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Lonesome Dove Customer Reviews (52 - 54 of 81 Reviews)

Lonesome Dove
The day I finished the book Lonesome Dove I headed straight to Blockbuster to see the movie. I was extremely surprised and impressed. Like most movies based on books they usually change the entire storyline and make the characters exactly the opposite of what you thought of them. Lonesome Dove was totally not like that. I looked at the box and by seeing the faces I could tell which person was which character. Robert Duvall was AMAZING! He had the same lazy face, extremely talkative, always arguing with Call etc. Tommy Lee Jones at his best. I couldn't have imagined him better. He didn't talk much, had a very stern face etc. Danny Glover as Deets was brilliant! Same w/ Pea Eye, Lorena and Clara Everything was perfect. Surprisingly, the storyline didn't change a bit. It was even the same dialogue. Of course some stuff from the book just couldn't be included in the movie. There was two minor big parts that weren't included in the movie. One, Wilbarger was not in the movie. Two, instead of meeting the barber at the end he met the reporter from San Antonio. Lonesome Dove I guarantee you if you loved the book as much as I did you will not bed disappointed. Every second of the six hour movie is worth it. A must see movie for all McMurtry fans!

A great film
First, please read Larry McMurtry's excellent original novel. It is a rich tapestry of characterization, language and vivid descriptions of place. Simultaneously brutal and lyrical LONESOME DOVE is one of the finest American works of literature ever produced. That said the film version stands as one of the greatest novel to film adaptations ever made.

Capturing much of the rich novel's immense depth and vision, this epic film is perhaps one of the finest dramatic pieces ever created for television. Clocking in at over six hours, this film never drags and possesses, with the exception of THE WILD BUNCH, simply the finest ensemble acting ever seen in the Western Genre.

Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones give textbook examples of effective film acting. The literal volumes they communicate about the human soul with only a blink of an eye or the wave of a hand stand as a lasting testament to the art of acting. Granted while McMurtry's brilliant omniscient point of view is lost for the camera, Duvall and Jones and the rest of the cast completely capture each characters'dynamic inner life.

The film also contains standout performances from Angelica Huston, Danny Glover, Tim Scott, Diane Lane, Rick Schroeder, Chris Cooper, Steve Buscemi and many others.

In a perfect world this would have been produced for the big theatrical screen in 70mm widescreen. The framing and cinematography do appear sadly cramped for such a sprawling work. Such is the case with a film made for television.

On that note, the DVD possesses a rather poor transfer that renders the film rather shallow visually.

Still this is but a small matter as LONESOME DOVE is as close to the American Odyssey as THE GRAPES OF WRATH and other great literary works. The timeless theme that life is full of changes is brought home in a most profound, beautiful and ultimately entertaining package. Simply put, this is not a film to be missed, it is to be sought out and treasured like the dearest family heirloom.

a great movie
I would like to comment on the review that said the "Fullscreen version" notice on the box meant it was pan & scanned. I think that is a mistake and just another example of sloppiness. Lonesome Dove was not shown in theaters and was shot for TV, so this is exactly what was on TV. There is no "widescreen version" to compare it to, and that's okay, since it is shown in the way it was meant to be seen.

This is really a great movie, and while the entire cast and crew did a great job, I think you have to single out a few people: Robert Duvall, who gives one of the greatest performances I've ever seen. Bill Witliff and Larry McMurtry, who wrote the screenplay and and book gave it all structure and life - the actors didn't say those great lines off the top of their heads. Basil Pouledouris, who wrote the memorable and moving score.

I do wish they'd paid a little more attention to the transfer and made the colors and picture sharper. It looks like a really good VHS version, like the laserdisc did, when it should be much improved over both of them. It's too bad that after all the work that went into this, the video company couldn't have done that one last step and made the DVD look as good as possible. Still, I wouldn't want to be without this.

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