UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

spencer-w-hensley "Lonesome Dove", which originally debuted on television in 1989, although a television miniseries, remains the finest Western to ever hit the medium in my opinion. Despite a really long running time of six hours, the miniseries had fantastic acting, great writing, beautiful cinematography and scenery, and some of the most likable characters you could imagine in a Western film. It was deservedly a huge success with audiences and critics, and many miniseries which followed tried to imitate its success and all of them failed. Due to it's popularity a sequel was almost obvious, but this sequel seems like it was a very rushed production, and seems to forget about everything that made the original so exceptional, especially the exclusion of Larry McMurtry and Tommy Lee Jones. That's right Jones does not return as Call here. He instead decided to star in "The Fugitive" the same year, a smart decision as that film won him an Oscar, and he is replaced by John Voight this time around. (Voight was also offered Jones role in The Fugitive, but when he found out Jones declined to reprise his role here he quickly accepted, turning the other part down, the actors basically switched roles.) The story picks up where the original ended, and after that it's a basic, and basically boring retread of the original. If you want to see a few familiar faces from the original miniseries rest assured a few do return. Ricky Schroder is back as Newt, though his character here is more irritating and uninteresting, whereas he was likable with Gus and Woodrow in the original. Chris Cooper returns as July, and his role should have really been an un-credited cameo, as he is given very little to do over a six-hour period. William Sanderson and Barry Tubb also reprise their roles from the original. Replacements or substitutes for the original's characters are Barbara Hershey, replacing Anjelica Huston as Clara. Though she does give it her best, Huston nailed the part to perfection the first time around, and the chemistry between her and the original cast could not be beat. Hershey and Voight are OK together, but she seems more like she is doing a poor imitation of Huston rather than putting a fresh, new spin on the character and it just doesn't work. Oscar-winner Lou Gossett Jr. goes along for the ride, I guess as a substitute for Danny Glover's Deets in the original. Gossett never seemed to find anything worthy of his talent after winning the Oscar for "An Officer and a Gentleman", and that is also evident here. It's a sad waste of his fine talent, and even though he tries, he cannot compare with Glover from the original. Voight does OK as Woodrow but Tommy Lee perfected the role, giving a miraculous performance. Voight pales in comparison, despite good effort. Reese Witherspoon also gives one of her earliest performances here, and her character is so bland an underdeveloped she is essentially wasted. The cinematography and scenery is OK here, but nowhere near as good as the first, which is what made it, I think the finest Western of our time. The story lags and never really gains any momentum, whereas the original in spite of being six-hours never made me wonder when it was going to end because I loved every single minute of it. This is really an unofficial sequel because at the time, Larry McMurtry was writing a novel sequel to the original entitled "Streets of Laredo", which would also be adapted as a miniseries two years later. By not having his involvement this sequel suffers tremendously, and totally contradicts the entire Lonesome Dove series in general, as according to McMurtry none of these events ever really happened in accordance to the time-line of his book series. Overall despite good efforts from the cast, some fine cinematography and scenery, this miniseries is way too slow, and suffers in comparison with its fine predecessor. Of course I am sure they knew it would be nowhere near as good as the first when they made it, but the end result could have been much better than this.

dminkster As a huge fan of he original Lonesome Dove, I was very disappointed with this bland sequel. The casting is way off: Voight does not have the steely resolve of Tommy Lee, sighs way too much to be a man of action, and gets way too excited when faced with danger. The director needed to say, 'Woodrow can handle things, or at least doesn't let others know he can't.' Barbara Hershey instead of Anjelica Houston? Need I say more. This is a woman who was on her own on the prairie for years and learned how to cope. Very well. Hershey spends most of her time looking down or away from what or who, ever, is in front of her. Suggesting the insecurity and neediness that she displayed in Hannah and her Sisters. But this is an entirely different woman. And, they completely lost all the wonderful weathered faces of the original, save for Oliver Reed, and the character, 'Pea.' The writing is mediocre at best, and as one other suggests, smack of soap opera style events. Either watch the original and then try to get thru this, or watch this and don't watch the original, as you will find yourself nodding off during this one.

it_lives If you're new to the Lonesome Dove series I'd recommend giving this one a miss for a while. It's not canon and doesn't follow the same narrative line as the genuine McMurtry titles. I don't want to drop in any spoilers, but suffice to say some of the characters are given very different futures here, information that is completely contradicted in Streets Of Laredo. The villains in this title also can't match characters such as Mox Mox, Blue Duck or Joey Garza. Return To Lonesome Dove has, in my opinion at least, a weak first act as it struggles (and fails) to capture some of Lonesome Dove's magic, however the writing improves and maintains a higher standard from act 2. Ultimately it's a worthy mini series in its own right, not on the same level as Lonesome Dove or Streets Of Laredo, but enjoyable none the less. Worth a look once you have some distance from the 'real thing' and can judge it own its own merits. ...

mdurkin93 not a Larry Mcmurty masterpiece but it stands on its own as a good western, any of the lonesome doves do. who ever takes on the role of Woodrow call, does a great portrayal in their own style. It's also easy to see that they were looking to use this as a stepping stone to the t.V series (both version of it) and that the writers knew how to keep the flavor alive William Peterson was awesome in this, the geeky C.S.I guy is not the character he plays in this - this guy can do it all it seemsit's deserve to be enjoyed by those who enjoy westerns4out5 stars