Dogman

This has been a favorite ever since it came out. But I was always confused as to why it was marred by the hokey, cornball, ridiculous Dukes of Hazzard narration that accompanied it.

Imagine my sheer joy this afternoon when I discovered the Director's Version on the DVD has eliminated that. Now it lives up to it's full potential ... one heck of a movie!

The cinematography and scenery in this film make it worthwhile in themselves. Throw in a little occasional humor, decent acting jobs, suspense, the ability to hold your interest, and you get a film that allows you to escape your cares and spend a couple hours in the paradise of the Canadian Rockies.

This is a must see for western fans, fans of the great out doors, and guys like me who're in love with Barbara Hershey.

HG Wells once recommended that writers of 'fantastic fiction' choose to break only one rule per story, to avoid stretching their readers willful suspension of disbelief to breaking. _Last of the Dogmen_ proves how well a story based on an implausible premise (traditional Cheyenne surviving in the mountains with their culture intact) can work if everything else is kept real. The action is realistic, and the characters are drawn honestly and allowed to behave in a natural, realistic manner.

As others have pointed out, it's a quiet little story as these stories go, and it's also one of Berenger's better performances; I feel as though I should bird-dog this director, because all the principles turn in good, nuanced work.

I recommend this movie as light or even moderate fare, with something for both romantics and adventurers.

(Curiously, as far as I can recall, the title is never explained in the film. 'Cheyenne' is a French corruption of a Blackfoot or Arikara word meaning "dog people", for the dogs the Cheyenne once used in preference to horses to haul their household goods between camps. The leading Cheyenne warrior society eventually adopted the name "dog men" or "dog soldiers" in defiance. The survivors depicted here would be the descendents of a dog soldier group and their families.)

Last of the Dogmen is written and directed by Tab Murphy. It stars Tom Berenger, Barbara Hershey, Kurtwood Smith and Steve Reevis. Music is scored by David Arnold and cinematography by Karl Walter Lindenlaub.

When three convicts escape from prison and head into the Montana mountains, the local law enforcer hires skillful tracker/bounty hunter Lewis Gates (Berenger) to go find them. What he finds is torn clothes, blood and an Indian arrow. After spying someone in the trees it leads Gates to an investigation on the possibility of a lost tribe of Cheyenne Indians living in the mountains.

A thoroughly enjoyable contemporary Western, even if it's cribbing clichés from a number of films and TV episodes of the past. Formula of story is simple, grizzled tracker man Berenger and prim anthropologist Hershey are poles apart, but into the mountains they go in search of a hidden tribe of Cheyenne. That they find them is a given, since the title says it all, but what unfolds is a burgeoning relationship between the two, while much understanding and soul searching involving the "alien" Cheyenne makes for a good chunk of the narrative. There's observations galore in here about the advancement of time, different cultures etc, and a nod to the Sand Creek Massacre, while a back story sub-plot involving Kurtwood Smith is deftly handled; if a little redundant in the grand scheme of things.

Anyone who has seen the likes of The African Queen, Dances With Wolves and the Twilight Zone Episode: A Hundred Yards Over The Rim, wont be particularly surprised by what transpires in eventuality. But Berenger and Hershey make for a nice duo to be in the company of, while Kip the dog steals the film from both of them! Though story is set in Montana, film was shot on location in Alberta and British Columbia, and here is the film's trump card, where Lindenlaub's photography is quite simply stunning. In fact his work, and that of Arnold, whose score darts in and out of the landscape, deserves to be in an "A" grade movie. It rounds out as very watchable, a professional picture that just about manages to sustain interest and good will for the two hours run time. 7/10

The scenery steals the show in this film! It is beautiful! Berenger is a treat to watch here, too as a tired old bounty hunter with a faithful dog & a good horse. The ending is worth it, too. Anything with American Indian culture in it hits a warm spot. "The Original Americans" should always come out on top. (Hail Dances With Wolves!)

So go rent or buy this film for a fantastic treat of natural beauty in the woods.

If you can get past the premise, this is a really good movie. It has all of the elements you could ask for. The cinematography is stunning. After seeing this movie, I started looking at real estate in Banff. There is romance with good and believable chemistry between the leads, well done and believable conflict between Gates and his father in law, humor, commentary on the American West in the form of a moral lecture, and the initial conflict between the two Alpha males that turns to respect and then friendship.

The unlikely star of the movie is really the dog; I don't know if that was intentional or not, but it will make you want to get a dog like that.

My favorite and most disturbing scene is the dream sequence. For better or worse, you can actually see our bloody history with the Indians playing out all over again. That perhaps is the most striking thing about this movie: You can really imagine that perhaps we have not moved forward as a society or culture when it comes to dealing with anything that we do not understand or refuse to learn about.