Comanche Moon
by Simon Wincer
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Elizabeth Banks, Karl Urban, Linda Cardellini, Steve Zahn, Val KilmerDirector: Simon Wincer
Brand: Sony
Producer: Adam Shulman
Producer: Diana Ossana
Writer: Diana Ossana
Producer: Dyson Lovell
Producer: Julie Yorn
Producer: Karen Mayeda Vranek
Writer: Larry McMurtry
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 360 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-02-26
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Sony Pictures
Movie Reviews of Comanche Moon
Movie Review: "Don't take up with any hoodlums. We'd hate to have to hang you."
Summary: 5 Stars
"Commanche Moon", is a fairly interesting prequel to "Lonsome Dove", which I think most LD fans will appreciate.
While Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call as played by Steve Zahn and Karl Urban may take some getting used to, by the film's conclusion, the actors are firmly established as their characters. Zahn does a great job of portraying the McCrae character as fleshed out by Robert Duvall, but anytime he would be situated next to Urban, I found myself wishing that someone had put him on a soap box or something, to add a few inches.
Karl Urban as Call was as wooden as the Tommy Lee Jones Call, but Val Kilmer as Captain Inish Scull is great. I was a little surpised at how well the film followed the book in how this character, and his antagonists were true to McMurty's vision.
If you're looking for answers to your questions about "Lonesome Dove", "Commanche Moon" pretty well illustrates the prior exploits of most of the LD characters and the reasons for their actions. Buffalo Hump and son, Blue Duck are well represented. Maggie Tilton is only part of the dialogue in "Lonsome Dove", but in "Commanche Moon", her relationship to Call is far more expanded and explained, especially in comparison to the earlier "Dead Man's Walk".
Even more revealing, "Commanche Moon" also goes into some detail concerning the prior exploits of Jake Spoon and his relationship to McCrae and Call. "Don't take up with any hoodlums. We'd hate to have to hang you," is something spoken to Spoon by McCrae towards the end of the film that is said in jest, but LD fans will be able to immediately pick up on the irony.
Like "Lonsome Dove", there were various points where I, as a viewer, thought that the story could end, but then surprisingly, the story continued. Therefore, when the end of "Commanche Moon" finally did come, it was sort of a surprise. The good thing about the ending itself is that it is an apt lead-in to "Lonesome Dove", which, timeline-wise, begins only about ten years later.
"Commanche Moon" isn't a great film, like "Lonesome Dove", but it's a very good one, and I think, a better addition to the LD series than "Dead Man's Walk" or "The Streets of Laredo".
I've given it five stars because it doesn't need to great to be enjoyable, and I really enjoyed "Commanche Moon".
Summary of Comanche Moon
Texas Rangers Woodrow Call and Augustus McCrae pursue three outlaws, Comanche war chief Buffalo Hump, Comanche horse thief Kicking Wolf and a Mexican bandit king. Now in their middle years, they also struggle with their personal lives, Gus with Clara Forsythe, the love of his life, and Call with Maggie Tilton, the young prostitute who loves him. Meanwhile their partners-in-arms Deets, Jake Spoon and Pea Eye Parker help the Rangers protect the advancing western frontier from the defiant Comanches who are determined to defend their land and way of life. Prequel to Lonesome Dove, and based upon the novel by Larry McMurty.It's billed as "the second chapter in the Lonesome Dove saga," but Comanche Moon is actually a prequel to that much-loved 1989 miniseries. And while there's no doubt that it has some very big boots to fill, this three-part (on two DVDs, including bonus features) production is rarely less than eminently watchable and entertaining. Continuity is a positive factor: Larry McMurtry, who wrote the novel on which it's based, also co-wrote the screenplay, and Lonesome Dove director Simon Wincer returns as well. As for the cast, it's certainly not as star-studded as its predecessor, but Steve Zahn (as Gus McCrae), Karl Urban (Woodrow Call), Linda Cardellini (Clara Allen), and the others manage to suggest the characterizations brought to the screen by Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, and Anjelica Huston, respectively, without mimicking them. Of course, there are new faces on hand as well, principally Val Kilmer (looking a mite chubby, perhaps due to all the scenery he chews in his portrayal of Texas Rangers Captain Inish Scull) and Rachel Griffiths (as Scull's horny wife).
As the tale begins in 1858, Call and McCrae, some years away from becoming the cattlemen depicted in Lonesome Dove, are Rangers serving under the educated and eccentric Scull as they work to protect the territory against marauding Comanches, led by the stern, vengeful Buffalo Hump (Wes Studi) and his crazed son, Blue Duck (Adam Beach). When Scull's horse is stolen by one of the Indians, he sets out to retrieve the beast, promoting both Call and McRae to Captain, and the rest of the story revolves primarily around them; in fact, although there's a reasonable amount of action (including the Comanche raid on Austin that opens Part Two), Comanche Moon is much less plot-dependent than character-driven, and it is Call (tough, taciturn, and totally clueless when it comes to the fair sex) and best friend McRae (an open-hearted, self-described jester) who are the most engaging of the bunch as they navigate the deep waters of their work and love lives (McRae with Clara and Call with the prostitute Maggie Tilton, played by Elizabeth Banks). McMurtry and co-writer Diana Ossana's dialogue manages to be at once plain and poetic, colorful and poignant, and regardless of what's actually happening onscreen, the miniseries has a light, often whimsical charm that separates it from most Westerns made for big and small screen alike. Extras include a "making of" featurette and more. --Sam Graham
Stills from Comanche Moon (click for larger image)
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