Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years (1996) Review

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(More customer reviews)LDTOL is one of the best TV shows ever. It's right up there with the 1st season of Michael Mann's Crime Story from the mid 80's. This is the show HBO's Deadwood wishes it could be.
Start with the opening credits. The editing and the theme music of the credits themselves are worth the price of admission and a good precursor to the overall quality of the show. To break it down further, the opening shot of the credits, Call on his horse coming into town, is a knock out image. If they'd put it on a poster I'd buy it.
The characters in the show are complex and richly drawn, a testament to the quality of the shows writing. The tension between Call and Moseby is the highlight but all of players in LDTOL mesh seamlessly to the greater good of the show.
And finally, the actors. To hell with Will and Grace, the Clay Moseby character is the one Eric McCormack was meant to play. (And hopefully, the one he'll be remembered for once the immediately forgetable W&G leaves the air.) Scott Bairstow as Call completely dominates every scene he is in. Tracy Scoggins and Kelly Rowan are smoking hot but their sensuality is relentlessly downplayed through the course of the series.
Finally, the one big quibble.
The set comes in a five disc package. Why the creators couldn't manage the simple task of placing these episodes in their chronological order, by air date, is beyond me. For the serious fan who wants to view them in their intended order this is the sequence to use. (Note: the number in parens is the actual episode number. For the last two numbers, 1st Number- the CD, 2nd Number- Episode No. on CD in their order on the set).
__1st_______2nd________3rd________4th_________5th
(1)_1-1___(5) 2-1____(9)_3-1____(13) 4-1____(18) 5-2
(2) 1-2___(6) 1-4___(10)_3-2____(14) 4-2____(19) 5-1
(3) 1-3___(7) 2-4___(11)_2-3____(15) 4-3____(20) 5-3
(4) 2-2___(8) 3-3___(12)_3-4____(16) 4-4____(21) 5-4
_____________________________(17) 4-5____(22) 5-5Starting with the end of disk one thru disk three they completely shuffled the deck with the episode order. The long narrative arcs and the character developments are scrambled to the point of distraction.
IMO you don't need any extras (director's commentary, promos, whatever) for this series. The quality of the writing, the acting and the production values sell themselves. If the bozos who packaged this set could just get the order right they would really have something.

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Featuring 22 Episodes! The untamed glory of the Old West as it really was returns when Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years saddles up for another season of high-spirited episodes, with a new look and an exciting cast of characters struggling to survive on the wild frontier. The year is 1880. Curtis Wells, the locale of Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years, is now a boomtown on the Montana frontier. When neighboring Sweetwater was left in ashes by a prairie fire, its whores and desperadoes took up residence in Curtis Wells, changing its character forever. Newt Call has come back to the town after living the past two years on the trail as a bounty hunter. Call is a man whose past has left its scars. Having left Curtis Wells a few nights after the explosion which killed his beloved Hannah, Call went on a downward spiral, aimless and soulless, eventually hitting bottom. Coming back to the town has reopened some of those old wounds for Call, not the least of which is his unresolved business with Clay Mosby, the man who coveted his wife before the fire took her. Mosby has made Curtis Wells his personal dominion. Behind his charming, roguish facade, he is a ruthless businessman, swift and severe with those who cross him, ready to shape the town to his own dark vision. Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years brings to life all the grit, romance and excitement of the West--an untamed world where anything is possible.

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Lonesome Dove Collection (Lonesome Dove/Streets of Laredo/Dead Man's Walk) (1989) Review

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(More customer reviews)LONESOME DOVE ~ This may be the greatest movie ever made. Both Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones give the performances of their careers as retired U.S. Marshals Gus McRae and Woodrow Call, and the rest of the star-studded cast shine, as well. The unique scenery of the film is absolutely breathtaking to behold. And the music . . . . . . . Basil Poledouris composes what may very well be the greatest film score of all time!! (In my opinion, the works of Mozart and Beethoven don't compare to this!) Director Simon Wincer went on to helm such fantastic Westerns as QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER, CROSSFIRE TRAIL, and MONTE WALSH. I could go on forever praising this gem of a film, but there are two other movies to review. So I'll sum it up in four words: sheer and utter perfection.
STREETS OF LAREDO ~ Though it can't possibly compare to it's predecessor, this makes for enjoyable Western fare. James Garner does a great job as Captain Call, though he can't quite fill in Tommy Lee Jones' shoes. The cast is above average here, too: Sam Shepard is awesome as Pee-Eye, and no matter how brief Randy Quaid's screen time, you can't take your eyes off him. However, I found Sissy Spacek to be whiney and quite annoying. I just recently found a similarity between this and the first film, plotwise: both update old, cliched Western plots (the cattle-drive in LONESOME DOVE and the bounty-hunter-gone-after-vicious-killer here) and update them with fine form. But this sequal doesn't do it nearly as well as the first. Oh, and that whole relationship between Call and that little girl was just weird and extremely out of place.
DEAD MAN'S WALK ~Here's an idea: make a prequal to the Emmy Award-winning LONESOME DOVE. While this may work on paper, it doesn't on film. Mainly because you'd have to find actors who could successfully portray younger versions of Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones. David Arquette and Johnny Lee Millar just can't do that. While their performances are decent, you just can't manage to firmly believe that these two boys are Gus McRae and Woodrow Call. And who the hell made the casting decision for the younger Clara (excellently played by Angelica Huston in the first film)? She ... like few actors I have ever had to watch.Funny, though; all the lead actors are sub-par, but the supporting cast rules; F. Murray Abraham, Brian Dennehy (who is killed off far, far too quickly), and Edward James Olmos included. Though the music in this movie is good, it feels out of place. But by far the worst thing about this film is the ending; the last twenty minutes may be the most godawful I have ever seen. It totally ruins the whole dramatic impact of the actual Dead Man's Walk scene that takes place before it. This scene is without a doubt the best part of the movie, and is one of the best, most powerful I've ever seen. They should've just ended the movie after this scene, right before that final twenty minutes or so. It would've been a much better movie.
In the end, it might be a good idea to just pick up a copy of LONESOME DOVE (be sure to buy the two-disc edition, which has far better picture quality than the single-disc flipper) rather than this entire boxed set. On the other hand, it looks great on your shelf, and comes with a free copy of the soundtrack to LONESOME DOVE.
LONESOME DOVE: * * * * *
STREETS OF LAREDO: * * * 1/2
DEAD MAN'S WALK: * * 1/2

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Lonesome Dove began life as a Larry McMurtry screenplay written for the big screen, with John Wayne, James Stewart, and Henry Fonda in mind for the roles of aging Texas Rangers Gus McCrae, Woodrow Call, and Jake Spoon. That too-good-to-be-true project never happened, and McMurtry shelvedthe story for some years and then revived it as a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The latter was subsequently adapted for the glorious 1989 televisionminiseries starring Robert Duvall as Gus, one of the most endearing andheroic figures to come out of Old West mythology, Tommy Lee Jones as theequally noble but taciturn Woodrow, and Robert Urich as their fallen comrade,Jake. Set in the late 19th century in a sleepy Texas town, we meet Gus andWoodrow long after they put their days of settling the West behind them. Busy as cattle ranchers yet spiritually idle, the two head out on one last great adventure to set down new stakes in Montana, a journey that is fraught with terribledangers, reunions with old loves, and unexpected collisions with destiny. An exemplary and moving Western drama with magnificent performances from Duvalland Jones (and great support from Anjelica Huston, Rick Schroder, DannyGlover, and Diane Lane), "Lonesome Dove" paved the way for threesequels, two of which are in this collection. "Streets of Laredo"features James Garner this time as Woodrow Call, who is hired by a railroad company to track down a young criminal and comes face to face with his ownpast. The other is "Dead Man's Walk", a powerful prequel in which wemeet Gus (David Arquette) and Woodrow (Jonny Lee Miller) as young men and Rangers recruits, facing their first challenges together. The jewel in thecrown of this collection is the original film, but the other titles arehighly enjoyable and bring a sense of sweeping narrative to theproceedings. "--Tom Keogh"

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Lonesome Dove (1989) Review

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(More customer reviews)I've seen LONESOME DOVE so many times I've practically got the six hours of dialogue memorized. Yet I'll keep watching this excellent adaptation of Larry McMurtry's epic novel, over and over again. Why? Two words: compelling story.
The friendship of Augustus McCrae and Woodrow F. Call is the underlying theme of LONESOME DOVE; it's the motor that drives the story. When these two weathered former lawmen steal a herd of cattle from Mexico and set off for Montana for one last grand adventure ("I wanna see that country," says Call to Gus, "before the lawyers and bankers get it."), the stage is set for a Western with plenty of humor, action, violence...tragedy.
This production makes McMurtry's unforgettable characters literally leap off the page. Robert Duvall IS Gus McCrae...Tommy Lee Jones IS Woodrow Call. Both performances are so vivid and on target the viewer is transported seamlessly to McMurtry's story, a story centering around the undying loyalty and friendship of these two men.
LONESOME DOVE is a film that will entertain you, take you over the full gambit of human emotions, then after six hours leave you begging for more. Jones and Duvall lead a stellar cast in a remarkable film that has but one weakness: it has to end. And McMurtry's story is told--told so well that no other Western even comes close.

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Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones star as Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call, aging cowboys and former Texas rangers and who organize a 2,500 mile cattle drive for one last great adventure in this excellent 1989 miniseries adaptation of Larry McMurtry's novel. The best friends, who steal the herd from a gang of Mexican cattle rustlers, drive their herd from Texas to Montana, battling horse thieves, angry Indian tribes, and a renegade half-breed killer named Blue Duck (Frederic Forrest) on a mission of revenge. The excellent cast also includes Robert Urich as cardsharp and former Ranger Jake Spoon, Anjelica Huston as McCrae's old flame Clara Allen, Danny Glover, Ricky Schroder, Diane Lane, Chris Cooper, D.B. Sweeney, Steve Buscemi, and even a small role for author Larry McMurtry. Australian director Simon Wincer shows a tremendous capacity for balancing sweeping drama and intimacy against the gorgeous landscape of the American Southwest, giving a grandly epic feel to the film despite its small-screen target and limited budget, and for forging memorable characters of even the smallest supporting parts. The heart of the drama belongs to McCrae and Call, memorably etched by Duvall and Jones as the last of the range romantics. In the age of revisionist Westerns, this excellent cattle-drive drama nicely maintains an old-fashioned feeling while still showing the dark side of the American West. Winner of seven Emmy Awards and responsible for two miniseries sequels ("Return to Lonesome Dove" and "Dead Man's Walk") and a TV series. "--Sean Axmaker"

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