SmugKitZine
Tied for the best movie I have ever seen
Supelice
Dreadfully Boring
Huievest
Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.
Sameer Callahan
It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
adonis98-743-186503
In this prequel to "Lonesome Dove", two young men join the Texas Rangers unit that's on a mission to annex Santa Fe. Although i felt that both David Arquette as Augustus McCrae and Jonny Lee Miller as Woodrow F. Call brought nothing to the plot and were kinda forgettable and uninteresting this Mini-TV Series packed great performances by Keith Carradine, Harry Dean Stanton and Edward James Olmos. It also stayed true to this old westerns and Cowboys v.s Indians which was something that reminded me a lot of my childhood i think that Episodes 1 and 3 had the most impact on me they were very interesting because Episode 2 kinda drugged many times but other than that pretty good series and people who like this sort of types of films or shows or even grew up with westerns won't be disappointed (7.5/10)
Bryce Rumbles
This is a wonderful evocation of its period. The writing, direction and especially the acting are all above average -- even David Arquette does a reasonably successful job of playing a 30-years younger Robert Duvall-as-Gus-McCrae. He may be imitating Duvall's performance somewhat, but he does a decent job -- it's quite believable that this Gus McCrae developed into the later one.Jonny Lee Miller -- so tight-lipped it's sometimes unbelievable -- does a good job with a thankless role -- "Corporal" Woodrow Call, as the young Clara dubs him (to Gus's consernation).Jennifer Garner played Clara very well. Her flirtatious flippancy is both alluring and endearing -- and only a little annoying.Edward James Olmos is perfect, as usual. He's one of my favorite actors, has been since Zoot Suit.The costuming and setting are exemplary and very true to the pre-Mexican War Southwest.The only technical/historical problem I have with this film is the weaponry. The flintlock muskets and rifles don't sound correct, and don't discharge nearly enough smoke. (SEMI-SPOILER COMING) No firing squad would shoot with bayonets attached (they detract from accuracy). But the mixture of Colt's Patent Revolvers (tm) and single-shot pistols was correct.Of course this work pales in comparison to the book -- even the excellent Lonesome Dove was no match for the book. But this is far superior to the L-D sequel, Streets of Laredo.
Julius Daniels
What a truly wonderful miniseries.I laughed, I cried and I even saw a British Lady riding nude through the desert. It scared the dickens out of the "savages." There was never a dull moment. From the time the series began to the end this band of Texans lost comrades but kept up the fight. How many ways can you kill a Texan? This picture shows you. Seriously; I really great epic to be enjoyed on DVD...all 270 minutes of it in one sitting.
dinky-4
Larry McMurtry seems to be turning "Lonesome Dove" into a cottage industry, but this "prequel" works fairly well on its own terms. It's mounted in good-looking style and has a first-rate whipping scene wherein Jonny Lee Miller, stripped to the waist, is tied to the back of a wagon and given 100 lashes, the first 50 by one man and the second 50 by another. When that first lash hits Miller's bare back, you not only see it and hear it -- you FEEL it!
