"Dead Man's Walk" (1996) TV mini-series

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Yves Simoneau

Writers (WGA):

Larry McMurtry (novel)
Larry McMurtry (teleplay) ...

Release Date:

12 May 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Western

Plot Keywords:

Expedition | Texas | Survival | Grizzly Bear | Mexican

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 2 wins

Cast

F. Murray Abraham	...	Col. Caleb Cobb
Keith Carradine	...	Bigfoot Wallace
Patricia Childress	...	Matilda Jane 'Mattie' Roberts
Brian Dennehy	...	Maj. Randall Chevallie
Edward James Olmos	...	Capt. Salazar
Eric Schweig	...	Buffalo Hump
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Shadrach
David Arquette	...	Augustus McCrae
Jonny Lee Miller	...	Woodrow F. Call
Ray McKinnon	...	Long Bill Coleman
Jennifer Garner	...	Clara Forsythe
Tim Blake Nelson	...	Johnny Carthage
Alastair Duncan	...	Capt. Billy Falconer
Brad Greenquist
Kieran Mulroney	...	Jimmy Tweed

Also Known As:

Larry McMurtry's Dead Man's Walk

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence and thematic elements involving the frontier experience.

Runtime:

272 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | Australia:PG | Germany:12 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Alpine, Texas, USA

Company:

De Passe Entertainment

Trivia:

Jonny Lee Miller plays a role previously played by Jon Voight in the unofficial sequel _"Return to Lonesome Dove" (1993) (mini)_. At the time of this film's broadcast, Miller was married to Voigt's daughter Angelina Jolie.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: This film is set in 1841 but presents Charles Goodnight as an adult. Goodnight was born in 1836, making him only a child at the time.

Quotes:

[the rangers dig side-by-side graves for two of their dead comrades]
Long Bill Coleman: Josh and Zeke were pards. I don't guess they'll mind bunking together in the hereafter.
Bigfoot Wallace: If anybody knows a good scripture, let 'em say it. We got to skedaddle. I don't fancy another fight with Buffalo Hump.
Long Bill Coleman: There's that scripture about them green pastures...
Bigfoot Wallace: So say it then, Bill!
Long Bill Coleman: Well... them there's green pastures... that's all I recall.

Movie Connections:

Follows "Return to Lonesome Dove" (1993)

True to the book

The author of the book "Dead Man's Walk" also wrote the screenplay for this film, which is obvious when one sees how closely the film adheres to the book. Although I have read the book in question, it didn't curtail my enjoyment of the movie.

One notices how closely the young actors portraying Gus McRae and Woodrow Call (David Arquette and Johny Lee Miller) resemble older versions of the same characters as actualized by Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones. My guess is that making that resemblance a fact was of paramount importance to the filmmakers, as the primary audience for "Dead Man's Walk" has already seen "Lonesome Dove" and would be disappointed if Arquette's performance didn't recall Duvall's and Miller's work wasn't reminiscent of Jones'.

Although it may have been primarily a marketing decision, the strong resemblance between young and old Gus and Call works for me and, oddly enough, binds the two miniseries together.

May we now see a miniseries based on McMurtry's second prequel, "Comanche Moon"?