|
Eighteen forty-two and The Republic of Texas is a harsh and
dangerous land, what little law there is resides in the hands
of the newly formed Texas Rangers. Woodrow Call and Augustus
McCrae form a combination of youthful exuberance and sheer
stupidity join up with The Great Santa Fe Expedition to annex
parts of Mexico that doesn't belong to them. As karma kicks
in, the expedition goes from bad to worse, plagued by Indian
attacks, hunger and eventual defeat before a shot is even
fired, the boys endure the Indians and their defeat by the
Mexicans but can they survive, as captives, on the dead man's
walk towards an unknown fate in Mexico...
Dead
Man's Walk (1996) was a made for television mini-series.
Directed by Yves Simoneau, from the original novel by Larry
McMurtry and adapted for television by McMurtry himself. It
went on to win the Lone Star Film and Television award for
best TV Teleplay. It was nominated for an Emmy for the music
and Edward James Olmos won the NCLR Bravo award for his acting
efforts. Much of the story is historically accurate and many
of the characters actually existed. Whilst it never pretends
to be anything other than a drama it's not a bad way of getting
a flavour of what life was like at the time.
The
mini-series seriously impresses, from the beautifully shot
vistas to the often evocative but rarely intrusive music.
However, the series' real strength is the engagingly realistic
characterisation. Whilst the show has action and pomp in generous
amounts, it really is a story about a mismatched collection
of people who have undertaken a fool's errand.
How they interact with each other is the real strength of
the show. The characters are so well drawn that you really
do get pulled into their world. As the audience gets to know
the various characters you really start to care what happens
to them. The only problem with this is that Dead Man's
Walk is actually a prequel to Streets of Laredo
and Lonesome Dove so we know that the two main characters
survive, though to be honest this does little to spoil your
enjoyment. This is a darkly witty piece of television where
the strength of the writing comes through from the start and
just keeps delivering right to the end.
As
if it wasn't enough to laud praise on the writing and production
it's hard to know where to start to report just how good the
acting is from a very strong cast. Of course, the show relies
on the realistic depiction of the friendship between Augustus
(David Arquette) and Woodrow (Jonny Lee Miller). In this,
the two actors do a splendid job in portraying a couple of
friends who whilst bonded together are individual enough to
experience a wide range of emotions and conflict in their
relationship. They are supported by an excellent cast. F.
Murray Abraham is the pirate, turned self styled Colonel,
Cabel Cobb - who the boys follow into disaster. Part buffoon,
part gentleman his schemes nearly cost the boys their lives.
Keith Carradine plays the real historical figure of Bigfoot
Wallace, who survived long enough to while away his twilight
years telling tall tales of daring do. The oddly romantic
couple of Harry Dean Stanton, as the trapper Shadrach, and
Patricia Childress ,as the soon to be retired whore Mattie,
make up the last of the major characters. In supporting roles
Edward James Olmos, as Captain Salazar, and Eric Schweig,
as the truly scary Indian Buffalo Hump, add to the overall
quality of the acting.
The
show is spread over three movie length episodes on two discs
with a running time of a little over four and a half hours,
which is good value in anyone's book. The print is not as
clean as it could be and at one point there is a very obvious
line across the image. The audio is dolby 2.0 surround sound
which does a good job. There are few extras which is a pity;
it would have been nice to have a piece from the author or
the feature that appeared on the American release, instead
we get a biography and bibliography of McMurtry as well as
a cast filmography and picture gallery.
So, Dead Man's Walk is a great one for fans of cowboys
or just great buddy drama.
Charles
Packer
Buy
this item online
We
compare prices online so you get the cheapest
deal!
Click on the logo of the desired store below
to purchase this item.
|
|
|
£18.74
(Amazon.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£17.99
(Blahdvd.com) |
| |
|
|
|
£15.89
(Thehut.com) |
| |
|
|
|
£22.49
(Moviemail-online.co.uk) |
All prices correct at time of going to press.
|
|
