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Return to Lonesome Dove | Year: 1993 Classification: Western Directed: - Mike Robe An Epic As Big As The West Continues! I have seen all the Lonesome Dove movies and although this one is a spin-off from the others, it's still is a great story. Jon Voight plays a very convincing Capt. Call considering what he had to follow up to. I still would have liked to seen him lose his temper and beat somebody up who acted rude. (I mean who can top Tommy Lee Jones's performance?) This film like the others, really portrayed the harshness of the western frontier and the tough men who had to shape it. Although Barbara Hershey wasn't the plainswomen that Anjelica Houston was, her role was admirable as well. I found it fitting that in the end, Call did reveal his paternity to Newt and Newt had to go off on his own to find his dream. Great plot, good bad guys, and a fitting ending make Return To Lonesome Dove a must see for any Lonesome Dove fan. Piggybacks Off The Original I once read that when Larry McMurtry saw RETURN TO LONESOME DOVE he was so enraged he responded by writing "Streets of Laredo." A Lonesome Dove fan such as myself can only speculate what kind of sequel might have been written had "Return" never hit the airwaves. Maybe the characters of Newt and July Johnson would have survived into such a sequel; perhaps the Hat Creek Cattle Company would have flourished in Montana, rather than Call having to go back to Texas to eek out a living as a bounty hunter. But I digress. RETURN TO LONESOME DOVE tries hard, very hard, to deliver a story worthy enough to follow the original mini-series. And with gifted actors like Jon Voight, Oliver Reed, and Louis Gossett, Jr., it certainly had the star power. But instead, this sequel goes down the road of "been there, done that": another livestock drive from Texas to Montana (only this time, the animals are wild horses); another murderous half-breed villain (Dennis Haysbert as "Cherokee Jack"); and a "new" Gus McRae in the form of Ranger Gideon Walker (William Peterson). We also are given a bonus storyline centering around Gus' illegitimate daughter, appropriately named Augustina Vega (Nia Peeples), who hates her late father and is obsessed to confront Call, who she believes is responsible for the death of her mother. Throw a grumpy and petulant Clara Allen (Barbara Hershey) into the mix, and RETURN TO LONESOME DOVE comes across as contrived and as palatable as a piece of horse leather. The cast does well with what it has to work with, and to be fair, the film does contain some poignant and entertaining moments. But RETURN TO LONESOME DOVE's most glaring fault is the fact that it was made at all. The producers should have adhered to the old adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Tought Act to Follow, But Comes Close My husband and I are huge fans of Lonesome Dove. Any attempt to make a sequel would certainly be a tough job. But Return to Lonesome Dove would appear to us to be the best one can do. There is no way to fill Tommy Lee Jones shoes as Captain Woodrow Call, but John Voight does about as fine a job as can be expected. Sure it would have been nice to have Jones back, and even Angelica Huston. But that was not to be, yet the story went on and I am glad for it. The prequel, Dead Man's Walk is also good watching. David Arquette does a great job as Gus McCrae. The Streets of Laredo? If you're a Lonesome fan, it gives you another Lonesome movie to watch. But I'm sorry, I just can't get over the notion that Pea Eye and Lorena would get together. That is SO off the wall. Lonesome Dove is a great classic. Return to Lonesome Dove follows up nicely. Third in line for me is Dead Man's Walk. For the heck of watching another Lonesome movie, I'll take Steers of Laredo last. Buy Return To Lonesome Dove at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Return To Lonesome Dove Search with the Priority Search Engine on Return To Lonesome Dove This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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