User Reviews

This clearly has the feel of a made for TV movie; you can tell where the commercial breaks would have been inserted as a scene will end and the story picks up again from the same point. It has a sort of Disney feel to it too, with the hero dressed in white and handling a special gun made just for him - "That seventh bullet is for evil". What surprised me as I began to research the film to write this review is that it's over thirty years old, obviously influenced (as many other posters on this board have mentioned) by the success of "Star Wars" and the Obi Wan/Luke Skywalker relationship. It actually took me a while to realize that the film was playing things straight, as there seemed to be a "Blazing Saddles" type of sensibility impinging on some of the situations, like Joshua Brown (Carl Franklin) stealing John Golden's (Jeff Osterhage) boot, only to stop when he realizes Golden's not dead. There's also the traveling snake oil salesman peddling his Blue Nectar, showing up three times by my count with a bargain at a buck a bottle.

But the film seems to capture a certain nostalgia for times gone by for other reviewers on this board, so I'm not going to tarnish that glow. As a family film, this is the kind of picture you can settle down with the kids to watch, and it conveys a theme of good triumphing over evil and doing the right thing because it's the right thing to do. The film even name drops some of the major historical figures of the Old West like Wyatt Earp, Butch and Sundance, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Sitting Bull. Keir Dullea's take on General Custer is a trip in itself, playing it up for all it's worth in order to 'get Grant's goat'.

The thing is, I would never have seen this picture if it hadn't been part of the Encore Western lineup today. I spend a lot of time there, and this was kind of a break from the more traditional black and white stuff of cowboy legend, like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. I can't help but think that watching these Westerns since my youth helped develop some of my own instincts (there's that word) about right and wrong, and every reminder in a film like this just never seems to grow old.

It's amazing some users found this movie so great. Some even said it portrays reality. Well let's see. The hero's horse rears up just about every time he mounts up. He can shoot bottles thrown into the air while blindfolded. There is a former black slave who can't quote Shakespeare. A "wild" horse simply stands around waiting to be caught and they is mounted and doesn't buck once and becomes fully trained in a matter of minutes. Everyone's clothes always look like they just came from the laundry. The hero can "see" things with super-human powers. And he just happens to run across General Custer, Buffalo Bill Code, Sitting Bull, Wyatt Erp, and even Henry Ford in the same movie. Oh, Annie Oakley's mother was there too. When revolvers are fired, they don't kick and when shot in a closed room, no one is affected a bit by the load noise. There is a photographer running around taking pictures, who just happens to be stereotypically Asian. There is actually a "snake oil" salesman who has a sign saying, Snake Oil, on the side of his wagon. And last but not least, the ex-slave can throw a bolo (a four foot rope made of heavy rawhide with a large bag of rocks tied to each end) and catch a rabbit with it. Pretty realistic stuff right? I could go on with more, but you get the idea.

The movie is pretty tame for kids but so poorly done it affords only comedy for any thinking adult.

I watched half of this this very day(1/15/07) And thought "dang, this could've been cool!" As a child of the sixties and seventies(I'm 45) movies like this one were obligatory it seems, to me because they were always being made! This took way too much Obi Wan and Luke, outrageous misfires of historical characters, and totally politically correct re-writing of history. I admit I LOVE The Lone Ranger, and every OLD western thing: Gene Autry especially!(But Randolph Scott too), BUT THIS film just burnt out all the cliché's in the first half! I did note Jef Osterhage's almost twin brother facial features to Terence Hill and THAT was pretty neat. SPOILER ALERT: The story was Obi Wan and Luke, without Death Star and Empire to hit back at. The gun was too cool--they did indeed make guns with seven and even eight shots FOR REAL in those day! All in all, I guess if they had gotten their history correct, like: SPOILERS: General Custer was only a General DURING the War Buffalo Bill was NOT called that til The Railroad Era which was AFTER the War YNLESS the character of Books(the black friend) was raised IN THE NORTH EAST COAST, he would NEVER EVER have seen MUCH LESS EVER HAD READ a book OF ANY KIND Because HE WOULD BE TOTALLY UNEDUCATED! There were NO Orientals in the US Army in ANY ERA prior to World War 2! Without these flaws, and with a heck of a lot less xerox copying of Star Wars, this movie could have been a hit instead of a clear miss! One last thing: The genuine love the Mentor and the Kid had, totally blows away the stained, feigned(fake) "kinship" of Obi Wan and Luke--When Osterhage's Jim hugs the dying Hollbrook/Swakhammer(The Mentor) you can feel the true father son love they grew to feel! THIS ALONE puts this film on my list of Totally Cool Movies!

I turned on Cinevault Westerns earlier and this movie came on after an old Durango Kid movie. I thought about turning it but decided to watch it through again.

Oh the inaccuracies! Revolvers with metal cartridges during civil war? And the historical figures timelines are just wrong lol. There was a saloon fight scene with 5 star General Custer and Sitting Bull in the saloon!

How ridiculous was the sound effect of the ricochet when the guns were fired? Like a Star Wars or Battlestar Galactica sound effect. The saloon owner Maggie said she had a daughter named "Annie". And Maggie's last name just so happened to be Oakley. Yeah, sure.

When I first saw this there was no internet or IMDB to go and do any fact checking but I knew enough of history to know the timeline and types of firearms was off. I thought it was hokie then. I gave it a medium rating because I have seen worse. And probably will avoid it when it pops up on Cinevault Westerns again.