RETURN TO LONESOME DOVE tries hard, very hard, to deliver a story worthy enough to follow the original mini-series. And with gifted actors like Jon Voight, Oliver Reed, and Louis Gossett, Jr., it certainly had the star power. But instead, this sequel goes down the road of "been there, done that": another livestock drive from Texas to Montana (only this time, the animals are wild horses); another murderous half-breed villain (Dennis Haysbert as "Cherokee Jack"); and a "new" Gus McRae in the form of Ranger Gideon Walker (William Peterson). We also are given a bonus storyline centering around Gus' illegitimate daughter, appropriately named Augustina Vega (Nia Peeples), who hates her late father and is obsessed to confront Call, who she believes is responsible for the death of her mother. Throw a grumpy and petulant Clara Allen (Barbara Hershey) into the mix, and RETURN TO LONESOME DOVE comes across as contrived and as palatable as a piece of horse leather.

The cast does well with what it has to work with, and to be fair, the film does contain some poignant and entertaining moments. But RETURN TO LONESOME DOVE's most glaring fault is the fact that it was made at all. The producers should have adhered to the old adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

33 of 36 found the following review helpful:


NO, NOT LONESOME DOVE...BUT STILL A GREAT WESTERN!  Sep 22, 2005 By D. McAllister "MRD"
Admittedly, there will never be another one like the original LONESOME DOVE. Tommy Lee Jones is, arguably, irreplaceable as the irascible Woodrow F. Call and, fortunately, with Gus's demise in the original we didn't have to worry about a replacement for Robert Duvall in the role of Augustus McCrae.

So let's just put all that aside when considering RETURN TO LONESOME DOVE, shall we?

From the standpoint of the purists, no, this is not the official-Larry-McMurtry-written sequel to his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. But who cares?! I certainly don't. DEADMAN'S WALK, COMANCHE MOON and STREETS OF LAREDO, the actual McMurty-written co-volumes in the saga, are not diminished in the least by RETURN... Keep that carefully in mind.

This movie, when seen in the right light -- without the biases that naturally arise among the LONESOME DOVE faithful and viewed, for all intents and purposes, as an independent film -- is a truly wonderful Western! The characters are compelling and interesting and the story is certainly a worthy epilog to the original LONESOME DOVE.

Woodrow F. Call, played by John Voight, is returning from his pilgrimage to bury McCrae and determines to take something back. He decides to drive a herd of Texas mustangs to Montana in order to continue his activities in the horse business. Characteristically Call would certainly do this in order to view things as not being a total waste. The story blossoms nicely as he adds former Texas Ranger, Gideon Walker, played wonderfully by a younger William Peterson, now of CSI fame, and Isom Pickett, a horseman and rancher played by Louis Gossett, Jr., to assist in the adventure. And, like the original, RETURN... abounds in triumph and tragedy as Captain Call and his compadres work to live out their dreams and aspirations with all the honor they can muster.

Members of the original cast including Rick Schroeder as Newt, Tim Scott as Pea-Eye Parker, William Sanderson as Lippy, Barry Tubb as Jasper Fant and Chris Cooper as July Johnson are joined by a great cast of newcomers including, in addition to Voight, Peterson and Gossett, Jr., Barbara Hershey as Clara Allen, Oliver Reed as the over-zealous visionary rancher Gregor Dunnegan, Reese Witherspoon as Dunnegan's much younger and impetuous wife, Ferris, Nia Peeples as Agostina Vega, and Dennis Haysbert (late of the hit TV series, 24) as a worthy successor to the Half-Breed Blue Duck in the original, the sinister outlaw, Cherokee Jack Jackson.

Okay, we all agree, then, that there was and never will be anything like the original LONESOME DOVE. Right? But if you give this one a break as a great Western movie in its own right I promise you won't be sorry.

THE HORSEMAN

35 of 39 found the following review helpful:


An Epic As Big As The West Continues!  May 10, 2000
I have seen all the Lonesome Dove movies and although this one is a spin-off from the others, it's still is a great story. Jon Voight plays a very convincing Capt. Call considering what he had to follow up to. I still would have liked to seen him lose his temper and beat somebody up who acted rude. (I mean who can top Tommy Lee Jones's performance?) This film like the others, really portrayed the harshness of the western frontier and the tough men who had to shape it. Although Barbara Hershey wasn't the plainswomen that Anjelica Houston was, her role was admirable as well. I found it fitting that in the end, Call did reveal his paternity to Newt and Newt had to go off on his own to find his dream. Great plot, good bad guys, and a fitting ending make Return To Lonesome Dove a must see for any Lonesome Dove fan.

23 of 25 found the following review helpful:


So-So  Jun 27, 2004
After watching the sequel to one of my favorite movies of all time, I'd have to say that I have many mixed feelings. Although not a terrible movie, it doesn't come close to the original. Something about this movie really bothered me, but I couldn't put my finger on exactly what it was. I think it may have been mostly due to casting. After becoming attached to many of the original characters, I found it distracting to try and adjust to a new actor/actress portraying them. I did however like the character of Gideon and wished he had been in the original movie. I also enjoyed Reese Witherspoon and wished she could have been in the original as well. As much as I like Jon Voight, his performance paled in comparison to that of Tommy Lee Jones in the original. Hard to believe Jon Voight was the original choice for the original Lonesome Dove, huh? I also found the children that came along for the drive to Montana to be a distraction as well. All in all I'd have to say that it's worth a view. After all, the cinematography and music alone are breathtaking.

27 of 31 found the following review helpful:


Very Good Film  Mar 02, 2000
I enjoyed the origional "Lonesome Dove" with Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones so much that just about any film that would take me back to the origional characters would be fine with me. I was not disappointed. Of course it was not quite the same because of the absence of the origional actors, but one quickly gets into the new ones. John Voight was ok as Woodrow once you accept him, and thats not difficult. Rick Schroeder was back for this one and did not dissappoint. I reckon Rick is an actors actor-- this young man can perform. Anyone who liked "Lonesome Dove" will like this one, unless they are super picky. The one drawback to this film is that instead of recording it on two tapes in standard play, (like the origional on 4 tapes), it's entire 4 hours were recorded on one tape in extended play. Absolutely horrible video quality on this one I'm afraid. I was not able to find it in standard play. This still does not keep me from viewing the film. Hopefully it will be released on DVD one of these days. This might be a good time to request that Amazon.com list the recorded mode, SP or EP when listing a film.

See all 69 customer reviews on Amazon.com