 | |
List Price: $9.98 | | Label: Lions Gate
Salesrank: 60233
Released: November 24, 1998 |
| Our Price: $4.05 |
| Used Price: $1.30 |
|
MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
|
Editorial Review:
When the Western slipped into theatrical oblivion in the late 1970s, many of the best examples of the genre began appearing as made-for-television films. After the success of The Sacketts, from the Louis L'Amour novel, producers quickly reunited stars Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott in another fine adaptation of a L'Amour book, The Shadow Riders. As brothers Mac and Dal Traven, sporting blue and gray uniforms, respectively, they wind their way home at the close of the Civil War to discover a band of confederate rebels have ravaged their town and kidnapped their sisters and brother and Dal's feisty sweetheart (Katharine Ross). With the help of their outlaw uncle (Western stalwart Ben Johnson), whom they must break out of prison, they track the guerrillas to the Gulf Coast and down into Mexico for a final, fatal showdown. Veteran director Andrew McLaglen sets this TV movie on a loping pace and a jovial tone, defined largely by Selleck's easygoing performance and the jocular comic relief of rascally Johnson. Elliott provides the intensity, at times positively ferocious under his heavy brows and burning, sunken eyes. The mood is occasionally too comic, but McLaglen delivers the goods in a series of gritty action sequences, proving that old Western directors don't die, they just drift on over to the small screen. Western icons R.G. Armstrong and Harry Carey Jr. and 1950s leading lady Jane Greer also appear in key roles. --Sean Axmaker
The Shadow Riders Reviews:
The Shadow Riders 
2009-09-12 - Very good western. Typical of any Louis L'Amour stories-good and interesting. Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott are very good together as they are in the Sackett movies. When you throw in Ben Johnson, you have a great mix.
LOVE THE WESTERNS
2009-07-13 - Fun and entertaining...good family film. Interesting to see Tom and Sam in their early western years.
Low budget shows 
2009-06-16 - Shadow Riders (1982) has a great cast, but a weak script with lackluster direction. This was a made-for-television movie, made with a small budget and hurried production schedule. It's interesting to compare this movie with Crossfire Trail (2001). Both are Louis L'Amour stories, both star Tom Selleck, but the quality of made-for-cable versus made-for-television is obvious.
Fun, but not particularly deep... 
2009-06-14 - This is a "fun" western. The good guys triumph with hardly a scratch and the bad guys go down like bowling pins. If you enjoy films of this type (and I do) then you'll enjoy this one.
Despite being made for TV the production values are excellent and the casting first rate (any western with Elliott and Selleck is well cast). The plot is straightforward - our two heroes have to save their sisters and others from being sold to a brothel in Mexico by renegade Confederates. There are a few complications along the way: the Confederates are double crossed, the heroes have to spring their uncle out of jail, etc. Everything is resolved in a satisfying happy ending.
A lot of people don't like their films without the slightest trace of tragedy for the protagonists. I can watch them all day long. The film does lack depth but that's expected with just over an hour and a half running time. This one's worth it for the cast alone.
Sam Elliott at his best!!
2009-03-13 - A great western story. I had this movie on VHS and when my VCR died I upgrated to DVD. Well worth the price
