Amber Waves

I saw this made-for-TV film when it aired 38 years ago. I recall it being much better than anticipated with cinematography featuring stunning landscapes and competent dramatic performances.

This is a beautiful film, wonderfully acted with subtly and nuance; well written, well directed. I wish I could find it on DVD or streaming...

Kurt Russell shines in a role that could easily have been shallowly depicted. Similarly, Dennis Weaver does a great job and avoids over-playing into melodrama. This is wonderful early work by Mare Winningham. Even if you're not surprised by the ending, it is no less beautiful and quietly, realistically played.

Who would have thought that a TV movie about wheat-whackers would be this good? (See other reviews for detailed description.) Dennis Weaver, Kurt Russell, and Mare Winningham are uniformly excellent in their roles in a dramatic (but never melodramatic) script by veteran television series writer Ken Trevey ("Gunsmoke," "The Big Valley," "Lou Grant," et al.). It might sound like a snooze-fest, but you won't regret watching this one.

I have looked for this movie on TV, satellite, and rental. It has not been shown in our area in over six years. I would like to see it released or at least shown on TV so I can copy it. It's a very good family/romance type movie. That also deals honestly with life, love, growing up, facing responsibilities and the hardship of farming during wheat harvest.

Everything about this movie is "classic," as far as custom combining movies go. About the only thing wrong with it is maybe too much licentiousness. Weaver and the others do excellent acting. Custom combining is an American tradition since World War II. In the late '70s and early '80s, there were a lot of combining crews, as combines were getting bigger and more comfortable to operate, yet they weren't as modern as today's combines. And a lot of those combines were Canadian-built Massey-Ferguson 760s. This was an ABC TV movie. It was filmed in Canada, though the movie is supposed to occur in the U.S.A. Weaver's character almost kills himself and loses a combine, but the harvest must go on.