“From Borden Chase again, and made for Universal, The Far Country is among the most beautiful of Anthony Mann's parables on honor, harshness and community. It shows a world in which rugged independence and mistrust of others are all too understandable, but then it traces the progress of the James Stewart character through isolation and grief to the point at which he redeems himself and returns to the group. The diagrammatic directness of the story is given depth and context by the way Mann shows us the tiny gatherings of people against the sweeping and seemingly infinite landscapes. As always in Mann films, the characters are compared to trees, rocks, mountains and rivers. But in The Far Country there is a very touching feeling for the huts, shacks and tents that represent attempts to settle raw nature.
“John McIntire makes a sardonic hanging judge, and Walter Brennan gives one of his best performances as the friend who becomes increasingly troubled by the behavior of the man he follows and supports. In addition, there is another clutch of Mann's supporting actors--Flippen, Henry Morgan, Steve Brodie, Royal Dano, Jack Elam, Robert Wilke. When we wonder why Westerns have gone out of fashion, it is worth considering how far they always depend on the instant authenticity of such bands of cowpokes, sidekicks and local color.” David Thomson