Customer Reviews

Return to Lonesome Dove

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I once read that when Larry McMurtry saw RETURN TO LONESOME DOVE he was so enraged he responded by writing "Streets of Laredo." A Lonesome Dove fan such as myself can only speculate what kind of sequel might have been written had "Return" never hit the airwaves. Maybe the characters of Newt and July Johnson would have survived into such a sequel; perhaps the Hat Creek Cattle Company would have flourished in Montana, rather than Call having to go back to Texas to eek out a living as a bounty hunter. But I digress.

RETURN TO LONESOME DOVE tries hard, very hard, to deliver a story worthy enough to follow the original mini-series. And with gifted actors like Jon Voight, Oliver Reed, and Louis Gossett, Jr., it certainly had the star power. But instead, this sequel goes down the road of "been there, done that": another livestock drive from Texas to Montana (only this time, the animals are wild horses); another murderous half-breed villain (Dennis Haysbert as "Cherokee Jack"); and a "new" Gus McRae in the form of Ranger Gideon Walker (William Peterson). We also are given a bonus storyline centering around Gus' illegitimate daughter, appropriately named Augustina Vega (Nia Peeples), who hates her late father and is obsessed to confront Call, who she believes is responsible for the death of her mother. Throw a grumpy and petulant Clara Allen (Barbara Hershey) into the mix, and RETURN TO LONESOME DOVE comes across as contrived and as palatable as a piece of horse leather.

The cast does well with what it has to work with, and to be fair, the film does contain some poignant and entertaining moments. But RETURN TO LONESOME DOVE's most glaring fault is the fact that it was made at all. The producers should have adhered to the old adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

After watching the sequel to one of my favorite movies of all time, I'd have to say that I have many mixed feelings. Although not a terrible movie, it doesn't come close to the original. Something about this movie really bothered me, but I couldn't put my finger on exactly what it was. I think it may have been mostly due to casting. After becoming attached to many of the original characters, I found it distracting to try and adjust to a new actor/actress portraying them. I did however like the character of Gideon and wished he had been in the original movie. I also enjoyed Reese Witherspoon and wished she could have been in the original as well. As much as I like Jon Voight, his performance paled in comparison to that of Tommy Lee Jones in the original. Hard to believe Jon Voight was the original choice for the original Lonesome Dove, huh? I also found the children that came along for the drive to Montana to be a distraction as well. All in all I'd have to say that it's worth a view. After all, the cinematography and music alone are breathtaking.

Don't overlook this simply because Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones aren't "in the picture." This is a wonderful depiction of the magic of Larry McMurtry and Jon Voight does a great job as Captain Call.
I bought this about one year ago and I'd recommend it to any "Lonesome Dove" fans.

I have watched Lonesome dove about a hundred times, and i still can,t get enough of it. Lonesome Dove is a clean wholesome movie with a story to boot, not just a shoot em up movie but a superb movie
All the actors in the movie to my mind are the best in the world and i don't think that any other actors could play those parts better than Duvall or Jones. I can't wait to view the return to Lonesome Dove, i have allready seen streets of Laredo and could not understand for the life of me how could Lorena be married to Pea !!! what happened to Dish? its like chalk and cheese so untill I view the return to Lonsome Dove all I can say is good work.! Good work!.

The first time i saw this movie,was during our 1997 snowstorm.
Watching it together with our family, and a warm,lovely fire from our fireplace made it all the more special.
A must see for any family.

IF IT wasnt for the first one this just might be awfull the fact of the matter this is plain good,EVEN voight IS GOOD,very passable, PERHAPS HIS LAST MEATY role before he just turned plain awfull.YO HAVE TO USE your IMAGINATION BIG time its not too hard under the big skys of montana, thE CIMENATOPHOGRAPH IS GORGEOUS, and they get down and dirty IN SEEDY BARS,dark starry,cool CLEAR frozen mooment given an essence of PLAUSIBILTY, QUIET remeniscence OFF what is PLAIN GOOD home cookin, or SIGHT OF ole pEYE BACK FROM A MISSION ITS ALL HEART FELT,

I have watched this several times and still get teary eyed when in the end they have to bury another one of their companarios. Not as good as the original, however, Voight plays a good W. F. Call because in the original book he is more of a straight man. Tommy Lee Jones' Call was good and I liked him just as much. I don't think Voight and Duvall would have made as good a team. I liked Barbera Hershey better than Angelica Houston, but without Gus to play the light side to Call's straight man it is a little less entertaining. William Peterson as Gideon Walker is a good preformance, and I always like Lou Gossett Jr. Of course Ricky Schroder is good and the story is good also. I enjoyed the movie and own it on tape so it is worth the money if you are a fan of westerns.

In the first place, Jon Voight is totally unbelievable in the role of Woodrow F. Call. The hat's too darn big. I didn't get a chance to look at the boots. But maybe the producers of this one were looking for the same sort of chemistry between Voight and Ricky Schroeder that was attempted in The Champ. I can see it now, Call down for the count with Ricky Schroeder kneeling beside him, tears streaming down his cheeks, and crying "Get up Call, please get up!"

But let me backtrack a little here. Larry McMurtry had nothing to do with this one. Are there any rocket scientists in the house? But wait, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that when the main guy shuns the production something is dreadfully wrong. Kind of reminiscent of Spielberg's refusals to be a part of the ill fated Jaws sequels. HELLO?!

The story is flat, predictable and trite. Even a bit part by Reese Witherspoon as Newt's love interest can't save this one. No plans that I am aware of by Ms. Witherspoon to make Sweet Home Montana any time in the near future.

Want a sequel to Lonesome Dove? Larry McMurtry's Streets of Laredo, in both print and video, does the job marvelously. And, yes, James Garner does a fine job as Call.

My husband and I are huge fans of Lonesome Dove. Any attempt to make a sequel would certainly be a tough job. But Return to Lonesome Dove would appear to us to be the best one can do. There is no way to fill Tommy Lee Jones shoes as Captain Woodrow Call, but John Voight does about as fine a job as can be expected. Sure it would have been nice to have Jones back, and even Angelica Huston. But that was not to be, yet the story went on and I am glad for it.

The prequel, Dead Man's Walk is also good watching. David Arquette does a great job as Gus McCrae. The Streets of Laredo? If you're a Lonesome fan, it gives you another Lonesome movie to watch. But I'm sorry, I just can't get over the notion that Pea Eye and Lorena would get together. That is SO off the wall.

Lonesome Dove is a great classic. Return to Lonesome Dove follows up nicely. Third in line for me is Dead Man's Walk. For the heck of watching another Lonesome movie, I'll take Steers of Laredo last.

Even though it was a big dissapointment not to have Tommy Lee Jones and Anjelica Houston reprise their roles this movie still ranks in my top 5 favorite movies of all time. The other thing I noticed was the location in Montana did not look like the same place they set up their cabins at the end of the first movie. In the first movie there was a big pond by where Captin Call said this is it and in the second movie you never see the pond. Other then those little trival things this movie was good because you did have some returning folks like Rick Schroder, Tim Scott as Pea Eye, Barry Tubb as Jasper Fant. There was also some of the other originals from the first movie plus Jon Voight looked almost just like Tommy Lee Jones did in the first movie. That really helped the movie. I don't care it Larry McMurty had anything to do with this movie because it still gives the viewer a great story line. I say just because of the few little things that doesn't make it seem like a real carry over from the original I give it 4 stars.