Ride with the Devil
Criterion Collection, The | Release Date: November 24, 1999 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
6
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
The best movie I've seen this year. Read full review
80
Washington PostStephen Hunter
In its quiet way, Ride With the Devil is terrific. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyErnest Hardy
The film is beautifully shot and filled with fine performances. Read full review
80
Film.comPeter Brunette
Far too deliberate for many--I found its generally contemplative spirit, punctuated at regular intervals by some exciting battle sequences, superb. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Ang Lee's dark and sober fable might be the most interesting and least dogmatic view of the Civil War to wend its way into the multiplexes. Read full review
80
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Lee has made a brutal but sensitively observed film about the fringes of the Civil War. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverGregory Weinkauf
In this, Lee's most ambitious and successful work yet, his celebrated gift for psychological shading and complexity is on proud display. Read full review
80
Film.comGemma Files
A gorgeous and enduring piece of work. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
At a time when new westerns are in short supply, Devil a sight for sore eyes. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerDesmond Ryan
Brave enough to take up the war from the Southern point of view. Read full review
75
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
Never has this war been filmed with such ragged glory. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The movie is longer and slower than necessary, but it explores interesting questions of wartime violence, personal integrity, and what it means to come of age in a society ripping apart at the seams. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeJay Carr
It's one of the few films that persuades you that it went out to meet the war and bring it to us with verisimilitude. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Stack
For fans of Westerns, the film may have particular appeal. Its period gear and garb and galloping horses are major attractions Read full review
70
Mr. ShowbizMichael Atkinson
Though Lee's movie is dripping with action and beautiful details, it's aimless and, eventually, tedious. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
A serious film with a lot on its mind, is probably the most intelligent treatment of this period we've had. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineSteve Simels
A moving, gorgeously filmed look at one of the Civil War's more obscure chapters, the quasi-official combat that divided friends along the Missouri-Kansas border. Read full review
70
TNT RoughCutSpencer H. Abbott
Watching Wright portray a black man who actually fights alongside the very men who wish to keep him enslaved proves to be an interesting philosophical dichotomy.
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Dramatically skimpy, even though the movie stirs together themes of love, sex, death and war. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleRussell Smith
Unostentatious originality, psychological insight, and stark beauty make it well worth any film lover's time. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
Doesn't offer much texture or depth of character. Read full review
63
USA TodayMike Clark
Jewel is more like an acting zircon because she just can't project, but at least she looks the part, and her novelty value isn't unwelcome. Read full review
60
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
The movie is not unintelligent but it is insipid Read full review
60
TimeRichard Corliss
For all the carnage, Lee's tone is contemplative. Read full review
60
Rolling StonePeter Travers
A meditation on the racial and class conflicts at the heart of the American character.
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Ang Lee's bloody but dramatically anemic depiction of the American Civil War as fought by boys without uniforms. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Not a very entertaining movie; it's a long slog unless you're fascinated by the undercurrents. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Comes to be dominated by the acting, and this is an unfortunate fate. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
The plot is largely a series of excuses for one-liners expertly delivered by Maguire, making all the hatred, maiming, and killing seem like digressions. Read full review
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