Very disappointed :(

This is How Movies Should Be Made

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Being a huge fan of the "modern" westerns such as the Lonesome Dove trilogy, Open Range etc..... I was eagerly looking forward to this but couldn't help but feel slightly let down by the end result. Although Duval is as solid as ever everything was too slow moving and the plot development was poor. Its almost as if they didn't have enough story ideas to fill the 3 hours so kept adding in strange little scenes which lasted about 30 seconds or so....Character development was strange too.....after the end of the first episode I commented to my girlfriend that "Big Ears" was supposed to be the bad guy but they hadn't really given any reason why..... then at the start of the second he commits a bad act, almost as if they realised they needed to force something in there to make him feared......The scenery was beautiful, the acting was good by some, limited by others......I didn't really feel ANY empathy or warmth for any of the characters and on the whole it could've been much, much better.

Great acting.......great script/writing. Classic story or lessons that should be the basis for all great award winning films. Icing generally includes cinematography, authenticity, good supporting characters and acting/wardrobe. Never pass up a single Duvall film.....follow the actor who chooses his next role for the love of the story and writing not the fame and fortune. Here's a spoiler ;) Find the movie "wrestling earnest hemmingway" and watch a rare gem of a film that will resonate and dig into the the surface ...just the surface of great films. Gave this an 8 cuz only halfway through and soooo impressed had to look it up!

The film starts in 1898 , Ritter (Robert Duvall) a veteran cowboy sees declining the ending days of Wild West era and the transition to a new century . Ritter along with his estranged nephew Tom (Thomas Haden Church), and another cowboy (Scott Cooper) transport a herd of horses across the northern , when save five Chinese girls kidnapped by a villain (James Russo). As Ritter along with Tom Harte become the reluctant guardians of five abused and abandoned Chinese girls . The local madame (Rusty Schwimmer) sends a gunfighter (Chris Mulkey) to chase the girls for her own aims . Print Ritter and Harte's attempts to care for the Chinese are complicated by their responsibility to deliver a herd while avoiding a group of enemies intent on kidnapping the girls for their own objectives .This melancholic picture is acclaimed like one of the best Western TV of the last years with several prizes and various nominations for Gloden Globe . It's an excellent Western with adventures , noisy action , shootouts , breathtaking scenarios ; but also melancholy , friendship , unlovable camaraderie and emotionalism . The movie was shot in Calgary, Alberta, Canada location with marvellous outdoors . Sensitive and moving Western where cowboys must say goodbye to the lives they know and undergo an extraordinary and dangerous travel . Great acting for all casting with magnificent main roles by Duvall and Haden Church . Special mention to Greta Scacchi as an aging prostitute who falls in love . Gorgeous landscapes , reflecting wonderfully the wide open spaces, they are splendidly photographed by Lloyd Ahern II , Hill's usual cameraman . The movie follows the wake the last Television Westerns starred by Sam Elliot or Tom Selleck, such as ¨Monte Walsh¨, ¨Crossfire trail¨ and ¨Quigley Down Under¨. The motion picture was well directed by Walter Hill , a Western expert , such as he proved in ¨Geronimo¨, ¨Will Bill¨ and ¨Long riders¨. Rating : Better than average for the proficient film-making . It's a magnificent movie , and an unforgettable , unchallenged classic TV western.

The film opens in Chinatown San Francisco, 1898 where we five exotic virgins from the Celestial Empire are bought by Captain Billy Fender (James Russo) to be sold as slaves and introduced into the brief and violent life of prostitution…Robert Duvall stars as "Print" Ritter, an old cowhand whose sister left a will inheriting all to him rather than to her own son, Tom Harte (Thomas Haden Church) who lives in John Day Country Oregon...Print ignores why she has done it, or why was crossed between the two, but his sister done it…Print got the idea to buy a team of tough, high-desert mustangs—three to eight years of age—to take them to Sheridan, Wyoming to sell to the British Empire; the money they'll earn will be to increase their capital… And on the shares, Print figures a 25-75 split on profits after expenses and loan repayment to the bank… From this point, Hill's Western becomes a road movie, with all kinds of odd characters, from ugly villains to a friendly musician, but the key to "Broken Trail" is that through a series of circumstances, fate has placed the five Chinese innocent girls in the hands of Tom and his uncle… But the reality is another… Their families sold them to that rat captain heading out to the mining camp, where Kate, an odious saloon owner, bought them from an associate in San Francisco…Our two cowboys save the girls' lives from rape and take them along on their journey…With great photography, gorgeous vistas, perilous ground, sensible brave girls, good and decidedly courageous men, great action when it is necessary, and a big confrontation at the climax of the movie, Hill's Western is a must see film for the fans of the genre