Megamind To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

sbailey7-820-782361 Written by Steve Bloom and Robert Rodat, and directed by Ornie Orsatti, Tall Tale stars Nick Stahl, Patrick Swayze, and Scott Glenn. Released in 1995 this Action/Adventure film takes place in an old western town at the start of the twentieth century and focuses on the modernization of America.In 1905, Daniel Hackett (Nick Stahl) lives with his mother and father on the farmlands of Paradise Valley. As the film progresses the audience learns that Daniel is growing sick of his life on the farm and expresses his bitterness to his father, Jonas. Daniel's father tells him repetitive stories of folk heroes, Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, and John Henry, in whom Daniel no longer believes. Meanwhile, J.P. Stiles (Scott Glen) enters town with his gang of wealthy men and his modern machinery with intent of buying the land in order to develop it. When Jonas stands up to stiles and refuses to sell his land he ends up being shot, but not before he hands the deed to his land to Daniel. Jonas survives but is badly injured, Daniel meanwhile runs and hides in his boat, where he falls asleep. When he wakes he finds himself in a dried up lake bed in Texas, where two men try to rob and kill him, only to be rescued by legendary cowboy Pecos Bill (Patrick Swayze). The two of them later meet up with famous lumberjack Paul Bunyan and ex-slave John Henry. The team gets into a tough battle with Stiles, whose greediness threatens the strength of the folk tales and the livelihood of the farmers.The acting by the Stahl, Swayze, and Glen was very impressive. They were able to capture the feel of the early Midwest and made the audience feel as if they were part of the story. The compelling acting brought out the excitement of the folk lures that every child reads when growing up. Gender clearly played a large part in casting actors for the film because men play all of the dominant roles. This can be attributed to the fact that women didn't have a large role outside of the home during this time period and unfortunately there are not many women folk heroes.The costume design and set design also played large roles in creating a convincing story. The costumes were dead on for what viewers would imagine Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, and John Henry to look and dress like. The costumes really brought out the feeling that this film was based in the early Midwest and the set was designed perfectly to give the feeling that the audience is involved in a folk story. For example Paul Bunyan's log home was exactly what you would imagine it to be, along with his blue ox, Babe.I would highly recommend this film, as I have loved it since I was a child. It is a great movie for children and for families, and should be watched by anyone who enjoys adventure films.

dale-haynes In 1995 my cinema taste ran to pretentiously dark. I've since outgrown that, and this underrated gem is one of the reasons why. After ignoring it because of the fun-for-the-whole-family Disney marketing, we discovered it on video. Tall Tale is neither lightweight nor pure escapism. It was co-written by Robert Rodat who a few years later wrote Saving Private Ryan and The Patriot, and is every bit as serious. My wife attributes the "lightweight" dismissal/compartmentalization to the fact that it's dangerous. Considering the covert-overt indictment of greed-saturated America it slips into the hands of children and generally corrupt, complicit parents, I'd have to agree. Such iconic American legends as Pecos Bill are its patriotic measuring point. The family-film presentation is true to the Code championed by those legends: Protect the land, defend the defenseless, and don't never spit in front of women nor children. The script hands us the cognitive key: Just 'cause it's a TALL tale don't mean it ain't TRUE. By 1995 America was simply too far gone to cherish this. Ignoring it as a consumer remains my worst big-screen mistake. Kudos to Mr. Rodat, the director, the cinematographer for gorgeous moments, Randy Edelman --- his score for the scene of the farm horse abandoned in harness by a farm-hating boy is fleetingly but heartbreakingly perfect --- and to the project's rebel (distracted? shallow?) Disney VP. The scene in which Pecos emerges, like heroic resolve itself, from the midst of a richly diverse public that has F I N A L L Y come together to nobly stand against the takeover by predatory eastern greed and its hired guns --- Rodat's script does not favor a disarmed populace --- deftly fulfills the principle of showing not saying it. This is a beautiful, ambitious, patriotic alarm contained in a suitable-for-children and therefore subversive valentine to a Western American dream that was worth fighting for. All that and veteran character actor Burgess Meredith bidding a suckered-and-proud-of-it boy (us) farewell. See this serious as a heart attack film --- we get a horrific prophetic vision, in a scene that is Hell on Wheels not Little Red Caboose, of a subjugated West whose workers are getting additional productivity squeezed out of them (to use a post-Bailout euphemism) with literal whips --- before or after the documentary Inside Job. Speaking of hired guns, Wall Street and the Business Roundtable, America's unelected, voter-unaccountable rulers with politicians in their pockets, have a vested interest in popular media as both profit sector and opinion influencer. They have agents "in the field" and the field now prominently includes cyberspace. Do not be deceived. That this deeply patriotic lament/warning is fit for children older than perhaps 7 --- a 12-year-old boy is propositioned by a pathetically degraded woman then nearly killed by a knife-wielding Wall Street hatchet man and former farmer (played presumably as written with non-cartoonish touches of passionate hate, cold honesty, restrained pride with demanding eastern bosses, and even a flash of tenderness by Scott Glenn) --- does not make it lightweight. It makes it brilliant. And convicting. Embarrassing in a way. Pecos Bill, Calamity Jane, free man John Henry, and Paul Bunyan are what many used to want America, at least the American West, to be: an America standing morally tall. Truly free, truly brave. Not a shark tank, casino, and pharoah-slave pyramid whose slaves admire the pharoahs preying on them more than each other. At least I've got the movie. To the Code!

ccthemovieman-1 I expected some sort of supernatural-type hero story with he likes of Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan and Jhn Henry, but this movie was more like a regular adventure. It reminded me, in some respects, of an adventure out West such as White Fang. It was that kind of story.The kid in here, "Daniel Hackett," played by Nick Stahl, was a little annoying for awhile, the typical snotty kid they like to show in the movies, but came to his senses by the end and wound up a decent kid who respected the people he was supposed to respect.Meanwhile, all the characters including bad-guy "J.P. Stiles" (Scott Glenn) were a lot of fun not only to watch but to listen to, with some good dialog. In all, it was lightweight fun and a good adventure story rolled into one. Patrick Swaze was a hot as "Pecos Bill" and Oliver Platt equally fun as "Paul Bunyan," and who doesn't admire big "John Henry" (Roger Aaron Brown)?Why this is not available (at least in Region 1) on DVD is a mystery to me. It's just a fun movie - pure escapism for more than just kids.

greyhwk Unlike the prior poster, I loved this movie. It is a great family movie that is based on the Tall Tales that many of us learned in literature classes. If you know who Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, or John Henry are, you will find those heroes here. If you don't, what better way to learn about some of American histories classic Tall Tale characters that once put a sense of pride in being American. It was obvious that they took the time to find very fitting actor for each role. The script was written to make it a definite family movie suitable for any family. When the movie ends, you feel satisfied that you saw a good movie and not left with an "oily" feeling like you were just slimed like many of the movies do today. The story is that of a boy and his family about to lose their farm to a railroad tycoon in the early 1900s, something that did happen back then. The American Tall Tale characters are brought in one at a time to help the boy through the situation and teach him the way of being a man, with respect.