I approached this film with a totally open mind, (there were no comments or reviews that I could find ;-). The opening scene was, to me, slightly marred by the obviously too modern barn architecture in the background but I let it go - until the obligatory bar-fight scene, when the fighters spilled out into the "street".
In the background here was a neat row of about a dozen dark green, 35 foot tall Italian Cypresses, standing out in stark contrast to the tan scrub hillsides and framed beneath 6 power lines. None of these would have been in the "old west" and it would have taken 25 years or so for the Cypresses to obtain that height once they arrived. OK, I will ignore them (and ignore the composition shingle roofing on these buildings).
In the next major scene, however, where the villain is abusing the damsel-in-distress, I couldn't possibly ignore the 8-foot high chain-link fence in that background; mercifully it was mostly covered in overgrowth but still unmistakable and peeking out over it's top was a modern building, sporting new-styled Spanish cement tiles and if that weren't enough - a satellite dish on it's front.
From that point on, it was a matter of earning back respect and in many regards, that was accomplished. Interior scenes were much better as were the field scenes, the major offense to the optic nerve here was caused by the choice of the "town" it was filmed in (did I mention the modern milled-plywood siding?) and the subsequent lack of concise post-editing to at least try to ameliorate these errors.
The actors and lead actress put on a good show. My own feeling is that the origins of the maiden's plight needed some additional clarity. There were also many "dissolve to blacks", which sort of left one waiting for a commercial occasionally. Camera work was pretty solid as was direction. Gunfights were surprisingly good. The score, however, was outstanding.
Not a bad first effort.
