The Black Fox - Gli ostaggi

Brilliant stuff one of the best 90's westerns even if it was made for t.v, catch it and its sequels next there on the box. Excellent, Christopher Reeves best role ever. May not have perfect directing but better then any big budget trash at the cinemas recently, WILD WILD WEST, The Avengers, The Haunting.

This film begins in the early part of 1861 with a man by the name of "Alan Johnson" (Christopher Reeve) and his family leaving the Carolinas to start a new life in Texas. Traveling with him is a good friend and former slave named "Britt Johnson" (Tony Todd) who also wants to a chance the opportunity for a new life as well. At first things are good but once the Civil War breaks out the soldiers at a nearby fort are ordered to relocated to Kansas and this leaves all of the settlers there on their own to deal with hostile Kiowa and Comanche tribes who quickly assemble together in their desire to kill, rape and pillage everybody in the area. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a pretty good made-for-television movie which combined the first two segments of a 6-part mini-series. I especially liked the acting of Tony Todd who performed quite well and carried the film for most of its duration. That being said, although it's not a great film by any means, I recommend this movie for those who enjoy a good, solid Western of this type and have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

I enjoyed this movie. My only criticism is with authenticity. It was filmed in Canada in terrain very different from the actual Ft. Belknap. That fort was largely built of stone rather than wood. The snake pit has one rattlesnake in it. The rest are some other kind of snakes. The costumes are pretty good. There is some beadwork that's loomed and kind of modern, but mostly it's very well done.