Hatfields and McCoys: Bad Blood

Having no idea if the intent of this production is to ride the coattails of the History Channel's "Hatfields & McCoys" mini-series one has to think so. Obviously that one raised the current day brand recognition to an all time post WWII height, why not make a few lousy dollars?

Sadly, this seems to be the the purpose of this "K-Mart" version of the tale. I suppose if it wasn't up against the superior History Channel treatment it may look like a much crisper (almost too clear 16:9 production reeks of HD videotape, i.e., no film soft grain) 1970's ABC "Movie of the Week", but since many viewers will be watching this after seeing the far superior Kevin Costner version it pretty much is laughable.

In addition to the bargain basement production values we get a much different story. I know from research that The History Channel deviated somewhat, but here we have a very topical story with seemingly even more deviation. There just ain't any meat on these bones and the bones themselves are broken. In the back of my mind I get the feeling Jeff Fahey might have been quite good if given more to work with...That's about all I can say as the other performances were less than "phoned-in" to coin a phrase.

O.K., it's watchable if somewhat laughable. That's the only reason I give it a 3 (full disclosure: If I had paid to see it the rating would be less). I don't know how much they paid Christian Slater for his meager role here, but seriously are infomercials next?

I've already wasted 75 minutes of my life watching this almost insufferable tripe so I won't waste more than a few minutes writing this review. Like some others here, I bought the DVD, thankfully cheaply in Thailand, confused that it was the other one that rates over 8.0 on IMDb. I take the attitude that a movie is very rarely bad enough not to watch to the end. I mean, how can one have an opinion about any movie (or TV series for that matter) without at least watching the movie to the end? So, good to my word, I watched this one all the way through and WHAT A LONG MOVIE IT WAS FOR ITS 75 MINUTES. In short, the script was awful and the acting wooden. everything went exactly as one would have predicted. It really was laughably bad!! It is through watching this type of crap that one knows what a good movie is by comparison. JMV

In this who's who of actors who haven't worked in years, there's virtually nothing here worth the two hours it took to watch. Bad acting, horrid script, and far better alternatives that tell the story more accurately make this a useless film.

I wanted to like it, I really did. There was no reason to depart so much from known facts. I should've known better when I saw Jeff Fahey listed as the lead. Has he ever had anything that wasn't straight to video cheese? It's ore a film students project or some kind of attempt to milk tax dollars out of a film incentive program than an honest attempt to make a solid film.

It was as if the director picked the worst actors he could possibly find and then told them they only needed to give 10%. The best actor was the mute girl. The best part about the movie was the fact that the producers ran out of money and could only afford to stretch the film to 75 minutes. Christian Slater needs to stop doing western movies. He is actually ruining what could be good shows. I don't know if Sean Flynn or Kassandra Clementi have ever attended an acting school but if they did they need to get their money back and possibly sue the university. I would recommend this movie to anyone who has at least 200 hours a week to spare.

To enjoy this movie, first, disregard any facts you may possess about the Hatfields and McCoys and, second, release any expectations of realism. Then just take the ride. I did appreciate the acting, the Kentucky scenery, and the wonderful music. I thought Jeff Fahey and Perry King were very good as the family heads. This is not the real story of the feud, but it is a story. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. It makes sense and is easy to follow--because it is a condensed, pared-down, dummied-down, made-for-TV kind of movie. It uses the bare minimum of family members, relationships, and events. Don't bother comparing it to the outstanding Kevin Costner mini-series. Just take it for what it is, and you might see it as the hour and a half of escapism that it is. Not terrible. . . .