Open Range

I watched this and thought it was brilliant.I like a good western and these days westerns are few and far between.It is a nice story and goes along at a steady pace and you never lose interest.Tha acting is great especially Robert Duvall and Kevin Kostner.The scenery is awesome and the music soundtrack for the movie is quite moving.A superb western,lets have more.

Dont think, at this price its a must buy. the story is a slow enthralling build up to an amazing final shootout. Any westen fan will love this.

Academy-Award winners KEVIN COSTNER and ROBERT DUVALL star as Charlie Waite and Boss Spearman who, with their colleagues Mose and Button, are cowboys driving cattle on the Open Range, free-grazing outside of the law.

When Mose ends up badly beaten and arrested on trumped-up charges at a town where he has gone for supplies, Boss and Charlie discover a web of corruption centred around ruthless rancher, Denton Baxter (played with relish delight by MICHAEL GAMDON). Having built up the community, Baxter hates all drifters and free-grazers who enter his domain but is not averse to killing them and "acquiring" their cattle for his own. With Sheriff Poole (JAMES RUSSO) and gunman Butler (KIM COATES) on the payroll, Baxter begins a course of action which will lead to violence and death to the quiet streets of Harmonville.

Superbly directed by KOSTNER with great attention to authentic detail, OPEN RANGE is another of the modern wave of gritty and realistic Westerns which have emerged in recent years. He successfully avoids some of the clichés common with the genre.

For example, heavy rain turns the Harmonville streets into quagmires (unusual for a genre which usually depicts dusty roads) and the climactic gunfight between the free-grazers and Baxter's posse is certainly one of the best yet filmed. Here are no stereotypical quick-draw, deadly aimed encounters which are over in mere seconds. Instead we see a tense, brutal street battle, a running melee of cat-and-mouse throughout the town which also superbly illustrates the inaccurate nature of Old West weaponry.

The film explores in great detail the bond between Boss and Charlie, men who have shunned their pasts for a legitimate way of life despite trouble never being far away. Both are handy with the gun and expert trackers, both wish to one day settle down but harbour deep secrets - even from each other. They are at first unperturbed by Baxter's threats, believing they have a right to graze their herd, but things become personal and they begin a deadly mission of revenge against the landowner. Sympathy comes from local residents Percy (MICHAEL JETER) and Sue Barlow (a radiant ANNETTE BENNING), who in their own way help the duo in their deadly fight against town corruption.

DVD Extras include a KEVIN COSTNER audio-commentary, music video montage, storyboards, twelve deleted scenes and a thirteen minute feature on America's real Open Range.

The imagery in this film is stunning with vast, sweeping landscapes which nicely contrast with the enclosed streets of Harmonville while the fore-mentioned gunfight is exciting and ably directed by KOSTNER. All the cast do well in their roles but I would have liked to have seen more of COATES, whose character Butler receives only a few minutes of screen time.

Fans of the genre will not be disappointed and I am sure that even viewers who normally do not watch films of the Old West will find much to enjoy, too!

I got bought the film for my 18th birthday and i'm not really a big fan of westerns but this is absolutely brilliant. The shoot out at the end is just spectacular .

Only one man since Clint Eastwood has been able to produce a good realistic western and thats Kevin Costner. This is an exceptional story to tell and it holds back from the action for the first three quaters of the movie to give us the showdown of the century. It is the most thought out movie i've watched and every snippet of story is well shot and filmed to excellence. The climax at the end is the most realistic western shoot out to be ever filmed on screen!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's not over in a second it 's played in real time,they have to reload,take cover,show courage under fire against much greater numbers. Single handedly worth the joy of watching the whole movie just to see how it pans out at the end.after the shoot out you'll find yourself gasping for breath. A labour of love and well worth a second viewing!!!!

Who ever said that Costner's career was on the rocks, then they should take another look at this under-rated classic. It doesn't mean a damn if his starring films don't ring the box-office tills like they used to, it's the quality of his Directed films that count. Just like Dances with Wolves this a brilliantly told old fashiond western, that relies on the development of character over action. Costner is great but Duvall is simply fantastic as his boss who play a bunch of ranch's who drift into a town who don't take kindly to their kind and once the first stone is thrown it turns into a tale of revenge leading to a brilliant shoot-out. The film has a truly authentic feel and the attention to detail is fantastic. It may have taken me almost nine years to sit down and watch this but I am glad I did.
Brilliant!
See if you like.......
Wyatt Earp.
Tombstone.
Dances with Wolves.
True grit (2010)

A modern day western that delivers just like the classics!!
A brilliant plot, breathtaking cinematography, action packed with many famous faces make this a true western of the modern age made in 2003 by Kevin Costner (director of Dances with Wolves)!!!
A must for all who have yet to see as it is a film that will be watched more than once and that is guaranteed!!
Takes it's place in my massive western collection and i picked it up for a bargain £2.99 and i would have paid much, much more!!!

This modern day movie is one of the best thats come out of hollywood,Great soundtrack and a great cast.
The dramatic shootout at the end of the movie works really well with a surround sound kit.
Highly recommend this modern day classic!

epic direction, moving music, and interesting characters. AND a great shoot out!!
defintely worth buying.

This is a great, absorbing Western (also directed by Kevin Costner) that is not afraid to take its time to tell a story. It has a great cast (Robert Duvall being a stand-out) and just in case anyone can't take the languid pace there is a fantastic all guns blazing shoot-out at the climax.