Shadow on the Mesa

The, feel, costumes, sets and actors,drew the viewer in from start to finish. Greg Evigan did excellent job as villain. I especially like when it was depicted when female character was shot and killed, no blood and gore shown.The villain with smile on face pulled trigger, viewer hears shot, does not see female get it. I thought that was very important considering all the violence again females today and back then. The point was made with out showing more violence. No romance, I found this a refreshing change of pace. With the type of conflict going on, the romance would not have been believable or had time to develop. Wes Brown played part with grit and edge of a fast draw from the westerns of the past with a modern take on it. Camera shots of the guns being drawn were excellent. Kevin Sorbo played well as the aging patriarch that showed wisdom and compassion when needed. This is one that could be watched over and over again.

"If I get a hint that he had something to do with mom's death I will kill him." After Wes (Brown) returns home he is told of his mother's death. After being told of who may be behind it he rides off for revenge. At this point I could almost just write one blanket review for every western that comes out and just change the movie titles. LONG GONE are the days of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, and even at this point Kevin Costner westerns. I'm not sure what happened but somewhere along the way the genre got relegated to made-for-TV movies on the Hallmark channel. I'm not saying that Hallmark movies are a bad thing but when you want to see a western a little roughness is needed in them. The swagger of John Wayne is replaced by the pretty boy look. The intensity of Eastwood is replaced with soft emotion laden characters that don't seem to fit in the west. If you want to get your wife or girlfriend to watch a western with you then show her the new ones. If you want to show her what a real western should be show her anything by John Wayne. Overall, another dagger in the genre that used to be known as western. Apparently all it takes to be a western now is people in cowboy hats riding horses. I give it a C.

I have to admit that I loved this movie. I've always been a fan of Kevin Sorbo and he didn't let me down in this. Wes Brown as Rawlins is a newcomer worth watching - as proved by his role in the Love Comes Softly prequels. He's gorgeous, strong, silent and brave just like a leading man should be. It had action, adventure, family loyalty and tragedy. Kevin, Wes and Micah Alberti made an excellent trio of heroes. It may not win any awards as it was a bit cheesy, but, I urge anyone to watch it as it was thoroughly entertaining. And it was left open ended enough that a sequel can be made so I'm hoping that they'll make a sequel in the same way they've done with the Goodnight for Justice westerns. Please, make a sequel as it was that good.

The thing about reviewing every single film you watch, is that occasionally you run out of things to say. Such is the case now.

Shadows on the Mesa is a made-for-TV western which is roughly fifteen times better than I thought it would be. It has a good plot, characters that have more depth then you'd expect and a Star Wars-esque twist on your typical 'love interest'.

The shoot outs aren't that great, but that's because this was originally made for The Hallmark Channel, which is targeted at all the family. So don't expect any blood, swearing or other material that might make it unsuitable for those out of nappies to watch.

It doesn't need them anyway, as the movie is good enough to not have to bother with trying to attract a more 'adult' audience. I liked it. End of story. 6/10

The main character Rawlins has 1 more facial expression than Arnold as the terminator. He smiled once, maybe twice. His acting chops are wooden and I think the only reason they chose him is because he has those "squinty" gunfighter eyes that are in vogue for these types of movies. All of the costumes were not "aged" properly, same for the hats. Rawlin's holster was brand new, it looked like it was fresh out of the box, it had no evidence that he had used it before enough to be a "fast draw." It certainly didn't look like he had practiced with it. The rifle shots would have gone straight through the buckboard and hit the men taking cover behind it. And if I ever see another movie where a building blows up while the actors never look back it will be more irritating than the whole of this movie was. I can't see how this movie got good reviews. The acting was horrible.