Tom Selleck Western Collection (Monte Walsh / Last Stand at Saber River / Crossfire Trail)

Tom Selleck & Sam Elliott are perhaps my favorite cowboys ever; their dedication to keeping the Western alive has produced some of the finest of modern entries in this disappearing genre. Though it's nice to see more coming into theaters, like "The Proposition," "Seraphim Falls," "3:10 to Yuma" and "The Assassination of Jesse james by the Coward Robert Ford," none of these films (though all very good in their own right) don't capture the quality or flavor of the classic Western. Selleck & Elliot's films do capture this spirit, and they do it flawlessly.

It's nice to see these three great Selleck Westerns, "Last Stand at Saber River," "Crossfire Trail" and "Monte Walsh," together in one package. My only complaint is that there isn't a similar set being released to house Elliot's "Conagher," "The Desperate Trail," and "You Know My Name"! I think these are all owned by the same studios, so why not synchronize releases? Anyway, here's to hoping that it's not too far ahead.

With this set, those three films I mentioned, "The Sacketts," "The Shadow Riders," "The Quick & the Dead" and "Quigley Down Under," you'll have the ultimate Tom Selleck & Sam Elliot Western collection.

Tom Selleck starred in three excellent Westerns made for TNT between 1997 and 2003, and all three are now being made available in one collection. Here are brief synopses and reviews of each individual film:

"Last Stand at Saber River" - 4 stars

Selleck is Paul Cable, a Confederate cavalryman who has come home from the Civil War (only slightly) early. He knows the war is lost for the South, he is worn out, and he only wants to take his family back to their homestead in Arizona to live a normal life. His wife, who was told that he was dead, is less than thrilled to have him back home because she is resentful that he left to fight in the war in the first place. Suzy Amis does an excellent job as Martha Cable. She is not the stereotypical beauty who runs around in a bustle under fancy dresses. She is a tough frontierswoman who has experienced many hardships and gets her husband out of some tight spots as the movie progresses.

While the majority of the movie is good at depicting the divisions between North and South that caused the Civil War and which the Civil War then exacerbated, the subplot of the inner struggles that Paul and Martha Cable face is far more interesting. It's a great movie until the end, when we get the additional time-worn subplot of a Confederate soldier who just can't give up the Lost Cause. No, it's not Selleck's character who has this problem, but Selleck already had covered this territory in 1982's "The Shadow Riders" (though it wasn't his character who wanted to keep fighting in that movie either); John Wayne's "The Undefeated" is another well-known Western with the Lost Cause plotline. In spite of the needlessly melodramatic ending, this is a strong Western, and both Selleck and TNT kept getting better and better with "Crossfire Trail" and "Monte Walsh".

"Crossfire Trail" - 4 stars

This is the second of the TNT/Tom Selleck Westerns. Selleck revisited his early Louis L'Amour, TV-Western roots here and also re-teamed with director Simon Wincer, who directed Selleck's best big-screen effort - "Quigley Down Under" - as well as the all-time classic Western miniseries "Lonesome Dove". The result is an excellent film that, while breaking no new ground, contributes to the rich mythology and legacy of the American cowboy.

Selleck plays Rafe Covington who, at the beginning of the film, promises a dying friend that he will take care of the friend's wife and ranch. Selleck and two partners set out to do just that, and they add a new friend from the nearby town (played by Wilford Brimley) shortly after their arrival. The film is predictable: the widow is suspicious of Rafe's motives, the town bad guy has been wooing the widow in order to get at her land, the bad guy hires a hit man to eliminate Rafe, and so on. And yet, even though the viewer can see right through the plot to the end of the film, every element is so well handled that it is a pleasure to watch the movie.

I read several articles just before the film was released about the painstaking efforts made to have authentic costumes, props, sets, etc., and I must say that the filmmakers' efforts certainly paid off. The film is set in Wyoming, but was filmed in Alberta, Canada, which gives the film some of the best mountain vistas in a Western since the real Grand Tetons were featured in "Shane".

The reasons this film only receives four stars from me are the plot's predictability and the fact that it contains some needless strong profanity (which seems oddly out of place in a movie that continually emphasizes values such as honor and integrity). I suppose they wanted to emphasize that the good guys are good and the bad guys are bad (since the bad guys also utter the worst obscenities), but this was accomplished equally well in the other two films without the use of such strong profanity.

"Monte Walsh" - 5 stars

This 2003 remake of "Monte Walsh," also directed by Simon Wincer, was Tom Selleck's third (but hopefully not last) Western for TNT, and it is probably the most stirring film tribute to the end of the Old West and the cowboy way of life. This is saying quite a bit as some fine Westerns like "The Wild Bunch", "The Shootist", and (even more recently) "Open Range" as well as other movies have dealt with the changes resulting from progress as the U.S. was about to enter the twentieth century.

Having mentioned that the film is set during a time of great change in the American West, I won't cover the plot line in great detail. Suffice it to say that, while Selleck's Monte Walsh is the hero of the picture, he is portrayed with character flaws intact as well. Montelius Walsh loves three things in life: horses, women, and drinking (and the order of these things changes at different times in his life). He is stubborn, afraid to commit to Martine (his favorite prostitute whom he does seem to love), and refuses to change. He is also hard-working and loyal to his friends, especially his best buddy Chet (played by Keith Carradine), and these qualities are what make his character heroic and the storyline affecting. "Monte Walsh" is an elegiac tribute to the passing of the Old West and the American cowboy. May both continue to live on in films!

I'm convinced that if Tom Selleck had starred primarily in Westerns throughout his film career, then his movie success would have dwarfed his "Magnum P.I." role. The TNT Westerns, along with his three previous Westerns dating back to 1979's "The Sacketts", establish him as a premier cowboy actor. "Monte Walsh" is the finest of his Western efforts to date, and it is to be hoped that Selleck will 'saddle up' again soon; perhaps he'll even reunite with Sam Elliott with whom he starred in his first two made-for-TV Westerns (1979's "The Sacketts" and 1982's "The Shadow Riders") and who has also made some first-rate Westerns for TNT.

I grew up at a time when westerns dominated television and John Wayne was the world's #1 movie star so it was inevitable that westerns would become my favorite film genre.

And then suddenly, westerns just seemed to drop off the face of the earth and with the exception of the occasional film - Unforgiven / Dances With Wolves and a few others, this genre was verging on extinction.

But thank goodness for people like Clint (in his earlier years), Sam Elliot and Tom Selleck, who have done their very best to keep the western alive.

This collection of Tom Selleck's TNT / made-for-television films is a wonderful addition to anybody's collection of great western films. Tom is a very believable and credible cowboy, who epitomizes the code that many western men of the late 19th century lived by - honor/ integrity.

We, of course, had our first glimpse of Tom as a western star in some of his earlier films - The Sacketts / The Shadow Riders / Quigley Down Under and he continues to maintain the level of excellence he established with Monte Walsh / Crossfire Tail and Last Stand At Sabre River.

I think what sets these types of films apart is that they have little choice but to stand on nothing more than compelling stories and solid performances. Unlike so many of the movies that are so popular today, these films don't rely on incredible special effects or computer generated images to hold our attention. The story and character development is the primary appeal of these films.

Monte Walsh is a tough act to follow as it's a remake of the classic western film that starred Lee Marvin and the incomparable Jack Palance as two aging cowboys who have to deal with the fact that the west of their youth is changing and the 20th centruy is looming very large.

Tom as Monte and David Carridine as his life long pal, Chet, are more than up for the challenge.

It's a wonderful story with great performances by the two stars and supporting cast.

Crossfire Trial is an adaptation of a great Louis L'Amour book and deals with a common theme in westerns - the good guy dealing with seemingly insurmoutable odds to fend off an ambitious and ruthless antagonist (played very well by Mark Harmon).

Again, Tom turns in a wonderful performance as a man, who made a promise to a dying friend to look after his widow.

Finally, in Last Stand At Sabre River, civil war veteran Tom Selleck returns to his family after a 3 year absence to resume the life he once know and again, has to deal with forces / people who are commited to seeing him gone.

These are three great films and are highly recommended.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 50 reviews  4.7 out of 5 stars