James Mangold's 2007 remake of the classic Western The movie's cast stars Russell Crowe as the notorious outlaw Ben Wade, and Christian Bale as a drought-impoverished Arizona rancher who agrees to transport Wade to a prison train in exchange for enough money to save his ranch and family.

Bale's Dan Evans is constantly at odds with his hot-headed son William (Logan Lerman), who thinks his father is a weak man and a failure. As Evans and a local posse transport Wade across the desert to the town of Contention, where the prison train will stop and pick up Wade, William stubbornly trails behind the group, and even manages to get the jump on Wade during an escape attempt. Dan and William Evans manage to get Wade to Contention, only for his gang to show up and bribe the entire town to help them free Wade.

Despite all of his allies abandoning Dan due to the hopeless odds, he insists on getting Wade to the train, and leads the hand-cuffed outlaw from the local hotel where they were holed up to the train station. They are plagued by would-be gunslingers the entire way, and in a near-miraculous turn, they both make it to the train alive. During their travels, Evans and Wade grew a mutual respect for one another, and it manifested in something approximating friendship as they wait for the train.

Just as Evans puts Wade on the train, he is gunned down by Charlie Prince (Ben Foster), Ben Wade's second-in-command. The gang frees Wade, only for him to turn his gun on the entire gang, killing each of them with a single shot except for Charlie, who he kills more deliberately. As William kneels over his dead father, Wade places himself in the jail cell on the train, fulfilling Dan's promise to get him on the train. The ending of 3:10 to Yuma is actually different from the original 1957 adaptation, but it's widely regarded as an improvement.

Why It Was So Important To Dan Evans That He Get Ben Wade On The Train

For Evans, it's a matter of redemption

The obvious impetus for Dan to get Ben on the train was the reward money he was promised by Mr. Butterfield of the incoming railroad's management group. With the $1000 Butterfield promised, Dan's ranch could be saved from the brutes who want his land, and his family would be provided for. As he sees it, it's freedom from the poverty that is slowly throttling his ranch and family. However, Mr. Butterfield guarantees Dan that money whether he gets Ben to the train or not; in fact, he offers it to discourage Dan from attempting a deadly run for the train.

In addition to its two sound-related Academy Award nominations, 3:10 to Yuma was nominated for the award for Best Cast at the 14th Screen Actors Guild Awards, which speaks to the power of the performances in the movie.

On a deeper level, Dan is determined to get Ben on the train to prove his own self-worth, and his worth to his son. His bravery and heroism in facing impossible odds to do what he feels is right is the true reason that he is so dead-set on getting Ben on the train, even if it means his life is forfeit. As an amputee Civil War veteran and poor rancher, Dan has always been looked down upon, and by putting Ben on the train, he hopes to redeem himself in his son's eyes, and in his own.

Why Ben Wade Killed His Entire Gang

He shot them down despite being rescued by them

After Charlie killed Dan and returned Ben's gun to him, which was known as "The Hand of God", Ben looked over the gun and stalled with his eyes set upon the golden cross emblazoned on the gun's handle. After a brief moment of contemplation, Ben swings his gun up lightning-quick and shoots Charlie and the rest of his gang , one right after the other in short succession.

While Ben was certainly a villainous outlaw with a long history of robbing and killing, he was, as William noted to his face, "not all bad" on the inside. In his time with Dan Evans, he came to realize that Dan was a good man worthy of his respect, and perhaps in another life, his friendship. After his bravery and heroism in transporting Ben across Contention to the train, Ben was enraged that Charlie cut him down with bullets in the back. He realized that the gang he was leading did not align with his own personal values, which he re-evaluated in his experience with Dan.

Why William Didn't Shoot Ben Wade

He had the gang leader alone and in his sights

After Ben kills his entire gang, a vengeful William draws on him seeking to kill him and avenge his father. After a long and silent stare, William holsters his weapon and returns to tending his father's body. It was clear based on their previous interactions that William ires Ben, both as an outlaw and as a man who was much more complex and cultured than he expected. William recognized that Ben helping get Dan to the train alive meant that he was correct in his assessment that Ben was not all bad.

That concept is reinforced by Ben himself right after, as he boards the train on his own accord and places himself in the barred jail cell on the train. In doing so, he is completing Dan's mission, and his act of placing himself in jail speaks to how important Ben's personal code of values is. Ben proves William correct in not shooting him, as there was nothing to be gained from that except the killing of a complicated but good man.

The Significance Of Religion In Yuma

Ben Wade often quotes the Bible and shoots with "the Hand of God"

Ben Wade's gun is referred to as The Hand of God, and Ben himself quotes the Bible frequently in his travels during 3:10 to Yuma. He is clearly a religious man, which clashes pretty violently with the bloody lifestyle that he leads. Dan, on the other hand, lives a poor and worldly life, working hard to his family (even if he fails to do so properly), but comments that God has done nothing for him.

The dichotomy is interesting, as it seems that the badder a person is, the more help they receive from God. Prayer permeates Dan's simple life, and yet he is left impoverished, suffering from a seemingly never-ending drought that is choking his land. Meanwhile, Ben murders and steals but invokes the Word of God frequently. Ultimately, the religious theme is 3:10 to Yuma is less "God helps those who help themselves" and more "You better help yourself, because God certainly doesn't care enough to help."

Was The Hand Of God Really Cursed?

Ben Wade warns that his famous gun has a curse on it

Ben Wade warns the oafish Tucker when he takes The Hand of God that there is a curse on his gun. It's played off as a minor line when it's delivered early in the movie, but interestingly enough there does seem to be a curse on the gun: anyone who touches it besides Ben dies. Tucker, Byron McElroy, and Ben's entire gang eventually die by Ben's hand, proving that the gun did in fact have a curse on it, and the curse is Ben himself.

Ben Wade's gold-cross-decorated gun is a Colt Single Action Army .45 revolver, which was the standard-issued revolver for the US Army from 1873-1892. Not much is revealed about Wade's personal history, but the gun type could hint that he was a soldier himself once upon a time, which could further explain why he's able to identify and ultimately align with Dan Evans.

Director James Mangold pulled off a subtle yet beautiful bit of foreshadowing related to the gun's curse at the very end of the movie. When Charlie shoots Dan and frees Ben, his gun is brought to him, as the gang had been holding on to it. The gun is ed quickly from one gang member to the other, and ends with Charlie, who hands it to Ben. Mangold told the audience that the gang was going to die, as they all touched the gun right before it happened.

How 3:10 To Yuma Explores Right And Wrong

It's all a matter of perspective

One of the major overarching themes in 3:10 to Yuma is its exploration of the concept of right vs. wrong. While Ben is the supposedly murderous outlaw, he seems to have a firm moral code and typically acts with some semblance of integrity. Someone like Byron McElroy, on the other hand, openly its to having murdered men, women, and children, justifying each death at his hands with his status as a Pinkerton agent. While Byron has the law on his side, that doesn't make what he's done in his checkered past more "right" than Ben Wade, who he treats like a villain.

3:10 to Yuma broaches the age-old question: is right vs. wrong even real, or is an action's morality based on circumstance?

Dan himself even represents the duality of right and wrong. Dan seems to be a good, wholesome man, but as a sniper in the Army he is an instrument of death. He kills what appear to be at least a dozen townspeople in Contention (who also acted "right" until they had bounty money placed in front of them) trying to get Ben on the train, fighting for a cause he believes is justified. Neither Ben nor Dan is entirely bad or entirely good; they both act right and act wrong depending on the situation, which broaches the age-old question: is right vs. wrong even real, or is an action's morality based on circumstance?

The Real Meaning Of 3:10 To Yuma's Ending

It's actually about redemption for multiple characters

The main reason Dan wanted to get Ben Wade on the train was redemption after feeling like a failure for most of his life, first as a soldier (his leg was shot off by one of his own soldiers while they retreated), and then as a rancher. However, he's not the only character to find redemption; it is the central theme of 3:10 to Yuma. Dan is able to redeem himself in his son's eyes, and William recognizes exactly how brave he was, not only in getting Ben to the train, but in working to care for his family.

Ben Wade helps Dan get him onto the train after gaining real respect for the rancher, and recognizing how important the money is to his family. It doesn't erase his life of violence and robbery, but it does provide a measure of redemption for his arc in the movie. He further redeems himself after Dan's tragic death, killing his diabolical gang and his vicious second-in-command. It's unclear if Ben returns to a life of crime after (inevitably) escaping from the prison train after the events of 3:10 to Yuma, but he ensured his gang couldn't hurt anyone else.