chimoves

I was pleasantly surprised when I watched this movie. The

costuming is excellent, the location is perfect. Ed Harris plays a

rough and tumble gun-slinger named Lassiter. He's a man with a

mission and he means to see the mission through to the bitter

end, no matter what the cost. In the process he does some great

riding, some fancy gun play, and gives a solid performance as a

man who gets the job done. The romantic action between Harris

and Amy Madigan is subtle and beautifully portrayed. Some of the

supporting cast are a bit one dimensional but the overall film is

smooth paced, well-done, and has a happy ending. If you are

looking for a good modern western film, this is it.

Well this is one of those Westerns that seems almost a spoof of Westerns and then surprises you with how much fun it is to watch... over and over again. Lance Henriksen is simply outstanding as the gunfighter Frank Morgan. He plays his role with a sense of restrained exaggeration. Note the way he mounts and dismounts... his conversation with the dog, his eye movements in the first shoot-out. The rest of the cast does a good job in providing Lance with numerous opportunities to sling out some good one-liners. Morgan ends up facing off with his ex-wife, a town sheriff, a puffed-up deputy, multiple bad guys and a long lost daughter. Yikes! This film had me smiling and laughing out loud all the way through. The exaggeration of characters alone is worth the price of the film.

Let's cut to the quick here. This is one terrific war flick. It has excellent development of the differences between Rangers and Delta Operators, lots of accurate portrayal of combat, more action than you would expect and enough humor and personal development that I felt I knew the men involved. As a former combat Marine with three tours in Viet Nam I was pleased to see a movie that showed American fighting men as FIGHTING MEN... not bigger than life... but living life and doing what they were trained to do. It's about time that movie shows Americans can "kick some ass" without being politically correct. Yes there are a couple of times when you have to laugh at the distance a delta operator throws a frag, but hey... it's a movie afterall. I was fortunate enough to have a friend who is part of the Academy... He loaned me the DVD and I have watched it at least 25 times, shown it to over 20 friends (mostly women) and they all were highly moved by the entire experience. Long live America and the men (and women) who protect the country.