Lonesome Dove: The Making of an Epic

My son was 5 when LD premiered; he loved it, cried over Deets, and still loves it. My daughter was 9 when she first saw it two years ago; she loves it and cries every time over Gus's death. I had not seen LD until I rented it for her and, thanks to her, I now have a "We Don't Rent Pigs" bumper sticker on my car --the ONLY bumper sticker I have ever had.

Lonesome Dove is one of very few movies that I bothered to purchase. The casting is terrific, the story (first written as a screenplay but repeatedly turned down) stands up to repeated viewings, and the behind-the-scenes DVD is plain fun for LD fans.

We live about 10 miles from Robert Urich's hometown (Toronto, Ohio) and, oddly, not all that much "fuss" was made over this film.

Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones... wonderful! Possibly, my daughter is one of the only Robert Duvall fans under 50 who has seen ALL of his movies.

This is an excellent backgrounder that describes the inside story of the nitty gritty of the making of Lonesome Dove. It brings out a lot information that you wouldn't otherwise think of. For example, it shows the large variety and numbers of animals of all kinds involved and the amount of time and effort required to keep them in line. Remember the swimming pigs? It also has interviews with the staff both actors and the behind the scenes people that gives them a chance to tell their stories. Mostly they all just loved doing the picture- Duval says the he never expects to get a better part than Gus McCrea and that they originally offered him the part of Capt. Call which he turned down. If this kind of information interests you, you will enjoy this tape-especially if you liked the original Lonesome Dove. Otherwise forget it!

The descriptions of the logistics that were required to produce this masterpiece provide a sense of awe for the love and sweat that was needed to make it all happen. I wish they had devoted twice the time to the subject because, just as LD would not work as a two hour film, the documentary needed more time.

Several key characters are omitted completely from the story. Robert Urich (as Jake Spoon), Frederic Forrest (Blue Duck), Chris Cooper (July Johnson), D. B. Sweeney (as Dish) and Jorge Martínez de Hoyos (Po Campo) are the most pivotal characters barely mentioned.

Also surprised at the complete lack of mention of the film score of Basil Poledouris, which helped the series really stand out. I can't express strongly enough the impact Poledouris' music had on me while watching (and re-watching a dozen times) Lonesome Dove.

So I enjoyed the insights provided by this documentary but wish they had been able to devote the time needed to do justice to the subject.