Western Movies

A haunted drifter plots to avenge the murder of his parents by partnering with his oldest friend, who is now the town sheriff. Tate Noble fled La Mesa the very day his parents were killed. Most folks thought he would never return. Now Tate is back, and his childhood friend Samuel is working hard to set things right. When Samuel lands Tate a job on a ranch owned by Harcort Simms, a wealthy local, the vengeful cowboy begins to suspect that his new boss may be just the man he's been searching for all these years. Meanwhile, Samuel uncovers a link between Simms and the mob, and Tate enlists one of Simms' servants to unlock the secrets of the past. In an act of heroism, however, Tate is badly injured, leaving his trusted friend Samuel to ensure that justice is served. But this is a job for more than one man, and when Samuel finds himself in trouble Tate must summon the strength to face his true fate. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Author Larry McMurtry revisits Gus and Woodrow, the aging lawmen from his bestselling Western novel Lonesome Dove, in their early days as young men determined to make a name for themselves as Texas Rangers in this made-for-TV prequel. Gus (David Arquette) and Woodrow (Jonny Lee Miller) join up with a ragtag band of Rangers determined to take Santa Fe away from Mexico, but they soon find they've walked into a dangerous but forbidding territory of populated by hostile Indians and dangerous opportunists. Dead Man's Walk also features Brian Dennehy, F. Murray Abraham, Keith Carradine, and Edward James Olmos. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

When her family is gunned down in cold blood, a young girl convinces a bounty hunter to train her as a gunfighter so she can seek vengeance with a six-shooter. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Sam Elliot stars as Sam Houston, the visionary who nearly single-handedly forged the state of Texas into a powerful entity in its own right. Refusing to forget the Alamo (as if anyone could), Houston led the military in Texas' rebellion against Mexico. G.D. Spradlin co-stars as President Andrew Jackson, with Michael Beck appearing as Jim Bowie, James Stephens as Stephen Austin, and Richard Yniguez as Mexican General Santa Anna. Lensed on location in the Lone Star state, this sweeping made-for-TV film originally occupied three hours' screen time on November 22, 1986. Its title at that time was Houston: The Legend of Texas. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Living Coffin is a Mexican filmization of that old Edgar Allan Poe standby The Premature Burial. A seriously ill woman is terrified that she'll be buried while in a comatose state. To avoid this contingency, she has an alarm installed inside her coffin (indicating that someone involved with this film had seen the 1931 Paramount chiller Murder by the Clock). It comes to pass that the woman is indeed declared dead, planted six feet under, and.....hoo hoo hah hah HAAAAH! The legendary B-flick showman/huckster K. Gordon Murray filmed The Living Coffin in 1958 under the title El Grito de la Muerte; it didn't make the American rounds until 1965 (talk about rising from the dead!) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The love saga winds to a close as Belinda (Sarah Jones) takes on a new responsibility while accepting guidance from the place she least expected it. Female doctors are a rarity in the old west, but Belinda has carved out an impressive niche for herself in a small, tight-knit Missouri community. Her best friend Annie (Haylie Diff) is about to give birth, and Belinda has agreed to monitor her as she carries the baby to term. But for a woman who has always put science first, Annie's folksy mother-in-law Mary (Patty Duke) isn't always the easiest person to deal with. Experienced nurse maid Mary would rather rely on homeopathic treatments that taking the advice of doctors, and before long the two women are hopelessly at odds over how to handle the pregnancy. Back at home, things aren't any easier; Belinda is having trouble getting pregnant, and it's beginning to have a negative affect on her relationship with her husband (Jordan Bridges). Perhaps if Belinda can finally open up and realize that the solution to her problems isn't always what she thought it would be, she can find a healthy balance between her career and her home life. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director Terry Ingram remakes the 1947 John Wayne classic Angel and the Badman with this made-for-TV version aired on the Hallmark Channel. Lou Diamond Phillips takes on Wayne's iconic role of Quirt Evans, a notorious gunslinger who begins to rethink his violent ways when he falls in love with a beautiful, peace-loving Quaker widow, Temperance (Deborah Kara Unger), while being hounded by a ruthless rival, Laredo Stevens (Luke Perry). The Duke's real-life grandson Brendan Wayne turns in a supporting role as Quirt's sidekick, Randy. ~ Sandra Bencic, Rovi

This Western presents a fictionalized account of the ways in which the Gatling gun was created. Also chronicled are its tremendous effects on the great frontier. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Sergio Martio's first spaghetti western, Arizona Colt Returns is purportedly a sequel to Michele Lupo's Arizona Colt, though the cast has been almost entirely replaced. Anthony Steffen stars as the titular outlaw, who -- together with his sidekick, Whiskey (Roberto Camardiel) -- is on the run after being framed for a series of stagecoach robberies. ~ Carly Wray, Rovi

In this romantic western, unlikely lovers leap across social boundaries so they can be together in the rugged, scenic Canadian Northwest. The young woman is a well-bred, impeccably mannered part of the country-club set, while her suitor is a rough-and-ready American rancher. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Writer-director Chuck Walker (Return of the Outlaws) presents another round of frontier justice with his vengeance-fueled Western Retribution Road (aka Blue Eyes). Notorious outlaw Johnny Rios (John Castellanos) is finally captured after a botched bank robbery and imprisoned by small-town sheriff Bob Gimbol (Michael Gregory). The whole town is threatened when the bloodthirsty Rios siblings vow to free their brother by force, but things get personal when Sheriff Gimbol discovers that his wife, Lana (Leslie Easterbrook), is Rios's former lover, prompting an emotional showdown of epic proportions. ~ Sandra Bencic, Rovi

Although it never quite escapes the pitfalls of pretension, this film was Kirk Douglas's bid for the affections of the art house crowd, and it remains one of his best efforts. The star plays unreconstructed "rugged individual" Jack Burns, who rides throughout the modern west knocking down man-made fences. Visiting his equally rebellious friend Paul Bondi (Michael Kane), Burns deliberately gets himself thrown in jail to be nearer his pal. Frustrated that Bondi doesn't want to join Burns on the road, Burns breaks out of jail, thereby becoming a fugitive. His trail is dogged by Sheriff Johnson (Walter Matthau), a frustrated frontiersman who secretly admires the freewheeling Burns. Meanwhile, a truck driver (Carroll O'Connor) is ominously driving down the highway with a truckload of toilets. If you think there's supposed to be some symbolism in this seemingly peripheral character, you're absolutely right. Bill Raisch, a genuine amputee who played the one-armed man on TV's The Fugitive, is Douglas' surly opponent in the café brawl sequence. Filmed on location in New Mexico, Lonely are the Brave was adapted by Dalton Trumbo from Edward Abbey's novel Brave Cowboy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi