The Legend of the Lone Ranger

I thought Klinton Splsbury was a good Lone Ranger and Michael Horse was a good Tonto.

The magic of this film, for me, is the first half, when we see how John Reid becomes the Lone Ranger.Also, a great scene where he finds a wild white horse, breaks him, and names him Silver. But a later scene just blew my mind away.

In that scene,after Reid and Tonto bury his brother and the other ambushed Texas Rangers, he decides to wear a mask so the bad guys won't recognize him. He tells Tonto the mask will be a symbol of justice. At this point, we have not yet seen his alter ego.

That changes when we see him from the back kneeling at his brother's grave and vowing to avenge his death. Then he puts his hat on, turns around, and as we see him in his mask for the first time, blaring trumpets sound out the start of the William Tell Overture. Being a Lone Ranger fan, this literally sent shivers down my spine.

The scene continues as they both ride away to more of the overture, and, of course, we hear "Hi yo, Silver, away."

Breathtaking!

The untold origin of the Lone Ranger. It shows who he was and how and why he became the Ranger.

Legendary bomb. The idea was not a bad one--reinvent and introduce the Lone Ranger for 1980s audiences. Right off the bat though there were problems. The studio ordered Clayton Moore (the original Ranger) to stop appearing anywhere as the Lone Ranger. It led to a nasty little battle that made headlines. I know of people who refused to see the film because of how Moore was treated. Also they hired the awesomely untalented Klinton Spilsbury to play the Ranger. Spilsbury was very handsome and muscular but had absolutely no charisma and just couldn't act. In fact his whole vocal performance was redubbed by another actor! Also his off screen antics (public drunkenness and beating people up) didn't help matters. Acting aside, the script is dull and slow. Also the Ranger himself doesn't show up until an HOUR in! There were some complaints at the time that the movie was too violent for a PG. However I don't think it was that bad.

There are a few (very few) things done right here--the photography was truly beautiful; Michael Horse was excellent as Tonto; Christopher Lloyd is lots of fun as the villain and when the Lone Ranger finally shows up (with the William Tell Overture booming from the soundtrack) it's really rousing. But, all in all, this is a boring and terrible attempt to bring back the Lone Ranger. It's easy to see why this bombed. A 4--mostly for the photography.

I know that I am in the minority here, but I've always really liked this movie. I fondly recall viewing it in the theater with my parents when i was 6 years old. Maybe I am blind when it comes to the film, but i don't see any major problems with it. It's not a perfect film, but it is quite enjoyable. Let me put it this way, there are many films out there which are much worse!

I think what i liked the most was the music score, that theme song was haunting to my ears and one of the few that stayed fresh in my mind for so many years. John Barry truly did a marvelous job on this one, and many other movie scores over the years as well. I wish i could find the original theme song on CD, or at least on MP3.

I saw this when I was five. I liked it at the time and was too young to have heard about the politics and controversy with Clayton Moore or notice the dubbing of the title character's voice. Even watching it again the other day for the first time in almost thirty years, those things were not issues to the movie itself.

It was entertaining. There are things I'd change here or there, but overall it was good. The handling of Tonto still holds up today in our hyper-PC world.

It's not without its warts, but they can easily be seen beyond and the movie enjoyed. Definitely check it out.

After reading so many bad comments on this film, I guess I'm one of the few that disagree with the critics. I really liked this movie. I thought it was well directed by William Fraker, with terrific photography and a well written story. So, for once, there isn't a lot of blood and guts all over the place. Who cares? It was also interesting to me to see how the Lone Ranger got his name and the whole silver bullet legend, which I never knew. So, thanks for filling me in on that subject.

Some wonderful performances by all of the leads. How wonderful to see Jason Robards as President Grant. He added so much to the role with his usuall unbeatable acting abilities. This is a terrific actor in all that he does. And Christopher Lloyd as "Butch" Cavendish, the villain, plays the part with simplicity and not the usuall western bad guy. It was nice to see Lloyd play a different kind of role other than the character from "Taxi" he's known for. I liked Matt Clark as the Sheriff. You see Clark in many films and most of the time his work goes un-noticed. This actor, too, does fine character work. Then we have the Lone Ranger and Tonto. Yes, there are many legends that lean on the gay relationship, but this viewer liked these two actors. I didn't know that Klinton Spilsbury's voice was dubbed as the Ranger. But I thought he had lots of charm and certainly good looks, with or without the mask. His scenes with the horse, Silver, were wonderfully humorous and appealing. His scene in the church with Amy was also well played and well photographed. I liked this actor and don't understand why he never appeared again in a film. It must have been his own choice.

As Tonto, Michael Horse was perfection. Simply played with dignity for his race, he brought some nice quality to the film. You felt that unsaid respect and devotion the two heroes had for one another. If you want to go the gay route, do so. I guess in this day and age, one must take that aspect and build on it. What, then, does that say of the Three Muskateers?