Movie Reviews for Johnson County War

Johnson County War

	List Price: ~~$9.98~~ Our Price: $3.99 You Save: $5.99 (60%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $1.91 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases

Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

Movie Reviews of Johnson County War

Movie Review: Overlong, muddled... but good to look at
Summary: 3 Stars

Large, sprawling, and picture-postcard pretty, JOHNSON COUNTY WAR is a three-hour mini-series that originally ran on the Hallmark Channel in 2002. It's based on a real event, a range war that pitted large ranchers against small ranchers in Wyoming in 1892. Infamously it's the real life event that inspired Michael Cimino's mega-disaster `Heaven's Gate.'

`Based on' doesn't mean `faithful to,' and a cursory internet search of `Johnson County War' reveals a muddled, hero-less big rancher versus small rancher conflict that pitted cattle rustlers against the unscrupulous wealthy. Here, though, the moral right and wrong is more strongly etched. Tom Berenger plays Cain Hammett, the eldest of three brothers (why are there always three brothers in these western mini-series?) Cain is a good guy, a small ranch bachelor who has a healthy and upright respect for younger brother Dale's (Adam Storke) wife Rory (Michelle Forbes.) Dale is a sheep rancher, a bit lower in the pecking order as such things were reckoned back then. Unfortunately, we're introduced to Dale soon after we meet Rory, who's nursing a nasty looking, husband-inflicted black eye. The penalty, the movie explains away, for calling your husband a coward because he won't shoot to kill mercenary Marshall Hunt Lawton (Burt Reynolds.) Little brother Harry (Luke Perry), meanwhile, is out branding strays and squiring a passel of young widows. The widows were made by Lawton, who along with other hired thugs pin messages (`Beware Cattle Rustlers,' and the like) on their victims' corpses. The wealthy ranchers' Cheyenne Club hired Lawton to intimidate the small ranchers into leaving.

JOHNSON COUNTY WAR is a good enough movie, but it has some problems. For one, it lasts at least an hour longer than it needs to. Rachel Ward plays a hard-boiled prostitute who, while entertaining enough, doesn't add a lot to the story while chewing up an inordinate amount of screen time. Reynolds, in a role Robert Ryan spent the last couple of decades of his career playing to perfection, doesn't have the grit to carry it off convincingly. The issues aren't very sharply drawn, either. I don't mind when a movie plays with the facts, but JOHNSON COUNTY WAR doesn't make the core issues, especially what's happening with the small ranchers, clear enough to follow. An alright modern western, but that's about it.

Movie Review: a fizzle
Summary: 3 Stars

As soon as you see the name Larry McMurty, you know it's going to be a very, very long movie in which very, very little happens. McMurty seems to specialize in taking short stories and padding them into three-volume novels. This movie, of which he only wrote the screenplay, is no exception. The scenery and music keep it from being a total waste and the gritty, dirty sets.

Western fans may be annoyed by a couple of places where credibility is strained in how the character handles a dangerous situation. Also, the big, big buildup to a climactic scene leads to a fizzle ending. The characters are not, in fact, well developed but are stereotypes. The British lord and his man-servant are comic book material, not only stereotypes but highly prejudiced stereotypes.

There are many better movies out there. See this only if you're a fan of one of the players. And by the bye, even though Rachel Ward gets top billing on the cover, she has a very small part and is quickly dead, a pity since she was at least a colorful character.

Movie Review: Beautiful scenery and a good story.
Summary: 3 Stars

It's decent but not outstanding. There is not a lot of action until the end if you are looking for that. There is a persistent love triangle that continues through the film which could have been left out. It doesn't include any type of constant skimishing to indicate the ongoing struggle but rather just culminates in the final shootout. Also ,the final shootout has the representiave small time rancher holed up instead of the other way around as history actually went. That's forgiveable I guess. The film essentially takes a small number of people(namely three brothers and some friends) and tries to be a microcasm of the overall struggle between the greedy cattle barons and the small time rancher. The greedy barons are portrayed pretty well but the english one in particular is just a little over the top. So if you're a die hard western fan you'll probably like it, ...

Movie Review: The REEL story hasn't been filmed yet
Summary: 3 Stars

I am a resident of Buffalo, Johnson County, Wyoming. I've seen this movie as well as "Heaven's Gate" and "In Old Cheyenne" all of which supposedly dealt with the "Johnson County War" of 1892. This version is a well-acted western and enjoyable entertainment but I must plead with the reader to not believe this movie has anything to do the titled incident. It's worth getting to add to your "westerns" collection or if you're a fan of Burt Reynolds or Tom Berenger. But Don't get it if you want to learn about the real Johnson County War...that version hasn't been filmed yet.