Le justicier solitaire

What is most interesting about this film, other than it's parallels to Zorro (which was written in the early 1900's): is the fact that Klinton Spilsbury never spoke a single word of dialogue throughout the entire piece, his lines being completely dubbed by James Keach, Stacey Keach's brother; Harrison Ford's stunt double from the later release of Raiders being run over during the stagecoach stunt homage to Yakima Canutt; and that John Hart, temporary replacement for Clayton Moore on the TV version of the Lone Ranger, being cast as Mr. Striker, newspaper editor and creator of the Lone Ranger mythos.

I personally like this film despite it's flaws. It's good, but could have been so much better.

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 well-deserved negative comments about this beautifully-filmed fiasco have all but obscured one important good deed: the attempt to update the Lone Ranger on the wide screen, in all his majestic conservatism. Where the studio, in my mind, failed, was in treating the Ranger as "someone we know." For anyone who grew up in the late '40's or early '50's, and remembers Brace Beemer's voice [one God would have envied], or even his predecessor's [Earle Graser], or remembers how naturally Clayton Moore assumed the role for television, the expensive exposure of Klinton Spilsbury was cruelly unnecessary. Why trifle with the Masked Man's origins? He was perfect as we knew him! The Ranger, for all you out there in cyberspace, was NEVER named John; that his last name was Reid was well-known, but to give him a first name [and an unremarkable one at that], was to snatch away some of the mystery and aura surrounding the character. The Wrather Corporation, which bought the rights to the Lone Ranger from George W. Trendle, made this foolish mistake, and they robbed the Masked Man of any heroic pretense by making him, in essence, one of us. If someone bought the rights to the Superman character, changed his planet from Krypton to some other location, and did away with his earthly name of Clark Kent, can you imagine the reaction? The Wrather Corporation robbed themselves of a valuable property by re-tooling the Lone Ranger, and the result was this cinematic fiasco. It could have worked well, even without a "name" actor. The film was shot through with admirable creative strokes. Two come to mind. First, the racist attack on the young Tonto, second, the planned gang-rape of Amy Striker on the hijacked stagecoach, neither of which could have been broadcast nor televised in the '40's or '50's. Even the scene in the confessional could have proved a brilliant stroke [indeed, we saw it imitated in the 1998 "The Mask of Zorro" to wonderful effect]. The point is that it all could have worked! The sadistic ambush of the Texas Rangers at Bryant's Gap was realistic and moving, but could have been dealt with far more effectively by means of flashbacks. The film failed because the studio didn't care enough to probe the reasons for the Ranger's motivation [the superficial one of revenge for the massacre at Bryant's Gap wasn't enough] and Tonto's reasons for his remarkable and deeply humane devotion to his friend. A re-orchestration of the Republic and classical overtures would have heightened the film [as expensive as this might have been] from an ordinary Western into something else; a retelling of a classic myth and cultural icon. We Ranger fanatics are much the poorer because a rich corporation bought the rights to a character without understanding [or caring] about the emotional underpinnings of the legend. American audiences were ready for a "modern" Lone Ranger in 1981; I'm not certain that anyone cares anymore, and that's the tragedy.

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?

The legend of the Lone Ranger is ¨the untold story of the man behind the mask and the legend behind the man¨ . This flick that wavers between irony and seriousness follows the adventures of the Ranger , his white stallion Silver and his American Indian pal Tonto, as they attempt to bring local criminals to justice. It began on radio and made the transition to the small screen more than 50 years ago . This cinematic adaptation deals with the young Texas Ranger named John Reid ( Klinton Spilsbury who was dubbed), he is the sole survivor of an ambush arranged by the rebel outlaw leader, Butch Cabendich, as he is saved by an old childhood Comanche partner named Tonto (Michael Horse), and subsequently both of them form a formidable pair . The sole surviving Texas Ranger of a treason planned by the militaristic Butch Cavandish (Christopher Lloyd) returns to fight back as a relentless masked hero . When Reid recovers from his wounds, he becomes the great masked western hero, The Lone Ranger. With the help of Tonto, the duo go to save the President Grant (Jason Robards) when the nasty Cabendich takes him hostage . The President Ulysses S. Grant is accompanied by other historic personages as Will Bill Hickok (Richard Farsworth) , Gen. George A. Custer (Lincoln Tate) and Buffalo Bill Cody (Flicker) .The Ranger who was nursed back to health by the Indian Tonto rides with him, on Silver and Scout, throughout the West, doing good deeds and they dedicate their life to combat the evil that Cabendich represents. The two heroes ride off in a cloud of dust under classic musical background composed by Rossini.

¨The Legend Of The Lone Ranger¨ is crusader's last silver screen outing , but the film bombed so badly at the box office, the movie's star Klinton Spilsbury never worked in Hollywood again. The film contains action , thrills , great scenery with spectacular outdoors magnificently photographed by Laszlo Kovacs . This shows a campy and entertaining glimpse at nostalgic television series , though slow-paced and often corny. Klinton Spilsbury is mediocre as the mysterious and righteous gunslinger , he is at times absurdly awkward, yet the shows have an endearing innocent charm to them , while Michael Horse is passable as his faithful sidekick Tonto. This is a middling effort to narrate origin of the masked man though packs some fine action and excellent musical score by John Barry. The motion picture is regularly directed by the late William A. Fraker. While children will undoubtedly love , adults will probably be tiring and falling asleep .

Originally created as a radio play in 1933 by George W. Trendle and developed by Fran Striker, this is the last big screen iteration of the famous character .The Lone Ranger started off as an America radio show started in the 1930s and finally ended in 1954. It later expanded on to the big screen with 1938's "The Lone Ranger," 1939's "The Lone Ranger Rides Again," . The Lone Ranger was also a television series from 1948 through 1957 in which gained widespread notoriety on ABC television, as Clayton Moore donned the mask each week to fight crime and corruption in the old west and of course Jay Silverheels as Tonto. The last appearance of The Lone Ranger was in 2003 for a two-hour special on WB Network starring Chad Michael Murray and Nathaniel Arcand.Jerry Bruckheimer Films has debuted a logo for the upcoming adaptation of The Lone Ranger.The tagline on the site reads, "The Legend Returns." Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski has been contracted to filmmaking the classic TV show film , a blockbuster retelling for the big screen, and Johnny Depp is attached to play Tonto, the Lone Ranger's partner. There's still no word on who will play the Lone Ranger, but at one point George Clooney was rumored to be in talks.