SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Absolutely Fantastic

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

We all have those classic movies about animals that we watched when we were little ones, and hopefully if you've got any senses about you, still revisit as an adult. Well, most people have a few of those... I've got at least like twenty. One couple of movies that are very dear to me are Shiloh, and Shiloh 2: Shiloh Season, two indisputable classics that I was pretty much raised on, and have a burning nostalgia for. Shiloh boils down to one simple, loving archetype: a boy and his dog. Or, rather, a boy who desperately wishes to save a dog from going down the same road of violence and abuse that it's currant owner has. Marty Preston (Blake Heron, and Zachary Browne in the sequel because they just can't stick with one actor) is a young rural lad with a wholesome life and family, wishing for a dog of his own. Local roughneck and hunter Judd Travers (Scott Wilson) owns a whole pack of mutts that he mistreats when drunk, and aims to turn them all into vicious hunting dogs. When one small beagle escapes, it makes its way onto Preston land and suddenly Marty finds he has a new best friend. His stern father Ray (inimitable Michael Moriarty) warns him that the dog is probably Judd's, while his mother (excellent character actress Ann Dowd) urges compassion from her husband. Soon enough Judd comes looking, and conflict arises between the boy and the bitter old hunter. It's a children's story so nothing too messed up ever happens, but there's some touching lessons and surprising gravitas from both Moriarty and Wilson that is nice to see from such a seemingly innocuous, kid oriented franchise. Judd shows beautiful complexity in the sequel, the writing allowing Wilson to illustrate that not all mean people started out that way, and that with a little kindness and a lot of patience, old wounds can be burrowed into and treated. I first became a fan of Scott through the Shiloh films and he will always be Judd Travers to me. Marty finds a friend in Shiloh, getting right to the point of what these movies are about: friendship. New friends, old friends, and letting people in who need someone and don't even know it. It's great stuff, timeless to be sure, and always guaranteed to draw forth a smile. Rod Steiger lends his famous kind streak to the role of Doc Wallace, a convenience store owner with sagely wisdom for Marty and his fellow friends, as well as compassion for Judd. Now, there's a third film, also with Wilson but yet another different actor for Marty, and Moriarty sitting it out as well, which is why I haven't checked it out so far. Maybe it's time.

This turned out to be a watchable little family film. It very much has a made for t.v. quality to it, and the actors are about on that level as well. The movie builds tension well as the real focus of the story, Judd Travers, becomes more and more of a threat. Like the first movie, Judd was the best performance in the story. It's strange how his character walks a fine line of being dangerous and threatening, but the other characters still show him some amount of courtesy and respect. I think we're meant to assume that because the setting is a small, close knit community is an out of the way village, that Judd gets away with things he wouldn't in another time or place. As I watched with my six year old daughter, I was very aware of what exactly was being shown as far as his anti-social behavior. In fact, the story does a good job of making him seem very scary and threatening without ever having him do anything truly wicked. Kind of like the Wicked Witch of the West, he is a safe villain for young audiences to experience some fear through without going too far. The last few sequences with Marty writing letters and helping Judd to bond with Shiloh were really well done and genuinely heartwarming. I'm glad I took the time to try this one. The payoff was worthwhile.

Unlike most sequels, I was surprised to find "Shiloh 2: Shiloh Season" better than "Shiloh". Maybe it was the more developed story, or maybe a better actor playing the part of Marty Preston. Normally seeing a different actor in a leading role turns me off sequels, but in this case it just wasn't like that. And even though this movie deals with some hard issues, it seems like even more of a nice, warm family film. I'm so glad I decided to watch it because now, it's one of my favourite "nice" movies.

I fully enjoyed this movie, just sad that it seemed to be in limited release in the theaters (not many theaters are showing this movie and the ones that are its a 1 time only show. But I like the people in the movie, I liked it because its kind and gentle, there's no killing, or sex or anything of that kind in this movie, its about learning how to teach a old dog new tricks (although in this movie the dog is Judd), just by being kind to them (its the same way you would treat a dog if you are kind to them they will be kind back to you) so I highly recommend this movie Mark