So, I am a huge fan of the original Lonesome Dove series (and the book). Until recently, I did not realize that there are several more productions from Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove universe out there. I recently acquired and set about watching them all in chronological order as follows:
Dead Man's Walk (aired 1996)
Comanche Moon (aired 2008)
Lonesome Dove (aired 1990)
Return to Lonesome Dove (aired 1993)
Lonesome Dove, The Series (aired 1994)
Lonesome Dove, The Outlaw Years (aired 1995)
Streets of Laredo (aired 1995)
As I work my way through this 51 hour odyssey, I will try to post reviews of each.
Dead Man's Walk: I wouldn't call it an all-star cast, but it is an interesting one. Brian Dennehy makes a short but memorable appearance. F. Murray Abraham, Edward James Olmos, and Keith Carradine were outstanding. Also seen were Jennifer Garner, David Arquette, Johnny Lee Miller, and Ray McKinnon. As the chronology would suggest, it is set pre-Lonesome Dove and focuses on Augustus McCrae (Arquette) and Woodrow Call's (Miller) first assignment as Texas Rangers. They embark on a mostly ill-fated mission to scout a road to Santa Fe and then annex Nuevo Mexico. Overall, the story was good, and the cinematography was better than good. The writing was just alright. It seemed like they were trying too hard to use 'authentic' old Texas language. Combined with some mediocre editing, the story really crawled at times. The acting was strong though, and there were some solid and interesting characters. It was cool to see the genesis of McCrae and Call. Also, I was significantly distracted by some overblown Texas accents and far too many anachronistic costume and accessory pieces. In the end, it was watchable and interesting, but far from great. 6/10.
