September Dawn
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Jon Voight, Trent FordBrand: SONY PICTURES HOME ENT
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.78:1
Running Time: 110 minutes
Published: 2008-01-01
DVD Release Date: 2008-01-01
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of September Dawn
Movie Review: Amazingly honest film!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was stunned at the fine craftsmanship and courageous candor of this film. The Mountain Meadows Massacre has been well documented outside the LDS Church and up until recently was spin doctored and rewritten into the dust by Mormon Apologists. It's been said well in other reviews but I'll echo it again, this movie very poignantly, dramatically and literately demonstrates the type of tragedy that can occur when fanaticism overcomes rational thought and behavior.
It's a hard film to watch but it's a valuable film to digest and think about.
That's because the zealot's blindness, denial, self-deception and irrational behavior that you see in this film is still very much alive today both inside and outside Mormonism. (Note: Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith is a great resource if you're interested in the "inside" side of that last sentence)
Regarding the ongoing Mountain Meadows Massacre controversy, I agreed with the consensus in the Special Features Documentaries of this DVD that BOTH sides would be calmed and defused by a FULL public acknowledgment of the LDS Church's culpability as well as an apology. [NOTE: A partial concession was issued on 9/11/2007 - the 150th anniversary of the massacre. See the comment I added on 6/18/2008 for the full text] I understand that this runs counter to the LDS Church's hyper-diligence on their public image (it would damage Brigham Young's spin doctored image as the infallible voice of God for example) BUT I really think that it would quiet the tumult a bit.
If you're interested in reading more about the Mountain Meadows Massacre here are some other titles you might enjoy:
The Mountain Meadows Massacre
Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows
American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows, September 1857
If you're interested LDS Church History, the following book has been considered a watershed work since it's publication in 1945. It has been honored by non-Mormons (Newsweek called it "a definitive biography in the finest sense of the word," and Time praised the author for her "skill and scholarship and admirable detachment.") and villianized by Mormons like legendary Apologist Hugh Nibley who challenged Brodie in a booklet called, 'No, Ma'am, That's Not History'.
No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith
Other books on Mormon History and Culture that you might find interesting include:
The Mormon Culture of Salvation: Force, Grace and Glory
If you're interested in reading the accounts of ex-Mormons these are good books:
Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith
Secret Ceremonies: A Mormon Woman's Intimate Diary of Marriage and Beyond
And, finally, if you're interested in better understanding of how irrational cult thinking like that shown in this movie can overwhelm otherwise reasonable person - Mormon and non-Mormon alike - please consider these books:
The Pattern of The Double-Bind in Mormonism
Toxic Faith
Summary of September Dawn
Academy AwardŽ winner Jon Voight, Terence Stamp and Trent Ford star in this film based on the true story of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, the brutal murder of 120 men, women and children on September 11, 1857 as their wagon train passed through Utah on its way to California. The question of whether the attack was carried out by local Paiute Indians or by a renegade sect of the Mormon church remains unresolved to this day. Set against the breathtaking beauty of the Utah mountains, September Dawn explores what might have happened when the ill-fated settlers stopped near Cedar City to rest before completing the last leg of their journey. Local Mormon Bishop Jacob Samuelson (Voight) is suspicious of the group, so he dispatches his oldest son Jonathan (Ford) to spy on them. Jonathan soon falls in love with an angelic member of the wagon train, the minister's daughter Emily (Tamara Hope), and is horrified when he discovers that his father thinks the settlers are enemies of the church and is planning an attack on them. While Jonathan makes plans to escape with Emily, his father sets in motion a chain of events, fueled by revenge and fanaticism, which culminates in a violent and tragic ambush.Similar DVD Movies
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