I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

This attempt to give the legendary Lone Ranger character an origin story is passably entertaining, but could have used better lead actors and a more interesting tale to tell. As a directorial effort by a noted cinematographer (William A. Fraker) that is shot by one of his peers (Laszlo Kovacs), it's not a surprise that the movie LOOKS great. The beautiful scenery looks magnificent in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and John Barry supplies a typically engaging music score.Klinton Spilsbury stars as John Reid, who as a child was orphaned thanks to maniacal bandits. He befriended the young Indian Tonto, and was adopted by Tontos' tribe. As an adult, he prepares to begin a career in law, but fate intervenes. His brother Dan (John Bennett Perry) is a Texas Ranger, who with his troops rides off to apprehend the nefarious villain "Butch" Cavendish (Christopher Lloyd) and his minions. But Cavendish and company ambush the Rangers, and only John survives. Nursed back to health by the adult Tonto (Michael Horse), he puts into motion a plan of revenge, while wearing a mask to obscure his identity. He must also rescue U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant (Jason Robards), who is kidnapped by Cavendishs' goons.Spilsbury is a very handsome man, but unfortunately he's just too bland as an actor. Even using James Keach to dub his lines doesn't really help. Horse gives his character pride and dignity, but he's not particularly charismatic either. Spilsburys' leading lady Juanin Clay (playing brave newspaper woman Amy Striker) is another debit, although she *is* certainly lovely. Lloyd is an okay villain, although he just doesn't project a lot of menace or intensity. Robards is a colorful President Grant, and he's among a solid supporting cast also including Matt Clark as a useless sheriff, David Hayward as one of the Rangers, and John Hart as Amys' uncle Lucas. Richard Farnsworth has a typically delightful cameo as Wild Bill Hickok.Well intentioned but decidedly unmemorable, this movie may do the trick for dedicated Western fans. That narration by Merle Haggard, however, is intrusive and annoying.Six out of 10.

I liked this movie - the critics went nuts on it before its release because of the treatment that 50s TV Lone Ranger actor Clayton Moore received at the time. Clayton should've thanked them - he became a household name again and was featured on countless TV shows because of the legal actions of the films producers barring him from wearing the mask. The film is really quite good - what makes it a little lame is the music - not the score, the score is great - the campy, old fashioned songs sung by Merle Haggard - don't get me wrong Merl is great - but this 80s western came off like a B western with songs similar to "Branded" over the top of otherwise great color vistas and action - making them seem lame. The lead actor's voice was dubbed - apparently his own voice wasn't macho enough. Jason Robards, John Hart (another Lone Ranger actor from the 50s), Christopher Loyd, Richard Farnsworth, Jaunine Clay and others make some great scenes come to life. Great locations and scenery. Tonto is a much stronger character - but they did that without dumbing down the Lone Ranger as they did in the latest movie which in comparison is a complete failure. Watch the movie -keep in mind when it came out - ignore the stupid music with singing - you'll just might say, - "you know what, that wasn't too bad."

The movie was enjoyable. I am biased, though. I grew up idolizing the Lone Ranger. I can never understand the decision to cast Klinton Spilsbury in the title role. This would not be too hard to understand if we follow the theory that a TV pilot was the original idea. But this theory falls apart when I consider that, for some reason, Spilsbury's voice wasn't deemed good enough, so it had to be dubbed. This causes the unintentionally comical situation of a Hollywood movie looking like a foreign-made spaghetti western because the dialog and the actor's lips are not always in sync. The narrator and the songs are irritating. Despite all this, I liked the movie. It started out with the elements of an epic picture about the story of a legendary hero, a film that should have been 3 hours long. Then, after the set-up of how he came to be the Lone Ranger, the film rushes into what seems like a TV episode. A small amount of screen time elapse from the kidnapping of the President to his rescue, which was reminiscent of a Gunsmoke or Bonanza episode, where the story had to unfold in between commercial breaks, all within 1 hour air time. A lot of people got very lazy in the making of this movie. Still, to me, it's as if it were a 98-minute episode of the Lone Ranger. Heigh-ho, Silver! Away!

I was surprised to read that this movie did so poorly at the box office. We saw it 6 or 7 times in the theater and just assumed everyone else did too! We loved it as kids and still do today as adults. I still want to gallop around the living room on my pretend horse when I hear the song. If you want to look at this movie from a cinematic standpoint, I guess it isn't as good as the blockbuster, special effects extravaganzas produced today, but it is a good quality story and film without a lot of needless blood and guts. I can't wait to show it to my son, who is the same age now as I was when I first saw it. It's a classic and will forever be in my top 5.