Gunfighter's Moon (1997)

Sadly Over-hyped

Awesome Movie

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

What can I say? This is one of my favorite films of all times! Never has there been a more perfect role for Lance Henriksen then as legendary gunfighter, Frank Morgan. His stone-cold stare face, his low-baritone voice, and his way of moving is quite a show to see. You can just feel how tired he really is trying to "prove" how fast he really is with all these young fools who want to become a 'legend' by seeing if they can outdrawing Morgan in a gunfight. He answers the call of an old flame, Linda Yarnell played nicely by the beautiful but stern Kay Lenz. She fears for her new husband,Jordan Yarnell (played by the good David McIlwraith) who is acting as a stand-in sheriff. Trouble is Jordan with his trigger-happy deputy Spud Walker (played by the at that time hunk, Ivan Sergei) are guarding a prisoner named Jack Morris (played funny-like but great by Dave 'Squatch' Ward) And his 'kin' His cousin, the evil and very fast on the draw, Walt Shannon (played excellently by Brent Stait) are coming to come and bust him out. I like how Stait portrayed Shannon. He oozed evilness in a vampire-like way! He is accompanied by two shady character like himself. The silent but mean-looking Indian, Julio (played nicely by Byron Chief Moon) and the shaky, nervous, Boise (played by the ironically real-life gun-draw expert Thell Reed!) The climatic buildup to the gunfight showdown at the end, is to me the best I have ever experienced! I can re-watch it over and over and never get tired of watching it!I will mention the rest of the actors who made an impression on me was the great character actor James Victor as the simple-minded,humble and abused Juan Acosta who Morgan defends and stays with on his stay in the town. They have a great scene I liked where Acosta who works at the bar as basically as a slave to Tom the bartender (played by the wide-eye John Payne) accidentally breaks some glasses and Tom makes Acosta get on his knees and humiliates him in front of Morgan. Frank doesn't like that and makes Tom get on his knees and humiliates him in front of Juan! Acosta says he will be beaten after Morgan goes but it will be worth it because he saw Tom on his knees and "A man on his knees , is half a man" Next is the beautiful and sexy Yareli Arizmendi as Rosa, Morgan's current squeeze that he drops in a flash as soon as he hears that former flame and the love of his life Linda beckons for him. Poor Rosa, she feels used but she truly cares about Frank. Yet because of Rosa, Frank doesn't kill one of the Landon brothers and that costs Frank very badly later on.To me the most shady and lying character is Linda! She lies to everyone! She never tells her husband Jordan the real reason Frank Morgan is there. She loves Jordan so much she beckons for Morgan to come and fight Jordan's fight since Morgan is a true gunfighter and Jordan is not. He is just a plain storekeeper way over his head. And the worst is she never told her daughter, Kristen (played by the cute Nikki Deloach) that Morgan really is her father! She had told her that her real father was a civil-war hero who died years earlier. She told the same 'lie' to Jordan who raised Kristen as his own anyways because he loves Linda so much. And Frank realizes that Linda loves Jordan so much, that she is willing to even go with Frank after it's all done, if he just stands in for Jordan when the bad guys come to town for the showdown. Wow.In the end, the only character who truly cared for Morgan , was the dog! (played excellent by "Harley" the dog) Harley played 'himself' so good that he reminded me of another excellent dog, The "Dog" in Mad Max 2:The Road Warrior. That dog you may remember was an Australian Cattle Dog or "Blue Heeler", as it's known in its native land. The beautiful story behind the Mad Max dog was that ,it was retrieved at a local pound where he was scheduled to be 'put down' the next day. The production's animal wrangler (trainer) found that the dog could be easily trained for the film. After the film was done, it found a home on a local ranch. This dog, Morgan's, seems to be like a dingo-like dog. So I'm thinking , they have some excellent dog actors in Australia eh?!

One of the better westerns to come along since the "spaghetti western" era. Lance Hanriksen is a tough gunfighter, who comes to the rescue of a town about to be besieged by three other gunfighters looking to spring one of their henchmen from jail. Kay Lenz is married to the stand in sheriff, and Henriksen is her daughter's long lost father. While there is some melodrama, the tense concluding gunfight is excellent. The film has good character development, and certainly qualifies as "female friendly". Seek this one out if you are a Lance Henriksen fan, because it is one of his best performances. ................................ - MERK

Wow, I thought Hollywood had forgotten how to make a good Western until I saw this film. I've bought the DVD, and watched it many times. The whole cast was great, even the dog was way cool, anybody know what breed it was, dingo? Anyway what I think is one of the best things about this film, is one of the character actors named Boise, one of the three bad guys that come into town. He is played by none other than Thell Reed, "The Fastest Gun Alive", which he is in real life. Nobody can handle a Colt, or draw faster than Thell Reed. You can see his influence in the movie by the way Frank wears his holstered gun, and the way he stands at an angle to his target. Lance, Thell, and the whole cast, just make this film one of my all time great Westerns.

this one will surprise you,I enjoyed it very much.Lance Henriksen as the gunfighter with heart is very convincing and does a great job.If you see it at the local video store,grab it,you won't be disappointed.I liked it so much,I asked to buy the video from where I rented it.