The luck of Valdez, though, is in having Burt Lancaster to play him: an actor whose self-contained neatness of style belies the flamboyance of his appearance. He belongs to a dying breed: a real star.

[Valdez] Is Coming offers little besides its star.

[Burt Lancaster] brings sure-footed authority and calm ruthlessness to a mission of justice by a man wronged one too many times.

Of course, the film's questionable casting, which features Burt Lancaster as a Mexican-American lawman who takes it upon himself to right the wrongs of a callous, greedy rancher, is enough to disregard the film in its entirety.