User Reviews

I seem to be in the minority here and probably a different age group, the upper one. Raised on westerns, my favourite source of drama in films, I have avoided this movie because of poor reviews and poor box office. I watched it last night, mainly to see Charlize Theron and was amazed how much I loved it. It opened with majestic scenes of what I took to be Monument Valley, used to such great success by John Ford in his classic westerns with John Wayne. My thoughts went almost immediately to Blazzing Saddles for comparisons, although it is much cruder but I'm used to that now in modern entertainment. Strangely I don't usually like vulgarity in humour but for some reason I overlooked it in this movie. That may be due to the likeable performances from Seth MacFarlane and Theron. Amongst all the sillyness is a completely straight performance by Liam Neeson playing his best violent persona which is another reason why I found it worked. I never realised MacFarlane was the same actor who made Ted, which I really didn't like and for me the crude humour in that was everything I don't like about modern entertainment. Why I forgave him that for this picture is a riddle. Still, I really didn't want this film to finish. I loved the relationship build-up between MacFarlane and Theron and the supporting actors, the violent gags and the cinematography were terrific. Perhaps you have to be an old time western fan to enjoy and sadly it's a bygone genre to modern audiences judging by other comments here. 9 stars from me for the most entertaining movie of the year for me so far.

Yeah, yeah; it's getting lacklustre reviews, and I half understand why.

It's not a timeless piece of comedy, but it's got spunk, wonderful production values, inspired comedic acting (even the 'bit' roles), and it has well-turned moments of stunningly genuine romance. Of note: If other comedy films are "better", why did I find more good ol', down-home belly laughs in this one? I think I know why: Sure, MacFarlane can play it blue and scatological, but he also values that other timeless comedic tradition; that which is Truly Funny Because It Is True.

Special Mention for Sarah Silverman. I think she struggles to reach out and touch with her unique and beautiful style, and goes largely unappreciated. MacFarlane gave her a great vehicle, and she lived up to it with the kind of aplomb and vivacity that I've certainly come to expect from her. I sincerely hope moviegoers will recognize this and watch her career with heightened expectations.

One thing I thought a bit odd: The Onion reviewer's main critique was that MacFarlane was "recycling" gags. I was half-expecting to find a tiresome rehashing of a few gags. I started watching, and found it engaging and surprising.

Anyway, it sorta looks like the horse is out of the barn. The flick did sh1t at the box office, and it'll go to DVD and maybe recoup its outlays. Too bad! It deserves better.

If you know that Seth MacFarlane is the creator of "Family Guy", then you'll have an idea of what "A Million Ways to Die in the West" contains. Executive producing this year's "Cosmos" showed that he has a serious side, but his silliness is on full display here with him in the lead role. The movie shows what the Old West would've been like had it been the brainchild of 10- to 14-year-old boys. Not even "Blazing Saddles" showed the stuff that we see here!

I found Sarah Silverman's character to be the funniest, speaking as casually as she does about oral and anal sex. As for scenes, I liked the whole sequence with the Indians the best. But the movie always knows which kind of movie it is. "AMWTDITW" definitely won't be for everyone, but if you can accept nonstop crude humor then you'll enjoy it. And you're bound to find Charlize Theron and Amanda Seyfried both really hot.

Nerd a--hole. Ha!

Unfortunate this got Razzie awards that's harsh, A Million Ways to Die in the West is so much fun! Some of the most ridiculous humor and so smooth at least this has a 6.1 rating that's solid. Albert such a great character fun for anyone even non-western fans or not. I grave oddball movies they are great heartwarming entertainment in most cases. The entire cast is great, sometimes shocking, constantly silly, and more entertaining than most would think especially if you don't take it seriously. Seth Macfarlane is one of few to perfect making humor out of random deaths and not making it feel morbid.

Since I watched Ted about a year or so ago, I became aware of this Seth McFarlane more and more especially when he hosted the Oscars last year. I found him often clever and funny even with his take on many vulgarities which he continues with this movie. Since he co-wrote, directed, and is the leading player here, he should get credit for not only continuing to provide funny scenes and lines for his players but also some for himself especially when he rants on certain facts or just makes stuff up. There was also a cameo from another movie from the '80s that I was very pleasantly surprised by! So on that note, I recommend A Million Ways to Die in the West.

Comedy westerns have a strong legacy through classics like Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles", "Support your Local Sheriff/Gunfighter" (with James Garner), "Paleface" and "Son of Paleface" (with Bob Hope and Jane Russell) all the way back to the brilliant "Destry Rides Again" (with James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich). Unfortunately for each of these classics there's the odd "Wild Wild West" to restore movie western Karma, and Seth Macfarlane's follow on to "Ted" – "A Million Ways to Die in the West" – is on that other side of the scales.

Macfarlane aside (who really isn't funny enough to take the leading role of the sheep farmer Albert) the rest of the cast is bordering on stellar featuring Liam Neeson, Sarah Silverman, Amanda Seyfried and the gorgeous Charlize Theron. And they work very hard at it: Theron occasionally laughs like a hyena (to cover the fact that normally we are not) and Neeson plays the straight man villain very straight indeed.

So let's accentuate the positive for a moment. The photography of the Utah locations is gorgeous. Joel McNeely's western score is sumptuous (gotta love a western soundtrack) and the songs (including the moustache song and the title song) are both catchy and suitably ridiculous.

And there are moments in this film that are genuinely funny: Sarah Silverman's Christian hooker with a heart who is "saving herself" for her husband-to-be, played by the excellent Giovanni Ribisi (Frank Buffay Jnr in "Friends"), while servicing 10 of the locals ("on a slow day"); shooting practice with plates and a doctor's blue woodpecker for the aftermath; the Navajo translation for "fine" being "Mila Kunis" and – most surreal of all – Albert's drugged up trip with moustache wearing dancing sheep.

There are also some amusing cameos, particularly one in a barn (don't watch some of the trailers that cheaply give it away).

But the bits that did make me really laugh were few and far between. A lot of the jokes fall face first into the dry Utah dust with the humour similar to Albert's aim: scattergun. The script stoops to swearing at every opportunity (because that's always funny isn't it?) and whilst toilet humour can work in moderation you need to know when to stop and when to leave something to the imagination. I'd like to suggest that this was a self-written, self-directed over-indulgent piece by Macfarlane, given carte blanche to indulge, and over-indulge, by studio execs after the runaway success of "Ted" – - but he did have co-writers who could and should have balanced his content more (Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild – I haven't actually checked that these don't make an anagram of Seth Macfarlane).

Comedy movies need to have good material across the whole running time, which means the films need to be tautened until the material 'twangs' along its whole length. This was not one of those films.

(If you enjoyed this review, please check out my other reviews on bobmann447.wordpress.com, and sign up to "Follow the Fad". Thanks!).

After finding tremendous success with animated sitcoms Family Guy and American Dad, Seth MacFarlane ventured into the realm of live-action comedy with 2012's smash hit Ted, which featured Mark Wahlberg as a slacker whose best friend is a sex-and-drugs-obsessed teddy bear. While MacFarlane provided the voice and motion capture for the titular stuffed animal, he never actually appeared in the film, but takes center stage in his sophomore effort, A Million Ways to Die in the West.

Set in Arizona in 1882, the film stars MacFarlane as Albert Stark, a mild-mannered sheep farmer living a mundane existence in the rough and tumble town of Old Stump. Stark has just lost his girlfriend (Amanda Seyfried) to a wealthy local businessman (Neil Patrick Harris), and spends his days drinking away his sorrows with his best (and seemingly only) friend Edward (Giovanni Ribisi) and his prostitute fiancée, Ruth (Sarah Silverman).

Meanwhile, notorious outlaw Clinch Leatherwood (Liam Neeson) has dispatched his wife to Old Stump to await his arrival while he and the rest of the gang pull off another stagecoach robbery. After a chance encounter during a bar fight, Anna (Charlize Theron) takes an immediate liking to Stark, and agrees to help him win back the heart of his lost love, but omitting her true identity could have grave consequences when Clinch discovers who she's spending her days with.

While the plot sounds like it could have come from any number of Western films, everything that occurs on screen is through the filter of MacFarlane's unique sense of humor. Simultaneously poking fun at genre tropes while also paying homage to the classics, A Million Ways to Die in the West offers plenty to laugh at, including a hilarious song and dance number about men's facial hair, and an absurd variety of comedic death sequences.

Unfortunately, these moments are overshadowed by the fact that most of the film's humor is derived from the sort of R-rated content that MacFarlane can't get away with on television. There are only so many jokes about semen, diarrhea, and homosexuality that an audience can absorb before these topics stops being funny, but the film continues well past that mark, with Silverman coming across as particularly grating. After years of the exact same schtick, haven't people grown tired of hearing her talk about her vagina?

MacFarlane has proved time and again that he can write intelligent, thought-provoking comedy, but much like his previous film, he seems far too willing to cast that aside in favor of dick jokes and lame attempts to be offensive and shocking, just for the sake of being offensive and shocking. A Million Ways to Die in the West isn't a bad film - indeed, I think it's a vast improvement over Ted - but it's still not the MacFarlane film that I had hoped for. He's better than this, and hopefully we'll see that in his next flick.

-- Brent Hankins, www.nerdrep.com

This movie has gotten sh*t from a lot of reviewers. Still I have no clue why. It wasn't that bad. Sure, there's the recycling gag thingy people complain about, there's potty humor and swears. But this is the thing; it's not intended to be a classy, heartfelt comedy. It's just a very funny and immature slapstick comedy. It's clear that Seth McFarlanes humor isn't classy, clever or original. However, he does manage to create a somewhat funny movie that can be enjoyed. Now, I like stupid, silly movies. I don't like cleverly written comedies. So, If you are a fan of Family Guy or Ted's humor, you will probably like this movie.

A lot of reviewers tend to review this movie as like it is trying to be an Oscar movie. It isn't. All the actors did a great job (even the small rolls), the jokes weren't all over the place & it was actually quite enjoyable. They're having fun, we're having fun. Nothing wrong with that.

I don't understand why people go into movies like these expecting them to be some kind of comical masterpiece when the trailer was clear enough about it just being another random & dumb slapstick comedy. People are stupid enough to go watch it knowing what type of movie this is and expecting it to be something it's not.

So bottom line: If you like stupid & silly comedies with racist jokes & stereotypes, go watch this one. If you are a typical fan of the humor in Family Guy, South Park etc you will enjoy. There's plenty of different kinds of jokes in here. None of them classy, but funny. Toilet humor, foul mouths, racist stereotypes, offensive parodies & a few references that will be totally unexpected. If you're a fan of cleverly written scripts & wants to watch a classy comedy film; well, this movie is a total waste of time for you. I watched this expecting it to be really dumb, but enjoyable and it surpassed my expectations. The plot is simple, the jokes aren't clever but funny, the actors are doing a more than well job. I couldn't ask for more. This one deserves at least a 7 star rating. I found this movie much funnier than TED, which also was pretty dumb.

I rarely listen to what reviewers say about a movie before watching it first. You should do the same and judge for yourself. I just don't think it deserves the hate.

Watch and enjoy. Suprised never seen it till '19 😅

I've sometimes enjoyed watching Family Guy and actually even enjoyed Ted. Reading the reviews on this movie made me not go see it in theaters, but I am satisfied with my choice to finally watch and to have given it a chance. Because of this, this is my first review posted on years of being on this site.

Seth knows his niche and the audience the directs his work towards. It was nice to have a genuinely funny movie that falls in line with the sense of humor I expected.

If you don't like his regular work, I don't recommend it, but if you do, you'll probably enjoy.

This movie is funny from start to finish. Lots of unexpected and original humor. Cleverly blends funny situations and lines from different contexts - modern, crude and all the old fashioned classic Western genres.

Great cast perfectly suited to their roles. Charlize is lovely and funny. Seth acts well amidst all these seasoned actors. Liam looks good in his Western outfit and doesn't look too old. Giovanni Ribisi is funny. Sarah Silverman too. Neil Patrick Harris is quite right with his mustache. Amanda Seyfried - her eyes!

The wild west monument valley and desert scenery and filming are beautiful.

Well done.

It's 1882 in Arizona, the heartland of the American West. We follow the life of Albert Stark (Seth MacFarlane), an incompetent and inept sheep farmer whose girlfriend Louise (Amanda Seyfried) breaks up with him because of his glaring lack of courage and skill. Depressed and discouraged by how his life is full of disappointment and how every instance of love is then destroyed and robbed from him, Albert finds comfort in Anna (Charlize Theron), a newcomer to his small village. Albert is attracted to her, initially, by her beauty, but realizes she's the courage and confidence he has always hungered for. However, when the infamous West outlaw Clinch Leatherwood (Liam Neeson) arrives in town, Albert realizes that he has just intruded on Clinch and Anna's husband-and-wife relationship, and Clinch is hungry for retribution. On the other hand, Albert also has to find the gunslinging skill in order to battle Louise's new boyfriend - the cocky and wealthy Foy (Neil Patrick Harris) - in a shootout in front of the entire town.

A Million Ways to Die in the West may not have been the best followup to Seth MacFarlane's monster comedy hit Ted just two years ago. Despite critical/audience reception on the film taking a turn for the worse in recent time, I found that film absolutely hilarious in its brazenness and its levels of romance and heart to be on-point for a raunchy comedy of the modern day. A Million Ways to Die in the West feels like it came about when MacFarlane was sitting around a table with a few of his buddies for dinner and the gang of friends got to talking about how life in the American West must have been hell for the simple townspeople who weren't notorious gunslingers or dangerous outlaws. What they then proceeded to concoct was a barrage of events and downsides to living in one of America's most free and lawless times and what was formed was a satire on the American West life.

To be fair, the film has certain merit to it. When the film isn't getting caught up in excessive use of shock humor and gross-out gags and relying on criticizing conventions of the West, it becomes a very funny and often hilarious endeavor. When it, however, resorts to using diarrhea and urinating sheep as it core jokes is when the film becomes a tad insufferable. This is particularly frustrating because we know MacFarlane is capable of so much more than what is presented here.

However, MacFarlane excels when the screenplay calls for delivery of lengthy monologues explaining why the West is such a hellhole. Consider the scene that takes place in a local saloon, where Albert is talking with his close friends about how doctors use unorthodox practices, "modern" medicine kills and harms more than it heals, there is a new "disease of the week" every week, and everything that isn't you in the West wants you dead. This kind of humor is much more low-key and plays different instruments than the abundance of shock humor MacFarlane employs later on in the film. Was he fearful that the humor would be far too low-key and subtle for many to pick up on? Then there's the fact that the film is an unforgivably overlong one-hundred and fifty-six minutes when I initially struggled to see how this film could sustain ninety minutes. Being that it's MacFarlane, scenes drag out, subplots are introduced, musical numbers are introduced, and several little cameos such as the hilarious Bill Maher and Jamie Foxx turn up almost constantly. I am a fan of MacFarlane's rapid-fire style of filmmaking, and I admire this effort for the fact that it has to dodge contemporary pop culture references being that the story takes place in 1882. MacFarlane seemingly used those pop culture references as a cop out for story lines and plot points in his television show Family Guy, especially in the most recent episodes.

It's incredible the cast of characters MacFarlane managed to get to partake in this affair. Theron and Neeson partake in some rare comedic performances to a solid effect, and Sarah Silverman as the town hooker works because of her comedic openness. It's hard to believe the weakest performer at hand is MacFarlane himself, who finds ways to overact in many places and can't convey emotions due to his single-facial expression.

With A Million Ways to Die in the West MacFarlane creates a mildly-amusing writing exercising that turns into a sometimes funny but often middling farce on western life. The musical numbers are entertaining enough, the performances and the cameos are something to anticipate, and the aftertaste it leaves is not bitter nor offensive; just somewhat underwhelming.

Starring: Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, Giovanni Ribisi, Sarah Silverman, Neil Patrick Harris, and Amanda Seyfried. Directed by: Seth MacFarlane.

First of all, I like MacFarlane's work and I am big fan of 'Family Guy', 'American Dad' and his previous live-action feature 'Ted', but 'A Million Ways to Die in the West' was set for being panned from the moment the trailer was unveiled. This is a real shame because the film does have some good aspects to it, at times it is evident that MacFarlane was trying to pay homage to some of the original westerns but at other times he was trying too hard to modernise a genre that didn't need it, and as a result the film was littered with grotesque sex jokes and toilet humour. Now don't get me wrong, I did chuckle a few times, but very few times at that. Liam Neeson's casting as the villain was indeed a good choice and he pulls off the role very well, especially alongside the stunning Charlize Theron in all her glory. I did enjoy the subtle references to 'Back to the Future' and 'Django Unchained', but despite these certain affluences, the film just generally lacked elsewhere and was unfortunately heavily flawed; a disappointing project from MacFarlane.

Greetings from Lithuania.

"A Million Ways to Die in the West" (2014) is a really fun film. Comedy / spoof of 60's westerns works here. Acting was OK, cinematography was very solid, music is good, and jokes were good as well (sadly, not all). It's not the "best comedy ever type" of a film, but it's a solid one. Actually acting by Giovanni Ribisi and Neil Patrick Harris were a standouts, and Giovanni Ribisi's story in this picture was the most funny.

Overall, to enjoy this picture you have to relax, and enjoy the ride. It's not the most original one, but for one evening it definitely does it's job.

I'm a little surprised that so many reviews of A Million Ways follow the theme of: "pretty disappointed... funny but not hilarious... not as good as I was hoping..." etc.

This movie was literally exactly what I was expecting when I sat down in the theatre and the lights began to dim. That is to say, I've seen so much of Seth MacFarlane's work to know his sense of humour comfortably well.

OK, the movie is trite and the screenplay won't win awards, but it's bright, the scenery is amazing, the timing is reasonably fast-paced, and the quick-witted chemistry between Seth and Charlize plays out fairly well for the bulk of the film.

Also, there are plenty of jokes to enjoy and plenty of cameos to look out for. Some jokes are weird, vague, or just plain dirty. But really, after twelve seasons of Family Guy, what were you expecting, Shakespeare?

If you're looking for a dramatic, earth-shattering movie that will question existence and alter the way you view humanity, don't see this movie. But, I guess, if you bought tickets to a Seth MacFarlane movie without knowing what you're getting yourself into, it's kind of your own fault now, isn't it?

If, however, you're a fan of the offbeat and immature sense of humour that embodies Family Guy, this movie will most likely be a fun and easy-going way to pass two hours of your time.

I saw this movie last night and liked it. It's beautifully shot, and the panoramic "wild west" landscape and costumes and sets are beautifully western. The story arc was interesting, if a bit predictable, but the whole setting and story is really just a line on which MacFarlane hangs a bunch of jokes. He is a comedian with a "here and now" sensibility, and all of his works seem to be interesting/funny in the specific scene but perhaps a little poorly done in terms of the arc of the whole story.

Charlize Theron was great. She turned in a solid and strong performance, as a tough-but-battered woman with a raunchy sense of humor and a very loving and protective heart. Others have noted that MacFarlane's performance doesn't quite hold up to hers, but there were moments when his uncanny big Irish mug and delivery were perfect.

I was not expecting to find an innocent love story about people making the most of their lives and their situations. I was not expecting many of the things in the film, but enjoyed it all. 8 out of 10 because I'm knocking the film for its slender story arc. Another producer or some studio bigwigs could perhaps have retooled the script to make it more dramatic or rapid -- but then they might have killed off the good things in the script, too. All in all, I recommend.

I'll start off by saying I'm a huge Seth Macfarlane fan. I love Family Guy and American Dad (Cleveland show has its moments too!) Ted was also a great film in my opinion so I hoped this one would live up to my expectations and it did not disappoint. I feel it got a low ranking mainly from people who don't understand the sarcastic humour that was obviously apparent throughout. I thought the film was incredibly witty, extremely funny with constant laugh out loud moments and it also had a decent plot with some great acting from Seth himself (who would have known he was just as great in front of the camera?) The great cast showcases to me that people could see great potential in the script and all actors involved really held their own in making this film a brilliant comedy. PS this is the first review I've ever written and I registered specifically to help make the rating of this film more acceptable.

And trust me, that one star was given grudgingly.If nothing else, this picture clearly shows how far down the ladder of creativity movie making has fallen. It's as if a bunch of dirty-minded, foul-mouth juveniles got together and decided to make a movie and put in it every goofy, dirty, idiotic, dumb idea and utterance they could think of. And they must have because here is plainly the result. What a colossal waste of talent. I don't know how long this took to film but everyone in it could have made better use of their time had they stood around and chucked rocks down a sink hole. Seth MacFarlane as writer, director, producer and so-called actor of this unfunny, boring mess has proved with this one undertaking that he is a quadruple waste of time. Trust me, you'd have a better time sitting out in a puddle playing in the mud than you'd have in this dirt- poor excuse for a movie.

This review comes from someone who likes Famnily Guy and really enjoyed TED... but this new one... was... ouch... I went in expecting a few laughs but there were fewer than even my low expectations predicted. Other than the script everything is top notch. Actors are great. Charlize and Liam and Sarah Silverman etc are terrific. It's too bad they didn't have something better to work with.

Liam in fact seems like he's in a different movie. He's 100 percent serious. That might be Seth's point in making a guy (himself) who is caught in the middle of a serious horrible deadly world that the west really was.

It looks very good visually. Great score. But very inconsistent. Not hit and miss. More like hit and miss miss miss groan miss semi-hit miss. And the joke style kept changing. Silly to sweet to over the top and serious at times. and some of the jokes were so disgusting I don't know what they were thinking. (and i like disgusting)

Plus the anachronistic style gets tired fast.

And Seth as predicted should not have made himself the lead. He's not awful but would have benefited greatly with a pro. His persona is not fit for leading man status. And his voice and style is so in step with Brian's on family guy its a bit distracting.

Basically the tone of this film keeps changing. The joke styles keep changing. it doesn't know what it is. Is is a sweet western romcom? Is it a satire? Is it a serious comedy?

With all the success from Ted I'm guessing Seth had carte blanche with this one and probably needed someone to question him more.

Might be more fun if your stoned. Really really stoned. And/or maybe just see Blazing Saddles instead.