Wildes Land

If your a true Dove fan, this is a must see movie. Out of all the sequel this is the best one and stays true to the characters. McMurtry destroyed Gus and Call with Dead Man's Walk and Comanche Moon. He made Gus and Call into bubbling idiots.

Barbara Hershey was magnificent as Clara Allen and in my opinion stole the character away from Houston who I thought was miscast in the first place. Jon Voight was also a great choice for Call.

It was great to get Schroder and Cooper back to play there original parts. And Lou Gossett and William Peterson were just perfect as replacements characters for Gus and Deets.

This is a very well written story of what awaits call after his historic cattle drive to Montana.

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 seems

it's deserve to be enjoyed by those who enjoy westerns

4out5 stars

I agree with the above that this is not the original. But it is a well made and well acted sequel. There are many fine parts to this story that deserve comment. Not the least of these are the fine performances put in by Louis Gossett, jr, Nia Peeples and Reese Witherspoon. Barbara Hershey is outstanding as the former and now disappointed love of Gus McCall from the original. The fire at her homestead stands out in my mind as an exceptional piece of drama - well staged and filmed. Rick Schroder brings real talent to his performance as Capt'n Call's unacknowled son. Jon Voight brings drive and at times a bit more life to the part of Capt'n Call than Tommy Lee Jones. His performance in the 'flight of arrows' chapter is outstanding.

Well worth the viewing.

I was surprised that I ended up liking this sequel to the much beloved classic mini-series "Lonesome Dove". Despite not having as many of the great characters and actors that the original series had. However, 'Return to Lonesome Dome' has a lot of new and interesting characters played by very good actors in William Peterson, Oliver Reed, Lou Gossett Jr., a young Reese Witherspoon and a very menacing Montana half-breed terrorist rustler played by Reginald Dorsey.

As for the returning characters who survived the original 'Lonesome Dove' series, Jon Voight takes over the reins of Tommy Lee Jones now classic character "Captain Woodrow F. Call". Now, I know it's hard to accept anyone but Tommy Lee Jones playing that role, but, I have to admit it that Jon Voight's performance as Woodrow Call is almost identical to that of Tommy Lee's, and Voight makes it a lot easier to just accept that someone else is playing that role.

Rick Schroder returns to play his character from the original series, Newt Dobbs. And, while following Woodrow's journey back to Montana from Texas is fun and exiting to watch, Newt's story line is not only the most interesting story of the series, but it's also the most satisfying, because it answers the question the original series left us with at the end. Which is, "What happened to Newt and the rest of the Texas rustlers in Montana?". Therefore, justifying the reason to even make a sequel to the classic original mini-series.

Also, a little of a side note, Rick Schroder co-starred with Jon Voight in the 1979 movie "The Champ". It was Schroder's first major screen appearance that included great performances by both Voight and 9-year old Ricky Schroder. And, it was both touching and fascinating to watch Voight and Schroder sharing the screen together again in "Return to Lonesome Dove" 14-years later.

Also, I can't end this review without mentioning the worst and most pointless and terribly cast character of the sequel, Agostina Vega played by Nia Peeples. Agostina is the tough female gun fighting Mexican child of Gus McCray, and she's out for revenge against Gus for abandoning her and her mother. But, Gus is dead so she decides to get her revenge on Captain McCall instead.

While Nia was a very attractive young woman back in 93', the problem is that she's only 5'2 and maybe 90lbs sopping wet. Not exactly an intimidating figure who looks like she could tough it in the Wild West on her own, no matter how good she supposedly is with a gun.

Plus, the character itself is just pointless and adds nothing to the overall story. It just seems like a cheap way to work a Augustus McCray story line into the series, without the Gus McCray character being present.

I'm rating "Return to Lonesome Dove" a 7-out of-10 stars. I would've rated it higher if it wasn't for that pointless Agostina character. But, there still enough good things about the sequel that far out weighs the bad, and I highly recommend seeing it at least once. Just don't expect it to be as nearly memorable and deeply moving as the original series.

I just watched "return from lonesome dove" and it was very good! I've seen a lot of negative comments about it and I don't think the Viewers are being real about it! In the television/ movie business it is hard to get all the actors back for a 2nd sequel or 3rd part. WE ARE LUCKY TO HAVE ANOTHER MINISERIES THAT TIES INTO LONE D. FAITHFULLY!! This production was top notch with the original music score, and the actors put their hearts into it(you can tell). If you want to watch lonesome d. with Robert Duvall and tommy L. J. then watch the original. Return to L.D. didn't have as much wit and takes on a more serious tone but is totally captivating none the less. From the touching moments to the villains, this one is a winner! "Wonderful!!!"