Your opinion on Comanche Moon?

Cope · Post by **Cope** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 2:01 pm

Lonesome Dove, hands down is not only the best western I have ever seen, but also the best movie I've seen...EVER! Now having said that, I just bought Comanche Moon and was extremely disappointed in this movie. Granted, no one pays me to be a movie critic but I give this movie a huge F for failure. If I'm right about the same guy doing this movie as did Lonesome Dove, I have to ask: How could the same person make both movies??? In my opinion only, as good as Lonesome Dove is, Comanche Moon is that bad. I won't go into details as some may not have seen it yet but to me, it's a very poorly attempted prequel to an awesome movie. It came across to me as trying to answer ALL the questions Lonesome Dove left unanswered. It had lots of room to be another great movie with plenty of story lines available that were neglected completely just to cram all the answers to Lonesome Dove into the time frame. Right down to the actors this movie left much to be desired. Again in my opinion Tommy Lee Jones was the ultimate Woodrow Call and with the exception of Dead Man's Walk every other movie was a very poorly executed and overly-done attempt at trying to catch a man of Woodrow's character, with this being the all time worst. The only decent acting I seen in the film came from Val Kilmer, the rest, well just an all round poor performance. I may be the only who feels this way, so if you've seen it, what's your opinion? Like it? Hate it? I don't know if they will but I'm actually going to try to get my money back from Walmart on this one. I was everything but satisfied with a movie that cost me a total of around $26.

Brad

Paladin · Post by **Paladin** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:47 pm

Brad,
I have previously expounded my accolades for Lonesome Dove. I have long said that it is the best movie ever made, big screen, little screen or whatever.
Like you, I was really disappointed with all the Lonesome Dove sequels and prequels. I did think that Commanche Moon was the best of the 'also rans', with credit due to Val Kilmer.
This is a pattern that seems to flow thru McMurtry's books also. He has some notable books that are just great (Lonesome Dove, Last Picture Show) and some real stinkers (Lonesome Dove spin-offs, Anything For Billy).

Ray

Cope · Post by **Cope** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:50 pm

Ray it truly amazes me that the same man can write a story line as great as Lonesome Dove and then just go downhill drastically from there. I absolutely agree with you on Kilmer, the only spark to a very long dead film in my opinion. I have to give the worst actor award in this movie to the fellow playing the young Famous Shoes. He talks like he just walked out of Harvard, compared to what an Indian should talk like in the 1850's.

Brad

Gunsmoke47 · Post by **Gunsmoke47** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:01 pm

I did think the actor portraying a young Gus did an excellent job. I thought he nailed his mannerism's and vocal style. But you are both right, the movie paled in comparison to Lonesme Dove. jmo

gringo · Post by **gringo** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:02 pm

ok...please do not go loco on me over this.....i took a southwest history class... mcmurtry was discussed...i was suprised to find he wrote 'westerns' since he had been hanging out with ken kesey and the merry pranksters....yes..he drank the koolaid.

Cope · Post by **Cope** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:14 pm

Yeah the Gus sure was a lot better than the Woodrow. To me the strong, silent persona portrayed for the character of Gus was written for Tommy Lee Jones, he pulled it off expertly.......and I will add I liked the young version of Woodrow in DMW......but the others just tried very much too hard and it really shows......jmo of course.

Gringo I have seen only one interveiw or anything else for that matter with of Larry McMurtry and it was less than impressive. The one thing he said that shot him with me was that when asked about his research, if he talked to old timer's and others that may be familiar with a certain aspect of what he was writing he stated that he never talked to anyone and if when he needed information, he got it out of books. I suppose this is all good if the books are accurate but I personally feel a lot can be heard and understood through a vocal standpoint. While very many authors are very thorough with the information they print, surely there is lots that can be learned from folks who either knew or had family involved. These stories while touching actual events are fiction after all. They have all been worth much more than the time it took to watch them except for this last one and it left a lot to be desired for me.

Brad

knife7knut · Post by **knife7knut** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:43 am

I have yet to see Lonesome Dove in it's entirety but it seemed a bit disjointed.I usually like to read the book before I see a film and then judge how far they deviated from the original.
As for the new movie,maybe he was sharing some herb or whatever with his son James when he wrote it.If you have ever seen James McMurtry(and the Heartless Bastards)perform,you will know what I mean.

One of the greatest westerns I have read(and seen)is called,"Dream West";the story of John Charles Fremont,a cartographer and explorer in the vein of Lewis and Clark.Great reading and a great mini-series and a true story.

jonet143 · Post by **jonet143** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:04 am

lonesome dove was a good read and a good movie. after that they sucked!(movie wise) jmo.

Cope · Post by **Cope** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 12:59 pm

et' to jon'et?? et' to?

singin46 · Post by **singin46** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 9:56 pm

EGGZACTLY

Perry

richied · Post by **richied** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 1:30 am

Gunsmoke47 wrote:I did think the actor portraying a young Gus did an excellent job. I thought he nailed his mannerism's and vocal style. But you are both right, the movie paled in comparison to Lonesme Dove. jmo

I agree and was going to say the same when I saw your post

Cope · Post by **Cope** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 12:59 pm

k7k, I would like to know what you didn't like about Lonesome Dove if you don't care to add. I was so caught up in it the first time and also the hundred or so following times I didn't notice much that didn't nail what I think is truly the best movie ever produced period. But I do like to hear other folks opinions on things as it gives me something to ponder on.

Now can anyone tell me what else the girl who plays Woodrow's baby mama, Maggie, has played in? I know her name but I'm not good with actor's names. I know I've seen her in at least one other movie or TV show but can't put my finger on it. Maybe her hair was different or something else but I know I've seen her before.

I have watched it again, as I wanted to give it another chance, but alas, no cigar. This one just isn't doing it for me. Too many things wrong with this movie. I've enjoyed hearing all your comments though and if you have any more I'd love reading those too. Also any plugs for other good westerns would be appreciated. I suppose there are always some not widely heard of or seen that are great movies.

Brad

MITCH RAPP · Post by **MITCH RAPP** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 3:31 pm

Cope, Lonesome Dove is a Great Western!

To answer any Cast

questions about any movie or TV show, I always use the "IMDB" web

site. "Internet Movie Data Base." Here is the link for Lonesom Dove,

hope this helps!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096639/fullcredits#cast

Gunsmoke47 · Post by **Gunsmoke47** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 4:05 pm

Great link Mitch. Thanks!

Cope · Post by **Cope** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 9:41 pm

MITCH thanks for the link.....lots of good info on there! SO what did you think about Comanche Moon or have you seen it yet?

I don't mean to rant on this........well OK yeah I do BUT I don't have anything else better to do. I'm pretty much a house bound 37 year old and I've really anticipated seeing this latest movie. I had high hopes it would be better than Streets of Laredo. I have seen worse, I guess

but just expected more from this film.

Brad

jonet143 · Post by **jonet143** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 10:12 pm

hey brad, i did not hate the prequals and sequals, i just felt they could have been better.

MITCH RAPP · Post by **MITCH RAPP** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 10:14 pm

To be honest, I was very disappointed! I thought the only good acting job was done by Val Kilmer. The other actors had a tall order to fill, playing a young Tommy Lee and Robert D, who I might add are two of the finest American actors around. I also thought the actual production value of the film was 2nd rate at best, it almost seemed thrown together in the editing room.