- A small-time rancher agrees to hold a captured outlaw who's awaiting a train to go to court in Yuma. A battle of wills ensues as the outlaw tries to psych out the rancher.
- Rancher Dan Evans heads into Bisbee to clear up issues concerning the sale of his land when he witnesses the closing events of a stagecoach robbery led by famed outlaw Ben Wade. Shortly thereafter, Wade is captured by the law in Bisbee and Evans finds himself one of the escorts who will take Wade to the 3:10 to Yuma train in Contention for the reward of $200. Evans' effort to take Wade to the station is in part an effort to save his land but also part of an inner battle to determine whether he can be more than just a naive rancher in the eyes of his impetuous and gun slinging son William Evans. The transport to Contention is hazardous and filled with ambushes by Indians, pursuits by Wade's vengeful gang and Wade's own conniving and surreptitious demeanor that makes the ride all the more intense.—Mal enor
- Struggling to eke out a living in the dry and rugged landscapes of Arizona, the Civil War veteran and penniless cattle rancher, Dan Evans, decides not to miss his window of opportunity to redeem himself in the eyes of his son, William, when the infamous outlaw, Ben Wade, is finally captured. As a result, for $200, Dan volunteers to escort Wade to Contention City along with an angry posse of railroad men, where he'll board the 3:10 train to Yuma Prison. Perhaps, now, Evans can salvage what's left of his ramshackle farm; however, the trek to the station is long and treacherous, as marauding Apaches and Wade's dauntless gang of cut-throats are hot on their trail. Will Ben Wade, the artful manipulator, live to see the dawn?—Nick Riganas
- The rancher Daniel Evans, who lost part of his leg in the Civil War, is broken and owing a large amount to a powerful man in Bisbee. When the outlaw Ben Wade is captured after the heist of a stagecoach, Dan offers to escort the cold blood killer to the city of Contention to take the 3:10 PM train to Yuma to be sent to trial. In return, he would receive US$ 200,00, enough to save his land and give a better life to his family. During their journey, Ben gets closer to Dan while his gang of criminals follows the group to rescue their boss.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- The legendary outlaw, Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) and his gang have just robbed an armed stage coach carrying the Southern Pacific Railroads payroll. They kill everyone on-board except Pinkerton guard, Byron McElroy (Peter Fonda) whom Charlie Prince (Ben Foster), Wade's right hand man, shoots in the belly. A poor rancher Dan Evans (Christian Bale) and his two sons, William (Logan Lerman) and Mark (Benjamin Petry), find McElroy and take him to Bisbee, Arizona to find a doctor.
Ben Wade separates from his gang and goes to meet with lovely Emma Nelson (Vinessa Shaw) in a nearby saloon, but learning of his presence in town, the sheriff immediately surrounds the building. Dan distracts Ben Wade, who is captured without a shot being fired. Railroad representative Grayson Butterfield (Dallas Roberts) asks for paid volunteers to join McElroy's posse to take Wade to the train station in the town of Contention three days away. The train is due at 3:10, and they must put Wade on the train's prison car bound for Yuma. Once Wade arrives in Yuma, he will receive a quick trial in Federal Court and be hanged. Dan Evans, desperately needing money to save his farm, agrees to help transport Wade to Contention but he must be paid $200. The other paid volunteers who join the posse are Tucker (Kevin Durand) and Doc Potter (Alan Tudyk), the town's veterinarian. Unfortunately for the posse, Charlie Prince sees what has happened to Wade, and he goes after the rest of the gang to help liberate Wade.
Despite a deception to fool the gang, the odds move in their favour, and in the end it's Dan's desire to impress his sons that means getting him on the train becomes a personal battle of wills.
In a hotel in Contention City, where the remains of the posse hide out, Wade continues to bargain for his freedom. Despite very tempting offers, Evans ignores his pleas. Wade's gang rides into town, and, after locating their boss, recruit as many of the townspeople as possible with an offer of $200 for the successful killing of any member of Evans' posse. The sheriff and his men, previously offering help to Evans, decide to surrender. They are gunned down, and Butterfield, terrified, offers Evans the $200 to just walk away. Evans, realizing the parallels between his current situation and the one in which the government paid for his leg lost in the Civil War, says, "It's funny, if you think about it - which I have been lately - is...they weren't paying me to walk away. They were paying me so they could walk away." Butterfield promises to see Evans' son home, but Evans want Butterfield to promise more than that. Butterfield is convinced to pay off Evans' debts, make sure his water flows, and that he will give $1000 dollars to his wife on Butterfield's return. Butterfield agrees, and he and William hold up in a room down the hall.
When the time for action, Evans brings Wade outside and they run for the station. Wade's gang pursues them relentlessly, and they barely make it to the station in one piece. At the very moment that the protagonist Dan Evans is putting Ben Wade onto the prison train, Wade's gang shoots the rancher to death. Ben Wade takes his gun from his right-hand man Charlie Prince and, in an act of vengeance for the rancher who had earned his respect, murders every man of his gang. Ben Wade boards the prison train as a final act of symbolic tribute to the rancher who died getting him there, and whistles for his horse as the train drives into the distance.
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