will travel

New 6 hour mini-series on CBS at 8-10 PM CST.
January 13th, 15th, and the 16th.

Stars

Steve Zahn as Gus McCrae.
Karl Urban as Woodrow F. Call.
Val Kilmer as Captain Inish Schull.
Wes Studi as Buffalo Hump.

Prequel to "Lonesome Dove" written for TV by Larry McMurtry and
Diana Ossana.
Based on the McMurty novel, "Commanche Moon".

Looking forward to looking this.

DJariya

I've never seen any of the Lonesome Dove movies from the 80's and 90's. I read that this is considered part of that group of films. I have my DVR set to record this, will I be able to follow this without any knowledge of the previous films.

mwbmis

Probably. It was the last novel written, but chronologically it is the "second book". He wrote Lonesome Dove then the sequel (Streets of Laredo) then the two prequels (Dead Man's Walk & CM). Without having seen it I don't really know how much time they will spend setting up the main characters. On the surface, Steve Zahn seems to be a good choice for Gus though.

Really though the best solution would be to rent or buy the original miniseries and watch it. It's quite good (so is the book!). The other two are hit and miss (I've never seen the entirely made for TV Return to Lonesome Dove).

Cellar Door

Steve Zahn and Karl Urban as Gus and Call?

Count me out.

lordwow

It's pretty bad when you hype something up as the last part of a series, and half the viewing audience goes "what the hell was the first part of it?"

They could at least re-air the old ones (considering there's nothing new to put on) to let those of us interested catch up.

Cellar Door

I agree--especially since, IMO, Lonesome Dove ranks among the best westerns ever and is THE best television miniseries ever.

creekdipper

You won't have any trouble following the plot. Each movie is based upon a novel that has its own distinct plot that stands independent of the others. It's just that you have more of an appreciation for the main characters' backstories (most of the secondary characters do not appear in subsequent stories, with the exception of a few such as Pea-Eye, Deets, Lorena, Clara, & perhaps one or two others). Still, you could watch each one independently and not feel that you missed anything.

This is kind of a tough call. Sort of like seeing the original Star Wars (Part IV) and then expecting all the rest to match that standard. I've always wondered what a modern viewer who started the series "in order" would think by the time they got to the original.

As others have mentioned, LONESOME DOVE is the gold standard. It's also the best book of the series...but then, it's a little unfair comparison (sort of like comparing Ben-Hur to Gladiator in terms of epic scope). The original had so many subplots & memorable characters compared to the prequels/sequel, although they are all worthy reads. For our money, COMMANCHE MOON was the second-best book in the series (more satisfying than DEAD MAN's WALK with its curious ending, and STREETS OF LAREDO,which always felt that it was missing something, as you know if you've read/seen the story).

I feel like recommending that you watch LD first so you can understand what all the fuss was about & can see some of the finest performances, action sequences, and dialogue (thanks to staying faithful to Larry McMurtry) ever in a television event (and not just talking about Duvall & Jones). Nothing should diminish that experience, even if it means watching the series "out of order".

On the other hand, I don't see how CM, regardless of how well done it is, can match the level of LD. We don't expect it to (for aforementioned reasons) yet still are eagerly anticipating it although it's a hard challenge for anyone to compete with the vivid characters created on-screen by Jones & Duvall. It's far easier to go with McMurtry's depictions of the characters in his novels...the beloved characters are equally entertaining in each of the novels.
As far as story goes, it's just that LD has so much more going on. It's an epic, whereas the others are more just extended incidents, in my opinion.

Have to take Zahn & Urban with a grain of salt (interesting that some of the trailers play up the bigger names such as Kilmer although the main attraction, obviously, is to see rangers Call & McRae in their prime). Hard to imagine what actors could favorably compare with the original versions...just as it's hard to imagine anyone else than Clark Gable as Rhett Butler, for instance (probably easier for an actor to portray the "older" version of an established character than to go the opposite direction). I thought David Arquette was credible as a somewhat whimsical, goofy young Gus in DMW (thought you could see the seeds of Duvall's 'older' version) but that Jonny Lee Miller tried too hard to capture the mannerisms of T.L. Jones and that the characterization suffered as a result. On the other hand, I felt that Jon Voight did a credible job as Call in the 'out-of-canon' sequel "Return to Lonesome Dove" (not based on a McMurtry novel) yet James Garner, while not doing a Jones impersonation, could never quite escape his own familiar mannerisms in his portrayal of Call in SOL. He gave a game performance but it was hard to forget that, after all, this is Maverick/Rockford trying to fill the boots of Call (maybe younger viewers had less of a problem with him). Anyway, I think it's better if the actors try to capture the spirit of the character rather than trying to imitate the actors who are most associated with the role.

girlnextdoor

I loved the parts I have seen so far. I have also read all the books (more than once).

Ravenous

Anyone catch this?

Not too bad. Urbad did a good Tommy Lee and Kilmer was a huge highlight

creekdipper

Thought Zahn made a good Augustus McRae.

Dang...watching this was a reminder of how spoiled we have become from watching DVDs rather than first-run on tv. The commercial breaks were incredibly annoying...coming every 10 minutes or so, it seemed. Around 9:55 CBS ran 5 full minutes of commercials followed by 8 minutes of miniseries before the next break. The flow of the story gets interrupted so badly (complete with the repetition of images from the scenes that immediately preceded the break (which I seem to remember was done with the original series)...well, it really made us want to see the entire thing without commercial interruption. CBS must see this incredibly popular series as a cash cow and they're pulling hard at the teats.

Also, seems that they sure did have some attractive whores in Austin back in those days...guess it being the state capital and all, they had a higher class of whore than the run-of-the-mill prairie town.

Overall, pretty well-done & worth watching. Some of McMurty's more bizarre characters seem to translate better on the printed page (the Sculls, for instance, although Kilmer & Griffiths did a fine job) than on the screen. As always with the LD series, the best moments seem to be the exchanges between Gus & Call (or Gus and just about anybody). It's in the quieter moments that McMurty's dialogue really shines. Without the strong characterizations, LD would just be a standard oater.

will travel

I enjoyed it. Solid 'B' Effort. Anyway its just nice to see Western again on TV.
Of course, its not in the same class as LD. But there were some nice moments.
Exhanges between Gus & Call and Gus & Clara were fun to watch.
Although I always thought Maggie went to Lonesome Dove with the Boys and died there. Been many years since I have read all four books.

mwbmis

I thought it was pretty solid. Kilmer certainly decided to chew the scenery, but by and large it worked (I thought it was unnecessary in part 3). I liked Zahn for the most part, but it was still a bit of a mixed bag. I didn't think he brought enough of himself to the part; at times, he seemed to be doing a Duval impersonation. Urban was fine, but Call has never exactly been a showy role.

It's been a while since I read Lonesome Dove, but in the Comanche Moon novel Maggie dies at the end much like she does in the mini-series. It would have been interesting to show how Gus, Call, Deats, Pea-Eye, and Newt end up in Lonesome Dove, but that wasn't in the CM book either. I might have to watch my LD DVD since it's been so long since I've seen it.

whotony

were does Return To Lonesome Dove fit in to this.

Legolas

^ Return isn't based on any books, so it's sort of it's own thing that doesn't really fit into the author's actual "universe."

creekdipper

^Yeah, "Return" is best taken in the same spirit as reading one of those old Silver Age comics "Imaginary Stories" or "What If" tales. Has some of the same characters & tries to satisfy what was obviously a demand from some of the original LD audience who wanted to see the Newt/Call relationship play out. Doesn't really fit into the LD canon, though.

I didn't like it at the time mainly because it seemed to rehash much of the original plot (horse drive this time vs. cattle drive) without the amazing McMurty dialougue or the acting chops of Jones, Duvall, Glover, etc. I did think that Jon Voight did a credible impersonation of Call.

I believe that RTLD came out before any of the book sequels/prequels were published, but may be wrong. I think Streets of Laredo was the 2nd in the series to be published, and it obviously didn't include many of the characters for obvious reasons to those who've read or seen the original. Likewise, Dead Man's Walk came before many of the later characters would be introduced.

I sincerely doubt that RTLD will be included when they finally release the inevitable "Complete Lonesome Saga" on DVD.

will travel

There was also a TV series called "Lonesome Dove" with Newt as a Lawman(I think) in
Montanna.
I do remember Dennis Weaver making a guest appearance as Buffalo Bill.

Here is a little more info about the TV series from IMDB.

http://amazon.imdb.com/title/tt0108839



Comanche Moon is being release on DVD, February 26th.

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/com...ouncement/8811