NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007) [REACTION] Is More Relevant Than Ever In 2024. First Time Watching 

I ordered the soundtrack and received a blank disc.

Everybody took the money. Taxi driver, desk clerk at the hotel, the dudes at the border, the mariachi band, heck even the kids after the accident. They all knew they were being offered the money to cover for shady or criminal business and they still took the money.

It's a captive bolt stunner. This device, also known as a cattle gun or stun gun, is typically used for humanely killing livestock. (Copied and pasted because I'm being lazy this morning.)

The sheriff is just used to it all. He’s not corrupt at all. He was pissed that the guy delivering bodies didn’t secure them well so people could see them and they could fall off.

I used to manage a theater and would sneak in as much as I could to watch parts of this movie, I would just stare at the screen….I didn’t even feel myself breathing at times, absolutely love it

Bro says, "I am not a thinker." and keeps uttering one profound statement after another.

Carla Jean was played by Kelly Macdonald who is Scottish. Her accent is incredible.

The old sheriff is the main character and the movie is about his struggle with accepting how the world is changing. Also there is no soundtrack at all, they relied mainly on sound effects and suspense. Genius.

My personal take on this movie is that it's really about fate versus choice. Chigurh represents fate, Llewellyn represents choice and Sheriff Bell represents the middle point of a man who believes in justice and the rules of society. All of them find themselves tested in their perspective of the world in their own way. The most interesting of those to me is Chigurh because it's my belief that he genuinely felt he was being guided by some higher power in his role as a hired killer. When Carla-Jean refused to call his coin toss, it essentially upended his entire belief system because it meant he had to take responsibility for killing her himself. I believe this is why he gets hit by a car at the end: either he was so rattled by having his beliefs challenged that he had lost his killer instinct... Or he actually WAS being protected by some higher power who revoked said protection when he chose not to follow their divine rule of obeying the coin toss. The Coens cleverly leave it ambiguous as to which really happened.

Lobos is Spanish for wolves. They explain Anton Chigur’s weapon briefly when the sheriff is thinking about it, he says they have things that they kill cattle with that shoots a metal rod in and pulls it back out. So it’s not nails, it shoots a metal rod in their head with air pressure and pulls it back in in an instant.

Some explanations: When Llewelyn took a cab back to his motel room, he saw that the curtains weren't as he had left them. He figured (correctly) that someone was waiting for him there. It was the Mexican cartel. That's why he rented the room behind it, so he could get the money out through the air ducts. When Chigurh tracked the money to that same motel room, he rented the room next to it and studied its layout to plan his attack. When he burst into Llewelyn's room he killed all the Mexican cartel members who were there waiting for Llewelyn. But Llewelyn was able to get the money and leave before Chigurh figured out where it was. When Carla Jean and her mother went to El Paso, one of the Mexican cartel members got the mom to tell him where they were going. They killed Llewelyn and some other people when they found him there. The beer lady was just a bystander. One of the things that makes Chigurh terrifying is that he thinks he's carrying out fate, or at least tells that to himself (and others) to explain his behavior. Because of that, you can't reason with him. But in the end, even Chigurh is subject to the same random chance as everyone else. If I came across a drug deal gone wrong with dead bodies all over the place, I'd run like hell and hope no one saw me. I wouldn't look for money, and if I saw any, I wouldn't take it. I'd call the police from some other location. I like money, but I like being alive even more.

Winner of 4 Oscars including Best Picture.

Javier Bardem as Anton is the most frightening character I've ever seen in a movie. He won an Oscar for his performance and deservedly so.

Llewelyn was the name of the last king of Wales who fought a losing war... It also means lion. Anton's name has the meaning of void symbolically, and mythologically was the son of Hercules who was given the task of killing a lion. Alot of people attribute this film to being nihilistic, but Anton isn't really nihilistic, he's just perfectly adaptable, and pragmatic, and devoid of things that a regular person accumulates living their lives... Even at the end of the movie, after the accident you see him take off a different direction than he was originally headed... In the book he basically isn't given a description, because he is less like a thing that actually exists in the world and more like something that seemingly comes from nowhere fully formed, but not a person in the traditional sense, more like a force of nature, and a force of nature doesn't hate or philosophize.

This story takes place around 1980. Things were simpler then. At the time when people were too trusting and just didn't think that people would do this. Even the sherif. It's called No.Country for Old Men because the older you get, times change but you don't change with it.

That is no country for old men. The young In one another's arms, birds in the trees, -Those dying generations-at their song, The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas, Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long Whatever is begotten, born, and dies. Caught in that sensual music all neglect Monuments of unageing intellect. An aged man is but a paltry thing, A tattered coat upon a stick, unless Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing For every tatter in its mortal dress, Nor is there singing school but studying Monuments of its own magnificence; And therefore I have sailed the seas and come To the holy city of Byzantium. From 'Sailing to Byzantium' William Butler Yeats

Yeah, this movie goes way deeper. I think Anton is the personification of "you can't stip what's coming," ...this impending doom that will cross everyone's path. His accident shows regardless of your choice, your luck of chance, your control over anything, the same fate is coming for all of us, inevitably.

One of my favorite films of all time. So good that you don't even realize there isn't any music.

One of the best movies of the last 20 years. No musical score for this movie. Doesn't need it. Insanely atmospheric without music. Not a nail gun. It's a 'slaughterhouse gun'. Kills cattle & sheep. The shorter barrel give a wider spread of shot, and the gun's easier to conceal in a tote bag or under a coat. Brilliant.

Interesting note: Woody Harrelson plays a hitman. His father was an actual hitman. Sr. murdered the first federal judge assassinated in the 20th century. I read that he killed at least one more judge and that he MAY have been involved in the JFK assassination.

The motivation of Anton is clear: the perception of power, and freedom. He is the ultimate expression of this, since most people's freedom comes at the cost of what the group needs/wants. He doesnt care about that, so he is able to do what he wants violently, which he percieves as freedom, which gives him power. How would you explain to him that he's wrong for doing these things, when you and everyone else keeps failing to stop him? But if you dont believe me, see how the sherif talks about his dream, about his father. How his father will wander up the path to light his way into the future. See, thats the problem with Anton. Not only can he not see what the rest of us offer, but I think the creator of the movie/story was also saying he will never see the true point and potential of power, which is not always freedom, but love for another person. If you have ever found real love in your life, you know like the rest of us that it isnt always about power and freedom, which unbinds us away from the cycle of violence and allows us to choose other things in our lives. Anton will continue to kill, not because he is powerful and free, but because he is a slave to himself.

When Javier Bardem got that haircut, he looked in the mirror and said, "I'm not getting laid for 3 months." XD. If you guys really liked this, check out The Road starring Viggo Mortenson. It's based on another book by the same guy who wrote No Country For Old Men

You touched on something I think is incredibly important for ANY movie watching experience. At around 17 minutes you said “you don’t get it, but you’re just accepting..” That’s Brilliant!! With movies in general, you don’t have to “Get It”, or Understand it, you just have to Accept... that’s it.. While you’re watching, you suspend your disbelief, accept everything you’re being shown, the reflect on it after the experience is complete.. Keep that up!!!

"They think it was bad back then." The violent crime rate was way higher in the '70s and '80s than it is now.

Another amazing Cohen brothers movie is "Fargo".

Anton had one mission...recovering the money. Everything else is just annoyance to him. Any resistance from anyone or anything is eliminated. He had his own set of rules, regardless of logic.

Get used to it. The "Coen Brothers" do some next level Dark films that Jacks with your mind. Go down their rabbit hole if you dare! Hahaha

It's definitely one you gotta watch twice! A lot of people do miss that Anton and the Mexicans are different. It's funny you mention O Brother Where Art Thou! cause it was made by the same people.

One of the few movies to nail the West Texas accent perfectly. Llewellyn was spot on, the small store owner was perfect, the two lady motel and trailer park owners spot on, Sheriff and his deputy spot on. Woody Harrelson spot on. Carla jean....well, hers was a bit forced and overly done but not bad. The even acted like West Texans. That lady said she can't give out any information and by God, she meant it LOL. The motel lady was not about wasting money and she was going to let him know LOL. And the best, when Carla Jean said Llewellyn would take all comers. They are great people out in West Texas, but when they fight watch out.

Life has no meaning, we have meaning and we bring it to life. (Campbell).

damn you guys are pumping the videos out like crazy. That's another gem of a movie.

10:27 - One of the shows she was on was Breaking Bad where she played Jesse's mom.

Lobo is Spanish for wolf. I don't think Tommy Lee Jones was supposed to be corrupt. He definitely had a lackadaisical approach to law enforcement, probably due to the situation he was in. Llewelyn had a sawed off shotgun. Typically shot guns are sawed off to make them more concealable, but removing part of the barrel also increases the spread of the shells (each of which hold 8-12 bullet size projectiles). The increased spread means that it the gun would be more accurate at close ranges, but ineffective at longer ranges.

At 3:59 "Cierre la puerta. Hay lobos," means "Close the door. There are wolves" in this desert.

I’m glad y’all saw this as a moral tale. The two most important parts with regard to the morality is when he goes and talks to his older relative with the cats and when he tells his wife his dream. Listen to what the old man with the cats says. This movie is based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy. The Coen brothers did a very good job adapting it. McCarthy wrote three other books about the border called Border Trilogy. They’re all pretty good, but the most intense of the trilogy is Blood Meridian. It takes place before the civil war. It’s not a book for the faint of heart.

The guy was saying "Lobos" because he thought wolves were going to eat him, not the name of the "gang" 😅

You guys are catching up on some great movies. So many more to come, can’t wait.

"That gun was ahead of its time." It sure was!

Thanks, Mr. October! Thanks, Mrs. October! 🏜 This modern classic was written/directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. Everything I've ever seen from the Coen brothers is good. Some are pure comedy. Some are drama mixed with comedy. Some, like this one, are pure drama. I hope you'll watch more of theirs. My personal favorite is RAISING ARIZONA (1987)... very funny, but it has a poignancy that always makes tears well-up in my eyes at the same part... even after all these years.

Lobo literally means wolf.

The cartel is in fact after him, as well as Anton. It would be ignorant to take that money. You would never be able to live any kind of a life and you’re endangering your family. Im not touching that money. Even with no kids it doesn’t matter. My wife comes before my kids to begin with, but I’m not doing anything to endanger them. I have seen this movie so many times, examined it so many times, and the scene that always fascinates me the most is actually when Anton confronts the lady working at the mobile home park Llewelyn lives in. Amazing scene and to me shows a lot about Antons character.

I'm with you. I take the money without a second thought.

The woman that plays Tommy Lee Jones wife was Jesse’s mom in Breaking Bad.

This movie (IMO) is about the inevitability of life and death. We may think we have control but ultimately we don't. That's why the last coin flip is such a good scene with one of the best lines. "The coin has no say. It's just you" Chigur is the one who makes that decision, because even accepting the results of the coin flip is his decision.

Your perspectives and review of this movie was really interesting. - i had never really put together the "nihilism theme" that you pointed out.

Absolutely love this movie and so stoked to see yall checking it out 2:41 "I can see it in the chin" bruh 😂 that got me way harder than it should have 😂 34:52 that's the theme of this movie. No one is the "main character" in this story. It's just a story of something that's happened and events that played out.

"Yeah, I'd take it My lucky day" "I think someone would track me down over that junk" The lady got it right, Brother...ha ha ha

Notice how the (Bad Guy) offered money for the shirt and the kids was like ok i don't need money. The (Good Guy) was asking for a shirt and offering money and they was like give me money now.. 😂

8:06 Chigur is upset because the gas attendant basically said (by saying "I saw you were from Dallis") that he saw the license plate off his stolen car. He scolds him for not minding his own business. Stressing whether he needs to kill him. Assessing the risk of letting him live, but not gleaning many redemptive qualities. Thus chooses to flip a coin.

Like Tarantino, the Coen brothers like their films to connect and rhyme with each other. Anton pays 69 cents because the Dude writes a check for that amount in THE BIG LEBOWSKI. Shooting at an animal from a motor vehicle also occurs in RAISING ARIZONA and O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? Commandeering a pickup truck also occurs in RAISING ARIZONA. The Coens also often use subtle religious themes. The “vanity” speech would fit nicely in the Bhagavad Gita. The film’s last line would fit nicely in an autobiography by The Buddha.

I know the daughter and grandson of the Sheriff of Terrell County from that time period. They both said he wore a polo, not a regular uniform.

It’s Cable from DeadPool 2 also.

Cormac McCarthy was too damn good, RIP. His writings are amazing! He wrote this book/helped with the movie and I also recommend “Blood Meridian”

No nail gun, It's a cattle stunner, used to help make your Big Macs.

The title of the movie is the first line of a William Butler Yeats poem called "Sailing to Byzantium."

You should watch O brother where art thou too… great reaction guys…. Lots of love from NM ❤

You guys HAVE to watch “NOPE”

The first role I remember the sheriff's wife in was as 16 year old Tina in Jaws 2 (1978).

Not a nail gun, guys lol You dont need any sort of ammo for the cattle gun. Another reason he chose it im sure

Great reaction.

Anton is the personification of Fate. He's generous with the coin toss, giving people the opportunity to change it. Moss represents Chance, it was by this he founds the money etc. Sheriff Bell represents Order, but when Chance meets fate, he feels "overmatched" and he no choice but to bow out, hence No Country For Old Men. Ps. Heads on the coin toss is always right cuz the point is if you use your HEAD, you won't end up on the TAIL end of the barrel.

The bad dude is Stilgar from Dune

This film is about chance, the choices you make. A classic.

"You don't have to do this." "People, always say the same thing." "What do they say?" "They say, 'you don't have to do this.'" Most terrifying thing a person, let alone a psychopath, would say. One my all time favorites.......wonder what that says about me? 🤪 😁

Coen Bros never disappoint and always get your mind to think. 🔥🔥

Definitely Coen brothers most accomplished film. True Grit from a few years later is great too, their best era. Fargo-1996 to The Big Lebowski-1998 was also an impressive run of form.

My 2nd favorite film after Casablanca. McCarthy's books are outstanding as well, of course.

When the casinos in Reno first went into Covid-19 lockdown...........some of the places used to hold something up to our foreheads to take our temperature. I always thought of this movie when they would hold that thing up to my forehead.

All Cohen brothers movies should be watched! Their first movie, which started out as a fake trailer at a film festival, is still their best. Blood Simple!

Great reaction 👍

Great video, guys. The title comes from an Irish poet called Yeats. He was talking about Ireland in the 1910s and all the chaos and revolutionary zeal as the young men fought for independence against Britain. It was a time and place for young men and their fire and passion - not for old men. This movie is about another sort of revolution, old ways and manners are dying out and what's replacing them frightens people who remember the good old days.

One of Dahmer's victims escaped naked and bleeding but Dhamer was able to persuade the police to let him leave with him. Insane.

The unit on top of the trailer is a swamp cooler. Some parts out west are so dry you use a swamp cooler to cool while also humidifying the air. And when I say dry, I mean relative humidity under 10%.

For the record, surely it's common sense, if you are running a hotel/motel/caravan site business, to protect your clients interest and safety not given out personal information about your whereabouts, to strangers regardless if they claim to know the person or not, you inform the customer first via telephone to tell them a person wishes to see you give him or her the option

The guy in the truck was asking about lobos. He was asking about wolves. The murderer was a psychopath, not a nihilist.

Javier Bardem was just brilliant as Anton Chigurh.

Tommy Lee Jones’ monologue at the end of this is one of the best things I’ve ever heard, and I don’t even totally get it.

In "Batman Forever" Tommy Lee Jones plays Two-face, an insane character who uses a coin toss to decide whether to murder people.

It's not a nail gun. Read the novel by Cormac McCarthy for more context. It's one of his easier novels for someone to read and it's where I tell students to start with him if The Road is too hard.

I've always felt that this was a prequel to The Road. NCFOM shows The Fall, whereas The Road shows the post=apocalypse world. Both of these are great books.

The Coen Brothers made this and O Brother Where art thou, you should watch more of their movies, starting with their first film, Blood Simple

The 3 main characters never have a meeting face to face. Three intertwined stories but tbey always just miss each other. The fact there is no music was a big thing when it came out.

That is a bolt gun. Used for killing cattle before butchering

"Thia movie's really dark." It's based on a Cormac McCarthy novel. There isn't much light in any of them.

Even though it was not shown the Sheriff won the coin toss, then he realized that, it was "No Country for old Men!"

I can't decide which one of you two I like more. ❤

Finally a ending that young people want....just walk away.....

Absolute masterpiece of a film. Although I do believe that There Will Be Blood should have won the Oscar for best picture

Yes. Nihilism is a theme of this film. I.e. In the end, the world is the world and nothing more. And the whims of the natural world are chaotic and act without regard to your circumstance. Which is the truth of our existence. It's not selfish. It's just the way the world is. Doesn't mean you can't love and cherish and be kind and laugh and care.

03:58 - He said "Close the door. There's wolves."

The actress who plays Ed Tom Bell's wife plays Jesse Pinkman's mother in Breaking Bad.

OMG and you mentioned Thanos.. my favorite super hero of all time. My whole basement is decorated with thanos comics figures dioramas of thanos =]

there is a theory saying Anton and Llewelyn Moss is the same person and we see this movie from Ed Tom prospective (he doesn't understand what is going on and thinks Anton Chigur is doing everything)

To me Chigurh represents the randomness and unfairness of life and death. Some people he kills without the coin toss--those who get in his way--but people he could easily spare (the gas station owner and Carla) get the coin toss. Chigurh himself is emotionless throughout the movie and can't be bargained with. He is a man a strict principles, albeit weird ones. When you do get insight into his motivations, you get his philosophy.

He’s not a serial killer… he’s a hit man.

"The Serial killer" is really a hitman.

O Brother Where Art Thou is another great movie. It's a fun time. Nothing further from the vibe of this one.

All I could think of when I saw this movie the first time was how Javier Bardem should be Two Face 🤔🤔🤔

Lobos are wolves 😂

If you want another modern Western, try Hell or High Water.