Comanche Moon (2008)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Simply A Masterpiece

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Steve Zahn was phenomenal as Gus and Karl Urban was great as Call. Having read the book recently this adaptation is legit. Great cast!

The event opens episode two and it is obvious what is going to happen. It happens in nearly every western. There is a raid on a town by outlaws or Indians and all the townsfolk run out into the street and get shot or chopped down. Why not stay inside under cover? Use your gun to fire at the targets in the street and possibly survive! It is risible!Other than that annoying incident it is worth a watch but not as good as 'Lonesone Dove.'

I am very impressed with the acting in Comanche Moon. Before I started watching this, I wasn't expecting it to be as good as Lonesome Dove. I couldn't believe how well the actors were chosen to represent all the characters. It blew my mind how well they played each role! This was in my opinion almost as good as Lonesome Dove. Its hard to compare any film to Lonesome Dove. If you don't make that comparison, I would give this a thumbs up. It was very entertaining! I don't post many comments on this site, but I just felt I had to get my opinion out there. Amazing! I don't want to go off naming every actor who was brilliant, because I would probably have to list every single one. My favorite was Steve Zahn. He hit the nail on the head playing Captain Gus. His mannerisms were perfect.

I think the consensus is pretty unanimous about this recent TV miniseries: it's okay but it's a far cry from "Lonesome Dove." It gets compared to the latter simply because this a prequel to that famous story. "Commanche Moon" is definitely worth a watch for any fan of westerns. Just don't expect it to be as intense as "Lonesome Dove." Steve Zahn and Karl Urban are not Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones, and the characters they play aren't as strong as how Duvall and Jones portrayed the same two guys. Some say it's unfair to criticize this movie because of the comparison but you have to compare it - it's the story of the same two leading Texas Ranger characters: "Woodrow Call" and "Gus McCrae."The main difference, I found, was that this prequel is a lot of slower and more relational (the two Rangers and their women) at times. Yet, I didn't mind that because the two main women were pretty ladies and generally likable and agreeable people. They were played nicely by Linda Cardelini ("Clara Forsythe") and Elizabeth Banks ("Maggie.").. They helped make this long movie palatable. If you've seen pictures of women in the Old West, none of them looked half as pretty as Cardelini and Banks, though. They were a joy for these male eyes to ogle. Maggie's son "Newt" was a wonderful kid, too - the kind of boy every parent would want..The most interesting character, I thought, turned out to be "Inish Scull," played by Val Kilmer. As in the western film, "Tombstone," Kilmer almost steals the show from the leads. "Scull" is really an original, if I ever saw one: a strange dude, indeed. Actually, all of the supporting actors in here did a fine job, from Keith Robinson's "Deets" to Wes Studi as "Buffalo Hump." I always find Studi to be fascinating, no matter what role he plays. I wish he had had a bigger role in this miniseries.One thing this film has in common with "Lonesome Dove" and other good westerns: the scenery and photography. It's just beautiful at times and is a joy to watch. We also have an excellent director of this film: Simon Wincer, who directed "Lonesome Dove" and an another outstanding TV western, "Crossfire Trail." He also did two of my other favorite feature films, both based in his home country of Australia: "Phar Lap" and "Quigley Down Under."Unfortunately, although I enjoyed this, "Commanche Moon" is nothing as good as the above-mentioned films.Yet, I still watched all of it and was sorry it ended, if that makes any sense. It made me want to watch Woodrow and Gus again, this time with Tommy Lee and Robert.Note: The title page says this is 360 minutes. That must have included the TV commercials. The two-disc DVD version I saw was about 4 hours and 40 minutes.