Dead Man's Walk
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Movie Reviews of Dead Man's Walk
Movie Review: real western
Summary: 4 Stars
McMurtry demands an authentic backdrop for his movies and he gets it here(no Canada here, but the true southwest). The focus is on the characters caught up in the settling of the west. Toughness and grit made the day in those days and that is displayed in this movie. Moves slow at times, but I never lost my interest in how the movie played out. An excellent tale of the west and an excellent movie. Well worth my purchase and and my time. Not a shoot em up movie, but gives you insight into the people who settled the west.Movie Review: Dead Man's Walk
Summary: 4 Stars
Dead Man's Walk A reat adition to the TV Mini-Series of Lonesome Dove!! You will be pleasently surprised!!Movie Review: one helluva yarn!
Summary: 4 Stars
No it ain't quite Lonesome Dove, since the characters got better with age, but taken for the prequel it is I found it to be a damn good tale.Movie Review: Old Western
Summary: 4 Stars
My husband had been looking for this DVD for quite some time. He was happy when I found it at such a low price.Movie Review: A mediocre movie with a rather haunting scene.
Summary: 3 Stars
I am surprised no one has made reference to the scene in which Call is whipped in this movie unless I'm not checking well enough through the MANY reviews. It is the one part of the movie which is interesting to watch.
Well, the DMW scene has additional lines which were left out of the movie, besides being an extremely barbaric whipping, more like a scourging. For example, Salazar says "Neither will you, AFTER WE HAVE WHIPPED YOU" and THEN goes on to say that the Mexican general had ordered 100 lashes for Woodrow Call for attacking Call's superior, the American Colonel Cobb, and put Salazar in charge of overseeing the whipping. "...AFTER WE HAVE WHIPPED YOU" is somewhat sexually suggestive. Imagine hearing that initially instead of just "Neither will you after we have given you 100 lashes". The word "whip" and all its derivatives is stronger than the word "lash" and all of ITS derivatives. Salazar goes on to mention that Call should eat well and when Call asks why, Salazar says that he won't have much flesh left... the whip will take it right off. There are additional comments by Salazar.
Two chapters later Call is tied to a wagon wheel, stripped to the waist and Salazar mentions that the multi-thonged metal tipped whip was made in Germany and one of the Rangers says he wouldn't want to go to Germany if they make whips like that. Salazar asks Call if he would like to talk to Gus and call says later and Salazar replies that there may be no later and that most men don't survive 100 lashes and that some don't even survive 50. Call says he he expects to live though the author mentions no disdain or contempt in his voice. Call is whipped (flogged is never used) till his jeans are soaked with blood and he passes out after 60 blows. The rangers can't stand to watch so they turn their backs to the whipping and only one of them can stand to look at his back afterwards, besides Mattie. The damage to his back is somewhat too extreme to be described as the result of a mere whipping. I, personally, would have preferred an honest set of welts as opposed to something so savage.
In the book a bullwhip is used instead and Salazar simply says "There may be no later". Two burly Mexican men administer the whipping. The second is holding out 3 whips for the first to choose from (black, brown, and tan)and he chooses the black. The first few blows are very vividly portrayed though after that the scene fades in and out and there is music playing during the whipping so we don't get to hear the whip crack but we do get to see Call's face and some spittle which he emits from his mouth during two of the blows. The second flogger is shirtless, except for suspenders and military trousers and a cap. After the whipping is over Woodrow is unfastened and falls to the ground and groans. A ranger says "By God, he's alive" and Salazar adds "Few men survive that many lashes". Woodrow Call is then treated by Mattie as he is practically in a coma and there are various comments made the next day which indicate that he may still not make it. The scene is not so gory as that in the book.
There is also a scene later in the book where Call gets a 2 hour backrub from an indigenous woman who uses a special homemade ointment. The Mexican general who ordered the whipping and Colonel Cobb both suffer horrible deaths later in the story at the hands of savage Indians and Salazar reaches the point where he wants to die but Call won't kill him.
The movie has an advantage in the presentation of the bullwhips and the tone of voice Call uses when he says "Oh, I expect to live" which is not alluded to in the book (the defiant attitude). I bought the book before the DVD arrived. I purchased the version which shows Jonny Lee Miller and David Arquette on the cover. This particular scene always makes me very emotional as it contains elements which leave one haunted. A very young and handsome man being whipped nearly to death. Did Larry McMurtry have to go so far? Wouldn't an ordinary whipping have sufficed?
There are 3 pictures of the whipping to the right of the DVD cover underneath the main picture of the DVD cover. There are WAY too many details which I have not the time to get into. I think that the shadow of death which hangs over this whipping serves to ruin it somewhat. We know that Call is going to live because this is, after all, a prequel to Lonesome Dove but he's lucky to be alive. The whipping serves to portray Call as even more of a hero and a brave and manly young man but it could still have done so without it being so brutal as to be likely to result in death. The whole death aspect was unnecessary. This is the most severe whipping ever portrayed in any movie or TV show even though it is not a graphic scene. A whipping should never be a death sentence. It should be a simple rite of passage.
Incidentally, Call attacks Cobb not so much because he has sold the Rangers to the Mexican Army but rather because Cobb is laughing with the Mexican General and does not seem at all saddened by the what he has done. He is looking forward to a ball he has been invited to. His callous attitude is what enrages Call.
This is a truly haunting and emotional scene and was probably added to spice up an otherwise mediocre movie.