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List Price: $26.97 | | Label: ANCHOR BAY
Salesrank: 17380
Released: August 4, 2009 |
| Our Price: $11.00 |
| Used Price: $2.29 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
As a boy, he saw his preacher father murdered. As a soldier, he witnessed the horrors of the Civil War. Now bounty hunter James Conners (Justin Ament) has returned to the town of Legend, New Mexico to marry the beautiful girl (Marnie Alton) he left behind and capture the psychotic land baron (Angus Macfadyen) who destroyed his childhood. But when Conners is ambushed and left for dead, he discovers a Native American world where justice has no name and vengeance rides in the shadows. Daniel Baldwin, Michael Spears (DANCES WITH WOLVES), Tonantzin Carmelo (INTO THE WEST) and William Sadler co-star in this epic western about revenge, redemption and the man the Navajo called SHADOWHEART.
Shadowheart Reviews:
Decent Western 
2009-12-21 - James Conners comes home to avenge his fathers death, to track down and take out the ruthless Will Tunney. Will James take the high road of "redemption" or the low road of "revenge"?
Quite simply stated, that sums up "Shadowheart".....a decent western, that drags in places, but ultimately turns out to be decent movie. I would recommend renting before a purchase.
Disc details: 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Dolby 5.1, Behind the Scenes featurette, Trailer and other Anchor Bay release trailers
The video presentation is pretty good to be a standard dvd, with deep, rich colors.
A Great Western For Octogenarians 
2009-10-17 - Before I watched this movie, I had high hopes. I saw a review on here saying this was the best western since Tombstone. Not even close. First off, let me explain the title of my review. Now I don't mean by saying that this movie is geared toward octogenarians/80 year olds as an insult. What I mean is this is the type of western made by Roy Rodgers and John Wayne back in the 50s and even 40s. They are pretty dry for the most part and look like they are shot in the hills behind the Hollywood sign. Nothing fancy in those oldies and nothing fancy here. The main building in the movie, a church, looks like a large version of a tool shed. What drew me to this movie was the mention of the Civil War and it had a 2 minute Civil War scene that must have put them back [...] bucks to shoot. Another reason I wanted to see this move is because there haven't been many westerns made recently but surprisingly the ones getting the most publicity have been pretty good. Shadowhart is not.
Westerns started having much more of an edge in the 60s. Bad guys starting being really bad. The main bad guy in Shadowheart is annoying. Heck I wanted to shoot him 20 minutes into the movie just to shut up his bad dialog and mannerisms. The story was very predictable. The acting was mixed, some were a little better then others, but overall what you would expect from a low budget indie or made for TV movies. When I am watching a western and thinking to myself that the women are out acting the men, Houston, you have a problem. Great films are the ones you want to watch over and over. I hope to never see Shadowheart again.
Want to see a great western?
Deadwood: The Complete Series laced with profanity, but very gritty,introduced Americans to Ian McShane
Open Range [Blu-ray] An incredible movie, sweeping vistas shot in Alberta, iconic.Gem in Robert Duval's crown.
Appaloosa [Blu-ray] Slower. Some don't like it. I loved it. Ed Harris financed indie. 10 Gage shotgun costars
3:10 to Yuma [Blu-ray] Great movie,but it lost me at the hokey ending Bale and Crowe work well together
Tomestone has been mentioned, but don't overlook the more historically accurate Wyatt Earp [Blu-ray]
And last but not least the only Oscar winner of the bunch, Unforgiven [Blu-ray]
Not the best western... but...
2009-09-24 - This movie is certainly not be the best western. But, I found that it was highly enjoyable.
While formulaic, I loved the scenery and the whole feeling the movie gave.
I know some of the music didn't fit, I know it had huge gaping plot holes. The story line wasn't very strong. The acting wasn't very strong.
But, for all it's faults, it kept me involved and I was entertained. And, it wasn't as bloody as westerns are known to be, which I also appreciated.
So, bottom line... worth watching if it were on the tv, or if you could borrow it from a friend. :)
Once Was More Than Enough
2009-09-22 - Dean Alioto cast himself as the gunman Spider & also directed. He was interesting as the assassin who kills for the bad guy Will Tunney. Angus Macfadyen plays the bad guy with relish. He does a very good job, although Alioto does him no favors with several over-the-top moments where it's hard to tell whether he's playing comedy like "L.A. Dicks" which Alioto also directed or a seriously evil man. The dialogue and characterization tends to make Tunney ridiculous rather than callous as when he checks his hair in his pocket watch rather than attend to a mayoral meeting. Add to this the sorely limited acting of Justin Ament who handles the grief of his wife's loss with sad puppy dog eyes, not even nearing the level of intensity needed to motivate the final scene. The two actors playing American Indians, Michael Spears as Washakie and Tonantzin Carmelo as Miakoda, do well in the film, except for brief melodramatic touches by Carmelo. Marnie Alton as Mary Cooper does an excellent job in her appearance as the bride. Ines Dali is also quite impressive as Velma, the lady of the evening who somehow has a crush on the evil Tunney. Shawn Reeves also turns in a good performance as Johny Cooper, Mary's brother the stable keeper. Unfortunately, the script doesn't hang together very well. I believe this film was intended to appeal to a Christian audience because of its philosophic emphasis on nonviolence. However, it winds up portraying Christians as weak people who would rather allow their families to be killed rather than stand up to evil. While I sympathized with the intent, the execution irked me. William Sadler did a nice cameo as the preacher. I stopped this film several times not wanting to watch more. I did eventually make it through the entire film, but once was more than enough. Taxi!
Not the best of westerns
2009-09-20 - Shadowheart is the story about a boy growing up in the west who witnesses his father murdered by a callous man played by Angus Macfadyen who is hell bent in becoming a land baron by robbing people of their land at whatever the cost.
James Conners played by Justin Ament goes off to grow up and joins the ranks in the Civil War, witnessing horrific acts and learning to survive. He returns to avenge his father and marry the girl he left behind, Mary Cooper played by Marnie Alton.
They marry but do not live for long in happiness for she is killed and thanks to Native American Indians, James Conners in the end avenges his father, finding peace and living up to the image of Shadowheart, a transformed individual thanks to his experiences while living with his Navajo friends.
The movie is predictable, the characters are not well developed, and while the filming scenes are enjoyable, we found this movie lacking the style of great westerns.
