Ultima fermata Saber River

Last Stand at Saber River is directed by Dick Lowry and adapted to teleplay by Ronald M. Cohen form the novel of the same name written by Elmore Leonard.It stars Tom Selleck, Suzy Amis, Tracey Needham, Keith Carradine, David Carradine, Haley Joel Osment and Rachel Duncan. Music is scored by David Shire and cinematography by Ric Waite.

"Texas 1865. The war between the States continues to rage. Texas remains deeply committed to the Confederate cause."

Nicely mounted Oater from the tail end of the Civil War, Last Stand at Saber River does, however, suffer from predictability. Selleck is Paul Cable, who is back from fighting for the Confederates in the war, he finds that his family thought he was dead and his homestead has been claimed by Union men. A feud ensues between Cable and the Kidston family, while Cable and his wife Martha (Amis) struggle to reform their love in a haze of confusion and bitterness. Cue some Western movie staples that file in and out of the plot and a finale that turns on an unlikely character switch around.

There's something wrong with this valley. The war's over but the killing don't stop.

Characters are nicely drawn, though, with the script allowing some mature conversations and themes to be born out within the plot. The New Mexico locations are nicely photographed by Waite, and the colours are unobtrusive and keep the feel authentic. Selleck manfully carries the film on his tall frame, he looks the part and conveys great acting skills with face and body. Rest of cast are up to a required TV Western standard, with Amis standing out by expertly portraying guts and emotional turmoil without histrionics.

A good and safe time filler for the Selleck and TV Western watchers, but it really doesn't linger in the memory once the predicted ending has closed. 6/10

The secret of a watchable western is a rugged cowboy and his 'Annie get your gun' moll/wife, a wild west terrain, spectacular scenery and a story like this of a returning "reb" soldier having to make peace with himself, his family and then be involved in a land dispute etc or whatever with the Yankie occupiers.

It is also about people coming to terms with the new order of things if they can.

I like a good Western and this is one even though the tale is in some respects often weak and far fetched yet the stunning scenery and great photography makes up for that, so this is worthy of at least: 6/10

WOW this is a good movie. Tom Selleck joined forces with Turner Pictures for 3 westerns. and all 3 of them are superb. this was the first of the 3 (Crossfire Trail, Monte Walsh).

this has a great plot as Selleck's character, a former confederate soldier returns home and things are what they should be. And he has to put his life back to gether.

I also loved the scenery and the attention to detail. It's not your typical shoot'em up bang bang western. the plot is good the background music is good, its all good

great movie!

I thought this was a darn good western. Enjoyable and entertaining as a true American Western should be. Great chemistry with all the actors. Keith Carradine was really good you see why their back in Monty Walsh. Tom and Keith have it on screen. The wife of Cable is very authentic. A western frontier gal. She reminds me of the wife in Shane. A good plot and running story line. David Carradine always as weird as ever playing Duane. He carry's it. True to the civil war era with rifles and revolvers for authenticity. I like the scene where Paul Cable sits on the porch with riders coming up slightly pulls his gun out from the holster for a quick draw and cocks his Henry rifle. I also notice Comet rides again from Brisco County Jr. It looks like that horse that Tom rode was what Brisco rode too. Also Denis Forest who played Cornet the cowboy who got a shot into Cable played on Briscoe as well. He was one of the Swill Brothers. A good movie won't be disappointed.

This is a great film that grabs the attention and holds it all the way through. The story is excellent, the history convincing and the acting is superb throughout. It may be a 'made for TV' movie but this is about as good as a Western can get. It should definitely receive more recognition than it does. Perhaps it's movie snobbery because it was made for TV, maybe people don't like Ted Turner or Tom Selleck - who knows?

This is one of those DVD's that doesn't come down in price too often - a sign of a good film. If you watch it you'll know why. This is one for the DVD library. I'll never part with my copy.....