This is How Movies Should Be Made

just watch it!

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

I was very taken with this little "made for TV" film, told almost like a short story and made better than it deserved to be by the commitment and chemistry of the leads Janine Turner and Michael Greyeyes (unfairly denied top billing). The core characters are well-drawn in very little time; the story is engrossing, and the ending just the way its viewers come to wish for. To a great extent it makes up for the essential cheesiness of the show itself. ** Some spoilers from here on ** In 1868, both before and after her arranged marriage to a plain prairie homesteader, white Anna Brewster-Morgan (Turner) crosses paths with Tokalah (Greyeyes), a Sioux warrior, and eventually spends a year in captivity in his village, along with her friend Sarah. While Sarah struggles with Sioux life, Anna seems to relish it. But meanwhile Anna's husband Daniel and the US army have been searching for the captive women. Custer eventually tracks them and 'negotiates' for their release, at a price; but by this time Anna's initially clear-cut relationship with Tokalah, and the meaning of 'freedom', have changed for her.The supporting cast add believability. Among them, Sarah (Jean Louisa Kelly), William Lightning (Cetah) and William Shockley (Custer) deserve mention. Rodney Grant is a bit wasted in his small non-speaking part, while Patrick Bergin's whispered utterings are just annoying in the second half. The film doesn't make cartoon judgements of its characters: no dyed-in-the-wool baddies, and no true-blue heroes. Everyone has complicated, human responses to the unfolding events. Anna's friend Sarah isn't a horrible white woman: she hates being a captive, but it's the life, not the people; and she shows empathy for Anna's predicament. Likewise, Daniel's fury: having waited so long for a wife, he's justifiably frustrated that she keeps slipping from his grasp.Someone commented that this film is really all about white female wish-fulfilment and romanticising of Native men - yes, probably true. Despite this, I'd still rather see Native men visibly objectified than completely invisible, wiped off the cultural face of America altogether, as with so much of Native culture. How many mainstream films have you seen in the last twenty years in which Native characters feature so prominently? Shanghai Noon? Please. I wish, like other reviewers, that in 1997 they could have avoided putting Anna in heavy eyeliner and peach (!) lipstick; but there's more good than bad. The Sioux nation given its own voice (the scene in Custer's tent is particularly strong); Custer shown for the duplicitous self-glorifier he really was; a Native character as central love interest; Anna making a human choice guided by her desire. So until another "Thunderheart" or "Skins" comes along, I enjoy this as pure TV fantasy fiction and, yes, a bit of a guilty pleasure – what a pity all these fans can't get it on video or DVD!

This movie is set in in Kansas, the late 1860s. A beautiful new bride and one of her friends is kidnapped by a tribe of Sioux Indians seeking revenge on General Custer. A proud Lakota Sioux warrior falls for one of the women and they begin to feel a deep connection to each other. The other woman goes only lives to return to her people.This story examines the struggle between two cultures, and a woman's honor.This movie has stayed with me since the first time I watched it. It made me question how strong I would be in her situation. And how I would deal with choosing my people or the 'wild savages'. Wonderfully done!

This film evolved from the true story of Anna Brewster Morgan and Sarah White, frontier women who lived near Concordia, Kansas. Their stories can be found in the non-fiction book Pioneer Women: Voices From the Kansas Frontier by Joanna L. Stratton. The screenwriter has taken dramatic license with some of the facts, but it makes for a very enjoyable film. Anna, a newly married woman, and Sarah were captured by the Sioux and lived with them for a year until Gen. George Custer negotiated their release. During the year of captivity, Anna (who is played by Jeanine Turner) learned to admire the Sioux, and she fell in love with Tokalah, a handsome chief played by Michael Greyeyes. Viewers may remember him from Crazy Horse, the TNT film. You will enjoy this film if: you are a fan of romance novels, you are interested in American frontier history, and/or you are interested in Native American culture. It is shown on a fairly regular basis on the Lifetime Network, but is not available commercially for sale.

I have seen this movie and I want to get it for my Lidrary and I can't seem to find this movie anywhere on DVD or Video... I cried during this movie and it is very romantic... I am into the indians and the romance novels that come out.... This is something that Cassie Edwards would write about....But the director and cast were very good at the roles they played... and I would like to see more of this kind of movie on TV or made on DVD or video in the future... Is the Indian that was the main character a real indian and if so what tribe is he from and is he planning on filming any more movies in the future? Is there a book on this also I would like to find out and read the book too. Donna Brook