Return to Lonesome Dove

The first time around, I was so shocked not to see Robert and Tommy, all that could go through my mind was how bad this production must be.

The second time around, after i had had a little talk with myself, i snapped on reality. If i wanted to watch Lonesome Dove, all i had to do was go buy the video. (strangely, i had already bought the video and worn the cassette out, but guys can get so focused on trivia).

This is not Lonesome Dove, this is a new story with new actors and actresses faced with a chore greater than good acting. They have to live with Lonesome Dove, the greatest mini in history. And they have to tell us a new story.

Now, I don't have the nerve of Jon or Barbara, i would never have tried it, but they did. And they did a damn fine job.

The second time i watched this mini, i enjoyed it a lot. As well as a chance to think of old friends, i got to meet new ones. And it was a good tale, told in a good way. It may not totally get to Lonesome Dove standards, BUT WHAT DOES?? If we measure everything against Lonesome Dove, we could throw away our tv's. And to be fair, if we measure everything else against Return to Lonesome Dove, we might not throw our tv's away, we would just unplug them for the evening.

I liked it. It is a good mini. I hope you each will watch it twice. The second time, you might just enjoy it. Robert and Tommy will not mind, I promise.

Let me say first off that I am a huge fan of the original series Lonesome Dove and the book it was based from. I have put off watching this sequel for the better part of 10 years due to the bad reviews I'd heard about it. If Tommy Lee Jones wasn't playing Capt. Call I didn't see the point. If Larry McMurtry wasn't involved why should I care? How wrong I was.

This is in so many ways a worthy sequel to Lonesome Dove, maybe even more so than the dark mood of Streets Of Laredo. The story, acting, production, cinematography are all top-notch. Of course the script isn't as colorful as Lonesome Dove but it has it's moments. And, much to my surprise, there are bits of Lonesome Done in this series; the relationship between July and Clara, completely dismissed in the prequel, is brought up here almost identical to the book, a most welcome surprise. The story isn't all roses, it has it's surprises too. By far the biggest surprise is Jon Voight's interpretation of Capt. Call. While not a direct copy of Tommy Lee Jones' his is both faithful and unique to Voight's credit. The cast is fantastic all across the board, and I don't think Rick Schroeder has done a better job of acting than in this series. Oliver Reed practically steals the show here, he is superb in a role that makes you care for his character as equally as you hate him.

It is worth it to watch this if you haven't due to bad criticisms, especially that the DVD is so affordable (I got the 2-disc set for $10.99, you can probably find it cheaper). It is in no way the disappointment that Dead Man's Walk turned out (well, it was for me). And MCMurtry was involved with that one!

I had my reservations about watching The Return to Lonesome Dove after seeing and enjoying the original so much. Without Tommy Lee Jones reprising his role as Woodrow Call or Anjelica Huston as Clara, I figured it just wouldn't seem authentic enough. Upon viewing 'return' I can honestly say it's a worthy successor. The actors really make the show with Jon Voight, Rick Schroder, and Oliver Reed all preforming at their very best. I admit the story might not be quite as engrossing as the first, but 'return' definitely has it's share of excitement and captures the romance of the old west in a way that few other films have. Anyone who still has reservations can rest assured that The Return to Lonesome Dove succeeds in capturing the 'feel' of the original and will not disappoint. Do yourself a favor and check it out, Ol' Gus would be proud!

I was surprised that I ended up liking this sequel to the much beloved classic mini-series "Lonesome Dove". Despite not having as many of the great characters and actors that the original series had. However, 'Return to Lonesome Dome' has a lot of new and interesting characters played by very good actors in William Peterson, Oliver Reed, Lou Gossett Jr., a young Reese Witherspoon and a very menacing Montana half-breed terrorist rustler played by Reginald Dorsey.

As for the returning characters who survived the original 'Lonesome Dove' series, Jon Voight takes over the reins of Tommy Lee Jones now classic character "Captain Woodrow F. Call". Now, I know it's hard to accept anyone but Tommy Lee Jones playing that role, but, I have to admit it that Jon Voight's performance as Woodrow Call is almost identical to that of Tommy Lee's, and Voight makes it a lot easier to just accept that someone else is playing that role.

Rick Schroder returns to play his character from the original series, Newt Dobbs. And, while following Woodrow's journey back to Montana from Texas is fun and exiting to watch, Newt's story line is not only the most interesting story of the series, but it's also the most satisfying, because it answers the question the original series left us with at the end. Which is, "What happened to Newt and the rest of the Texas rustlers in Montana?". Therefore, justifying the reason to even make a sequel to the classic original mini-series.

Also, a little of a side note, Rick Schroder co-starred with Jon Voight in the 1979 movie "The Champ". It was Schroder's first major screen appearance that included great performances by both Voight and 9-year old Ricky Schroder. And, it was both touching and fascinating to watch Voight and Schroder sharing the screen together again in "Return to Lonesome Dove" 14-years later.

Also, I can't end this review without mentioning the worst and most pointless and terribly cast character of the sequel, Agostina Vega played by Nia Peeples. Agostina is the tough female gun fighting Mexican child of Gus McCray, and she's out for revenge against Gus for abandoning her and her mother. But, Gus is dead so she decides to get her revenge on Captain McCall instead.

While Nia was a very attractive young woman back in 93', the problem is that she's only 5'2 and maybe 90lbs sopping wet. Not exactly an intimidating figure who looks like she could tough it in the Wild West on her own, no matter how good she supposedly is with a gun.

Plus, the character itself is just pointless and adds nothing to the overall story. It just seems like a cheap way to work a Augustus McCray story line into the series, without the Gus McCray character being present.

I'm rating "Return to Lonesome Dove" a 7-out of-10 stars. I would've rated it higher if it wasn't for that pointless Agostina character. But, there still enough good things about the sequel that far out weighs the bad, and I highly recommend seeing it at least once. Just don't expect it to be as nearly memorable and deeply moving as the original series.

When you get right down to it, could a mini series really have worse circumstances surrounding it and carry the burdens Return to Lonesome Dove does? Not only is it a sequel to a timeless classic like Lonesome Dove thus having a hard act like that to follow, but its also not written by the original author and is disliked by the original author to boot. That's a tall order for any story.

But amazingly, Return to Lonesome Dove is up to that challenge. That is if you look past all the controversy and the fact that its not written by McMurtry, if you do you will see a very rich and entertaining mini series. It stays true to McMurtry's characters, Captain Call, Clara Allen, and Pea Eye are all the same. Newt's growth as a character evolves nicely and believably for a young man growing up on his own. The new characters are compelling and believable and they interact seamlessly with the familiar ones from Lonesome Dove. The storyline itself is believable and riveting as well. Its not Lonesome Dove, but its well worth watching and a worthy successor.

Its a great pity that McMurtry denounced this movie as being non canon, for in my humble opinion it is superior to his own sequel offering of Streets of Laredo, a book that was depressing almost to the point of being unreadable. Don't get me wrong, I'll always be grateful to McMurtry for Lonesome Dove and have the utmost respect for him, great author, but he does the fans of his story something of a disservice by denouncing the sequel mini series. I suggest overlooking him just this once. You will miss out on another great story if you don't.