Defiance

The older one tries to take the high road. He becomes responsible, taking care of his sick mother and younger brother while continuing to go to school (he's 12). The younger one gives in to his anger, and becomes destructive, spiteful, and violent. The older does his best to protect the younger, until the actions of the youngest brother take the life of the son of one of the town's richest men (also responsible for the murder of their father). This seemingly random killing is anything but, because young Tommy is sick, dying, and no longer cares about being careful. The conclusion is a great scene, though a bit predictable. A very high quality independent movie.

I am not sure what the movie Defiance is all about, not sure if it is a western, a post Civil War era story or a comedy....but one thing is for sure, the makers of Defiance didn't know either.....the movie is a compilation of scenes that are spun into a plot that continuously creates a sense of "where is this going?" In essence the movie has scene after scene that does nothing but emphasize and embellish hate over and over....someone gets out of line...BANG...someone spits the wrong way.....BANG.....someone talks out of line....BANG...then the end of the movie comes and guess what???? BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG...a bar room shoot 'em up that looks like it was filmed one time without editing..... Some of the saving graces of the film are some of the scenery where the movie was shot, details to the guns for the era, costumes that appear to mirror the times and Ric Dark's performance as Owen...the reckless gun for hire that looks like a cross between Ulysess S . Grant and Clint Eastwood....very powerful and someone to keep your eye on in future films. Craig Hawksley brings comic relief to the film when everyone is about to be massacred in the films final shoot 'em up scene. Thumbs up for a cult classic, thumbs down if you are wanting anything else....

When I saw this western on the shelf at the movie store I grabbed it and ran to the counter. A new western, they don't make many of these anymore I said to my self. But as I watched it I realized how really bad it was. You know it's a bad western when all the actors are wearing new clothes like they just walked out of a western clothing store! They all had crisp new clothes and firm hats. Very believable. I love westerns and even I wished it would end! Granted it did have a few good characters like the bad guys at the start (who died early on) and some of the other bad dudes later on. Lucky it was short or did I just block out all the bad scenes making it seem short? The end gun fight was the highlight of this movie!

"Defiance" is that rare thing we haven't seen in a while: a western that take its grip and holds the viewer up until the very end. The 80's and 90's have brought us a number of westerns, all spoofs or tributes to the great genre that once was. Unlike those movies, "Defiance" is tight, raw storytelling in the Sam Peckinpah mold. The violence is hard hitting but not derivative and serves only the story. The actors, mostly unknown, bring wonderful performances to the movie. The director does the most of what is most certainly a low budget and the drama and action roll on at a thrilling pace but do not hurt the reflective and emotional side of the plot. A must see for lovers of westerns and of plain good American film-making.

I have just finished reading the very mixed reviews of this film. This should interest some of you as I had a small part in the movie and was (I think) responsible for it being a little better than it otherwise would have been.

DEFIANCE was (I think) originally a school project for the director Doveed Linder. When I got involved, they had been filming off and on for well over a year. I think the project might have started as a short subject that the director decided to expand into a feature length (almost) film when it appeared to him that more financial backing might be there. One major cash backer was Tom Burnham, who played the part of the "Old Rancher" in the film. He got partial producer credit and I think his financial contribution was $5000. Tom has a SERIOUS collection of original Old West guns of the mid-to-late 19th century. He served as the film's Gun Wrangler (or whatever it's called), providing well over half the guns used in the film, loading all the blanks, and making sure all guns were always safe on the set. He did an excellent job of this. It pained me a little that one online reviewer thought his gunshots sounded like rocks thrown in a trash can.

Tom is a personal friend of mine and he is the one that recruited me for involvement in the film. When I was a teenager I was a (regional) champion speed shooter, including out of western-style rigs, and Tom thought I would be an asset to the project. He and Doveed recruited me in a bar. My hope was to coach the other actors in gun handling and fast draw to make them look competent on screen, but unfortunately most of the shooting scenes had already been filmed by the time I was brought in. That's why you seldom see the actor draw and fire the gun--they filmed it, but had to edit it out because everyone was so clumsy. I showed them I could shoot dynamite out of the air with rifle or revolver, and they were originally excited about me doubling for Nathan Cross (Tony Twist) doing this, to show what a fearsome gunman he was. Unfortunately, at that time my weight had ballooned to over 300 pounds and I was too fat to stand in for Tony, no matter what camera angle was used. Hollywood directors would have a coronary at the idea of using live ammunition and real dynamite on a movie set, but we were on my land and I had the proper licenses, so it would have been fun if we could have pulled it off for the final cut.

The small acting part I had was the gun dealer with the beard and big black hat who is exasperated by the incompetence of the gang they are trying to organize. However, my main contribution to the film was something else. The story was originally set just after the Civil War, in 1867. I told them I refused to be involved in any western project set in a year that was before the guns they were using had been invented. That's a pet peeve of movie-going gun guys. Many of the guns used in the movie had first been made in 1873, so I made Doveed change the caption at the beginning of the film from "Missouri 1867" to "Missouri 1874" or maybe it was 1876, I forget which. It is unlikely that in a small town so many of the men would have state-of-the-art weaponry that was only a year old, but it would not have been impossible.

The entire movie was made with almost everyone working for free and some who contributed money in return for a small acting part. BTW Mister Clay Randall was played by the director's dad. Cash was only spent for equipment rentals, film costs, processing, editing, etc. None of the actors got paid to my knowledge, and all of the locations, horses, saddles, catering, and such were donated by friends who wanted to see the film succeed. The main sound guy, who also played the guitar music and had a small acting part, worked for free as well. The final scene (filmed before I became involved) was, as many suspected, a BIG part of the budget. They brought in Eric Stanze for that, and he was not cheap. I think the entire movie cost $130,000 to make in 2001 dollars; that figure meaning stuff they actually had to write checks for.

When I saw the finished product, it was much better than I had feared. Skillful editing had made clumsy on screen gun handling look smooth and fast. My biggest beef was the same as many in that almost all the clothes looked waaay too new. That was because all the actors had to provide their own wardrobe items, and I guess nobody thought to distress the fabric until after many of the scenes had been shot. A few of us had older, worn stuff.

All in all, I had terrific fun being involved with this project, and found out that Tony Twist is a great guy to be around. As to the finished product being as terrible as some people have claimed, I'll say this: I would rather sit through ten consecutive screenings of DEFIANCE than one showing of either BLAIR WITCH PROJECT or PARANORMAL ACTIVITY.

Final fun fact: I had a party where Tom Burnham was in attendance. When people found out he was co-producing a western movie, a woman guest in her 40s asked if there were any parts available. Tom replied, "No, we've already cast all the old whores, but some of the young whore parts are still open. Have your daughter give me a call." Fun times.