Bite the Bullet is an excellent, literate action drama probing the diverse motivations of participants in an endurance horse race. The contestants include Gene Hackman and James Coburn as ex-San Juan Hill Rough Riders; Candice Bergen as a former resident of Jean Willes frontier pleasure shanty, seeking money to help her imprisoned lover; vagabond Ben Johnson desperately wanting to ‘be somebody’ for a brief moment in life.
After a leisurely though intriguing buildup, the race begins, and during the daily ordeals of mountain, desert, rain, sun, cold and heat, the pressures and the secrets of the characters emerge plausibly and rationally.
Bergen’s ulterior motivation in particular triggers a surprise, pre-climactic turn. Effective use of slow-motion in the final scene lends suspense to the outcome as the two surviving riders inch towards the ribbon.
Popular on Variety
1975: Nominations: Best Original Song Score, Sound
