Well, I have looked over my personal collection of DVDs and checked the various lists on-line to come up with two movies. One was made in 1976 and the other was made in 1988.
The first movie I'm going to tell you about is a movie directed by and starring Clint Eastwood.The Outlaw Josey Wales, based on the book "Gone to Texas" by Forest Carter, screenplay by Philip Kaufman and Sonia Chernus.
I've seen this movie countless times and I never tire of watching it.
In the movie, Clint Eastwood plays the character of Josey Wales, an outlaw being chased by a group of men known as the "red legs." Taking place after the civil war, Josey's band of fighters has arranged to surrender themselves to the Union forces. Unknown to them the Union forces only intend to disarm the men and kill them. Josey and a young kid from his unit manage to escape and are then chased all over the country by these "red legs."
Later on the young kid dies from a gun shot wound he received during their escape and Josey picks up some new "friends" to join him.
One such friend is Lone Watie, played by Chief Dan George, who tells him, "I didn't surrender neither, but they took my horse and made him surrender. They have him pulling a wagon up in Kansas I'll bet" The character of Lone Watie has some very good comedic lines that are delivered well with his quiet tone, "I notice then when you get to dislikin' someone, they aint around for long neither." Which was in response to Josey's line, "If ever I get to likin' someone, they aint around for long."
I don't want to spoil the movie for those who have not seen it yet but, it's a classic for a reason, go see it!
The second movie I am going to tell you about first aired as a mini-series and had two sequels produced as well. The sequels were no where near as good as the original and I'll talk about them briefly.Lonesome Dove, based on the novel of the same name by Larry McMurtry.
Lonesome Dove is a tale of two former Texas Rangers and their attempt to move cattle from the south up to Montana. Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call run into many problems on the way, and the journey doesn't end without numerous casualties. The two men are content to live out their remaining years in the tiny Texas town of Lonesome Dove. Then their old friend Jake comes to town, and tells them about the incredible opportunities for cattle ranching in Montana. Encouraged by this, Call convinces Gus and many other townspeople to go on a perilous cattle drive to Montana. Gus has another agenda though: his former sweetheart now lives in Nebraska, and he hopes for a second chance with her. As the drive goes on it takes on an epic scale, ultimately becoming what could well be called the central event in the lives of all involved.
This made for TV mini-series had an star-studded collection of actors including; Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Danny Glover, Diane Lane, Robert Urich, Frederic Forrest, Rick Schroder and Angelica Huston.
Not since his performance in "The Great Santini" have I seen Robert Duvall give such a moving performance.
Clocking in at six hours this is not something you should sit down and watch in one sitting but rather watch it over three or four days instead.
There were two other movies made to follow the mini series but neither one was particularly good.
The first is the "Streets of Laredo" starring James Garner as an aged Woodrow Call and the other is "Dead Man's Walk" which depicts McCrae and Call as young pups on their way to fight the Mexicans.
If you have to watch one of them, go for "Dead Man's Walk" The actors feel more natural in their playing of the roles of McCrae and Call. Garner's portrayal of Call in "Streets of Laredo" is wooden and looks more like he is trying to play Tommy Lee Jones playing Woodrow Call rather then his own interpretation of the character.
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