Customer Reviews

Ride with the Devil (Widescreen)

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Great movie content in the Civil War of the United States of America which were anything but United until that period of history and for generations after.Why is this story and Civil War stories like it not given to the world to tell them Democracy is not easy for any people? With a stronger cast in this dvd I would have liked to seek the "Rights" to it.
This is a great teaching instrument for children and adults Christians and Non Christians alike. Many lessons to be learned and learning how to understand and respect each other and one and all alike.

Great movie content in the Civil War of the United States of America which were anything but United until that period of history and for generations after.Why is this story and Civil War stories like it not given to the world to tell them Democracy is not easy for any people? With a stronger cast in this dvd I would have liked to seek the "Rights" to it.
This is a great teaching instrument for children and adults Christians and Non Christians alike. Many lessons to be learned and learning how to understand and respect each other and one and all alike.

Missouri was one of the slave states that was kept in the Union during the Civil War and since it was on the far side of the Mississippi River it was not really part of the Western Theater of the war. As the critical part of the Anaconda Plan the Union armies were seeking control of the Mississippi, which explained why Grant was fighting his way from Tennessee to Vicksburg while Farragut took New Orleans. In fact, there really was not an organized Confederate army in Missouri, which explains why the young Southern men in "Ride with the Devil" join the Irregulars, who waged guerrilla warfare against Union loyalists. In this part of the war we do not talk about great battles, but rather the infamous raid that torched Lawrence, Kansas on August 21, 1863 as Quantrill's raiders murdered the pro-Union jayhawks.

The story here focus on six young men who join the bushwackers: Jake Roedel (Tobey Maguire), a first generation American who wants to be considered as much a Southerner as any one else even though his father can from Germany (which means he is called "Dutchy"); Jack Bull Chiles (Skeet Ulrich), who hates the Yankees and has seen his family killed; George Clyde (Simon Baker-Denny), a gentleman fighting to preserve a way of life that is going to be gone with the wind; Daniel Holt (Jeffrey Wright), an ex-slave who fights besides Clyde because the man freed him; Pitt Mackeson (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), who is a sadist who glories in killing; and Black John (James Caviezel), almost as brutal but more driven by anger and revenge.

The idea in "Ride with the Devil" is that when America went to war with itself in 1861 the young boys growing up in Missouri and Kansas were suddenly forced into a less than honorable manhood overnight. Consequently, one of the first casualties of the war was their innocence. In 1987 Missouri-born author Daniel Woodrell wrote his Civil War-era novel "Woe to Live On." For Ang Lee the appeal was the drama of young people coming of age in the worst possible time in American history and the theme of self-emancipation. The principal actors were put through three weeks of "boot camp" to capture the way the war dehumanized the young men forced to fight it.

This film start out focusing on the friendship between Jake and Bull as much as it is on anything else, but then while hiding out from the Yankees during the winter Bull takes a liking to Sue Lee Shelly (Jewel), a young widow woman who is helping to provide them with food. Having lost both his father and his best friend, Jake continues to fight because that is what he is supposed to be doing and starts to connect with two other characters in ways that will eventually change his life. After the Lawrence Raid it is clear that the war is going to be lost and a young man who has not even seen twenty years realizes he is lost as well.

Certainly "Ride with the Devil" is a beautiful film with the sense of period authenticity you would expect from Lee. It is not really a movie about the Civil War any more than "Cold Mountain" is (an obvious comparison), but more about the friendships that take place during a war. It is just not clear that this is the central theme because our expectations are raised by more standard plot considerations (love and revenge) that do not get played out the way you would think. There is also a sense in which Roedel is the least interesting character of the bunch, yet he emerges as the central figure and the most important gun in the film is perhaps the one that is not fired.

I bought this movie blind. I enjoy period flicks and, while seeing what was out there in Amazon.com land, I came across Ride With The Devil. I must admit, I know little about the stars in this movie (I did recognize MacGuire from Spiderman, and I've heard of - but not heard - Jewel), so it was a chance to spend my hard earned cash on it.
I'm glad I did.
Engulfing, exciting, suspenceful, and, most importantly, realistic. Not politically correct. Maybe that's why it didn't do well at the box office and critics panned it. But, it IS true to its time.
The border wars was a part of the Civil War that has hardly (if ever) been touched upon - that boundary where one straddles the fence. The problem was that one couldn't straddle the fence in a state like Missouri. They had to choose Yankee or Rebel. Jayhawk or Bushwack. And you feel clearly, while watching this movie, the turmoil that must have been raging in these citizen's minds and stomachs when they chose one side and a close friend or family member chose the other.
You also feel the deep sorrow and sympathy for ALL involved - North and South - no matter what side you stand for - when Jake reads the touching letter from a mother to her son, showing that these were people who had lives and loved ones waiting for them at home.
It's movies like this that brings these mid 19th century people to life, showing us that they're not just flat black and white pictures in a history book. And that is why this movie stands above so many other historical films.
I must warn you, however, that there is quite a bit of graphic violence. Believe me, you'll feel their pain!

The only reason that I wanted to see this movie was because my favorite singer, Jewel was in it. The first time I saw this movie I loved it, and I still do. :o) I loved the story, the acting, the music, and everything about it. Especially Jewel. She was SO amazing as Sue Lee Shelly, and Jewel is an amazing actress (unlike other singers like Mariah Carrey and Britney Spears ^^). The other actors in the movie are excellent too. I recommend this movie to movie fans, and Jewel fans. I also loved Jewel's music video "What's Simple is True".

Jewel(the Singer) shines in this film as Sue Lee Shelly, a daughter who helps out Tobey Maguire(Spider-Man), Simon Baker(tv's The Guardian), Jeffrey Wright(Crime and Punishment In Suburbia) and Skeet Ulrich's(The Newton Boys) characters. lots of gunplay in this one and blood splatter. powerful and somewhat over the top with the N word. though somepeople might flinch when Maguire amputates Ulrich's arm. other great actors appear, like Jonathan Rhys Meyers(Velvet Goldmine), Mark Ruffalo(The Last Castle), James Caviezel(The Thin Red Line), Jonathan Brandis(Stephen King's IT), Thomas Guiry(Tigerland) and Tom Wilkinson(In the Bedroom).

Nothing illustrates the decay of taste in America as much as the lack of support from critics for this remarkable film. By far the most important work Ang Lee has done the movie makes the top of my list in several categories. It's the best Civil War movie ever made, it's the best ride and shoot (you know, six guns and horses) movie ever made. It's the best character study of a slave ever commited to film. The performances are across the board wonderful. Simon Baker and Jeffery Wright are particularly remakarble, they're relationshp being one of the most unique and poignant I've seen in a film for decades. Even Jewel is good. What a movie. I've watched it five times since discovering it in the discount tray at my local video store. Ang Lee deserves so much credit for doing this movie. The critical community should be ashamed of giving it so little positive attention.

This would have normally been a movie I would not rent. Basically because it was in the $.50 rental section of our local video store. I am really glad I did!
This is a great film on the Civil War and tells the story from a very different perspective than previous mini-series and movies. A few portions of the film drag slightly, but not enough to break the tension of the story line. There is also some very graphic battle scenes alnog with the aftermath.
This is one of those movies that has been overlooked by many, including myself.
Whether you love American history or not, this film is worth the watch. I Highly recommend!

Plodding in parts and somewhat banal, I didn't enjoy this movie. Perhaps I had higher expectations of it but I thought more could have been done with it. Dialogue was somewhat poor and the pace slow.

Judging from the nursing scene, Jewel seems to sport a unlikely full body tan for a civil-war era southern gal who regularly wears high-collar dresses. I guess they chafe so much she just had to sunbathe topless behind the barn after she milked the cows. Her acting was good, too, for a pop singer.