Return to Lonesome Dove

I agree with the above that this is not the original. But it is a well made and well acted sequel. There are many fine parts to this story that deserve comment. Not the least of these are the fine performances put in by Louis Gossett, jr, Nia Peeples and Reese Witherspoon. Barbara Hershey is outstanding as the former and now disappointed love of Gus McCall from the original. The fire at her homestead stands out in my mind as an exceptional piece of drama - well staged and filmed. Rick Schroder brings real talent to his performance as Capt'n Call's unacknowled son. Jon Voight brings drive and at times a bit more life to the part of Capt'n Call than Tommy Lee Jones. His performance in the 'flight of arrows' chapter is outstanding.

Well worth the viewing.

The first time around, I was so shocked not to see Robert and Tommy, all that could go through my mind was how bad this production must be.

The second time around, after i had had a little talk with myself, i snapped on reality. If i wanted to watch Lonesome Dove, all i had to do was go buy the video. (strangely, i had already bought the video and worn the cassette out, but guys can get so focused on trivia).

This is not Lonesome Dove, this is a new story with new actors and actresses faced with a chore greater than good acting. They have to live with Lonesome Dove, the greatest mini in history. And they have to tell us a new story.

Now, I don't have the nerve of Jon or Barbara, i would never have tried it, but they did. And they did a damn fine job.

The second time i watched this mini, i enjoyed it a lot. As well as a chance to think of old friends, i got to meet new ones. And it was a good tale, told in a good way. It may not totally get to Lonesome Dove standards, BUT WHAT DOES?? If we measure everything against Lonesome Dove, we could throw away our tv's. And to be fair, if we measure everything else against Return to Lonesome Dove, we might not throw our tv's away, we would just unplug them for the evening.

I liked it. It is a good mini. I hope you each will watch it twice. The second time, you might just enjoy it. Robert and Tommy will not mind, I promise.

I had my reservations about watching The Return to Lonesome Dove after seeing and enjoying the original so much. Without Tommy Lee Jones reprising his role as Woodrow Call or Anjelica Huston as Clara, I figured it just wouldn't seem authentic enough. Upon viewing 'return' I can honestly say it's a worthy successor. The actors really make the show with Jon Voight, Rick Schroder, and Oliver Reed all preforming at their very best. I admit the story might not be quite as engrossing as the first, but 'return' definitely has it's share of excitement and captures the romance of the old west in a way that few other films have. Anyone who still has reservations can rest assured that The Return to Lonesome Dove succeeds in capturing the 'feel' of the original and will not disappoint. Do yourself a favor and check it out, Ol' Gus would be proud!

I just watched "return from lonesome dove" and it was very good! I've seen a lot of negative comments about it and I don't think the Viewers are being real about it! In the television/ movie business it is hard to get all the actors back for a 2nd sequel or 3rd part. WE ARE LUCKY TO HAVE ANOTHER MINISERIES THAT TIES INTO LONE D. FAITHFULLY!! This production was top notch with the original music score, and the actors put their hearts into it(you can tell). If you want to watch lonesome d. with Robert Duvall and tommy L. J. then watch the original. Return to L.D. didn't have as much wit and takes on a more serious tone but is totally captivating none the less. From the touching moments to the villains, this one is a winner! "Wonderful!!!"

"Lonesome Dove", which originally debuted on television in 1989, although a television miniseries, remains the finest Western to ever hit the medium in my opinion. Despite a really long running time of six hours, the miniseries had fantastic acting, great writing, beautiful cinematography and scenery, and some of the most likable characters you could imagine in a Western film. It was deservedly a huge success with audiences and critics, and many miniseries which followed tried to imitate its success and all of them failed. Due to it's popularity a sequel was almost obvious, but this sequel seems like it was a very rushed production, and seems to forget about everything that made the original so exceptional, especially the exclusion of Larry McMurtry and Tommy Lee Jones. That's right Jones does not return as Call here. He instead decided to star in "The Fugitive" the same year, a smart decision as that film won him an Oscar, and he is replaced by John Voight this time around. (Voight was also offered Jones role in The Fugitive, but when he found out Jones declined to reprise his role here he quickly accepted, turning the other part down, the actors basically switched roles.) The story picks up where the original ended, and after that it's a basic, and basically boring retread of the original. If you want to see a few familiar faces from the original miniseries rest assured a few do return. Ricky Schroder is back as Newt, though his character here is more irritating and uninteresting, whereas he was likable with Gus and Woodrow in the original. Chris Cooper returns as July, and his role should have really been an un-credited cameo, as he is given very little to do over a six-hour period. William Sanderson and Barry Tubb also reprise their roles from the original. Replacements or substitutes for the original's characters are Barbara Hershey, replacing Anjelica Huston as Clara. Though she does give it her best, Huston nailed the part to perfection the first time around, and the chemistry between her and the original cast could not be beat. Hershey and Voight are OK together, but she seems more like she is doing a poor imitation of Huston rather than putting a fresh, new spin on the character and it just doesn't work. Oscar-winner Lou Gossett Jr. goes along for the ride, I guess as a substitute for Danny Glover's Deets in the original. Gossett never seemed to find anything worthy of his talent after winning the Oscar for "An Officer and a Gentleman", and that is also evident here. It's a sad waste of his fine talent, and even though he tries, he cannot compare with Glover from the original. Voight does OK as Woodrow but Tommy Lee perfected the role, giving a miraculous performance. Voight pales in comparison, despite good effort. Reese Witherspoon also gives one of her earliest performances here, and her character is so bland an underdeveloped she is essentially wasted. The cinematography and scenery is OK here, but nowhere near as good as the first, which is what made it, I think the finest Western of our time. The story lags and never really gains any momentum, whereas the original in spite of being six-hours never made me wonder when it was going to end because I loved every single minute of it. This is really an unofficial sequel because at the time, Larry McMurtry was writing a novel sequel to the original entitled "Streets of Laredo", which would also be adapted as a miniseries two years later. By not having his involvement this sequel suffers tremendously, and totally contradicts the entire Lonesome Dove series in general, as according to McMurtry none of these events ever really happened in accordance to the time-line of his book series. Overall despite good efforts from the cast, some fine cinematography and scenery, this miniseries is way too slow, and suffers in comparison with its fine predecessor. Of course I am sure they knew it would be nowhere near as good as the first when they made it, but the end result could have been much better than this.