The Gunfighters

Rating:
Summary: Harmless, cliche filled Canadian western
Review: The technical part of this review refers to the Brentwood Home Video or BCI Eclipse release of this film.

"The Gunfighters" is a passable western set in Wyoming, but Alberta, Canada fills in quite nicely for the scenery. A Canadian film, which ends making the viewer believe it was a pilot for a series that never materialized. It's fine for the family with mild violence and no profanities.

George Kennedy plays the heavy in this story of three brothers who battle land baron Kennedy. The brothers have enough of waiting for the law (who is under Kennedy's control) to help them and take matters into their own hands. Filled with typical clichés, I'm sure you'll figure out the ending before the movie gets you there; still it's a pleasant diversion especially for the low price.

As with many of Brentwood Home Videos, this one has a cartoon (from Max Fleischer) and there are 8 chapter stops for easy selection. The transfer is excellent (for a budget release), looking like it almost came from a master source - almost. This movie is also in a 10 pack of westerns at about triple the price for this one film from Brentwood Home Video called "The Wild West" and is available from Amazon.com.

Rating:
Summary: OK Oater from Canada
Review: With the exception of George Kennedy and Art Hindle, you probably won't recognize too many faces in this 1987 telefilm unless you live in Canada, where this Western was produced (the word "out" is pronounced "oat" north of the border). There's nothing new here . . . the evil land baron (Kennedy), the good guys who are forced to turn bad, etc., etc., but the production values are reasonably good and some of the Canadian locales in Alberta are spectacular (the setting is supposed to be mainly in Kansas). Unfortunately, the acting is wildly uneven, though Hindle is easily the best in the cast as the older of the two Everett brothers. The 95 minute film looks like it was a series pilot. I don't remember seeing this, so perhaps it was produced exclusively for Canadian television.

There are two interesting people associated with the production. One of the Executive Producers was Sonny Grosso who was one of the real cops portrayed in "The French Connection" (the Roy Scheider character). The other is Domenic Troiano who composed the music. Troiano replaced Joe Walsh on guitar, when Walsh left "The James Gang" for a solo career in the 70s.

Despite the fact that the film was produced in the late 80s, this DVD looks very "soft" reflecting its status as a budget release. At times, it's hard to tell whether it's the photography or the lack of remastering that's the culprit (or both). Nevertheless, Brentwood Communications does give you the usual extras of a cartoon, a dictionary of DVD terms, an interactive movie trivia game and 8 chapter stops for this release.

Rating:
Summary: OK Oater from Canada
Review: With the exception of George Kennedy and Art Hindle, you probably won't recognize too many faces in this 1987 telefilm unless you live in Canada, where this Western was produced (the word "out" is pronounced "oat" north of the border). There's nothing new here . . . the evil land baron (Kennedy), the good guys who are forced to turn bad, etc., etc., but the production values are reasonably good and some of the Canadian locales in Alberta are spectacular (the setting is supposed to be mainly in Kansas). Unfortunately, the acting is wildly uneven, though Hindle is easily the best in the cast as the older of the two Everett brothers. The 95 minute film looks like it was a series pilot. I don't remember seeing this, so perhaps it was produced exclusively for Canadian television.

There are two interesting people associated with the production. One of the Executive Producers was Sonny Grosso who was one of the real cops portrayed in "The French Connection" (the Roy Scheider character). The other is Domenic Troiano who composed the music. Troiano replaced Joe Walsh on guitar, when Walsh left "The James Gang" for a solo career in the 70s.

Despite the fact that the film was produced in the late 80s, this DVD looks very "soft" reflecting its status as a budget release. At times, it's hard to tell whether it's the photography or the lack of remastering that's the culprit (or both). Nevertheless, Brentwood Communications does give you the usual extras of a cartoon, a dictionary of DVD terms, an interactive movie trivia game and 8 chapter stops for this release.