Stuntmen in the Movies (2002)

Soundtracks
National Emblem
(uncredited)
Written by Edwin Eugene Bagley

User reviews59

Review

Featured review

8/10

In Many Respects, An Underrated Western

A good cast, some nice photography and an interesting story about a 700-mile horse race make "Bite The Bullet" kind of underrated western. You don't hear it mentioned much in "Favorite Westerns" lists.

The only drawbacks for me were a little too much language and that grundgy-70s feel to it that movies in that decade had to them, even in westerns. Having grown up with "Shane," and a bunch of westerns on TV, I still wasn't quite used to what I heard here when this came out 30 years ago. Nowadays, this is mild stuff.

This is a fairly long film at 131 minutes but it moves fast. Gene Hackman plays the tough-but-humane hero. The rest of the contestants in this race are all interesting, too. Each is given a little profile of themselves and include Candice Bergen, James Coburn, Jan-Michael Vincent, Ben Johnson and Ian Bannen.

In addition, there are some memorable scenes such as a horse literally dropping dead; a man poisoned, a woman with a "different agenda" an old man hanging on and a bad-turned-good kid. It's a nice mixture.