Product Details

• Actors: Tom Berenger, James Coburn, Fay Masterson, Kevin Tighe, Jeffrey Jones
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: April 30, 1996
• Run Time: 99 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303477135
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,380 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Miles Utley (Tom Berenger) is a guerrilla for God, a gun-wielding member of the Danites, the militia wing of the Mormons during the late 19th century. Once the defensive arm of the besieged church, the Danites (dubbed "the Avenging Angels") are now feared by the Utah congregation and Utley is too good at his job: he's become, one accuser says, "A man who murders in the name of peace." After stopping an assassination attempt on the life of Brigham Young (a quietly authoritative Charlton Heston, whose star presence makes the most of a handful scenes), Utley is quickly hidden away and the details hushed up, but as he pulls at a few loose threads he unravels a conspiracy that shoots to the very top of the church. The twisting plot makes for an engrossing mystery and the locations are never less than gorgeous, but the real hook is that this conspiracy film is inspired by a real but little-known bit of Mormon history. Berenger is a natural as a buckskinned, quick-draw Mormon soldier, holding his own in scenes with grinning Western icon James Coburn as Utley's easygoing but ruthlessly dedicated mentor. As the mystery winds up, the more interesting dimension of Utley's crisis in faith is transformed into showdown heroics, which makes for a rousing old-fashioned conclusion if a disappointing character study. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Standard western set in an interesting setting, July 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Avenging Angel [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is one of those stories that is fiction but with just enough historical fact thrown in to either make it interesting and entertaining or infuriating. Kind of like "Hogan's Heroes".

The story is set in Utah of the 1870's with the Mormon theology as it's backdrop. It's has as accurate fact that Brigham Young (played excellently by Charleton Heston) was president and prophet of the Church, Porter Rockwell (also played well by James Coburn) was a roguish gunfighter/protector of the faith, that the culture was relatively closed, paranoia existed (for good reason, the Mormon Church up to that time was severely persecuted, including it's first president murdered), and Utah is a pretty place. The fiction in the movie is the Tom Berrenger character, the conspiracy against Brigham Young by church leaders and a few other notable historic errors throughout.

That said, the movie is well done and interesting. The Tom Berrenger character is complex, trying to justify his gunfighting actions with his beliefs. He is a man driven by his faith and it's refreshing to see a strong Western character with that motivation (instead of the more typical genre motivation of revenge) and Berrenger plays it well.

The other parts of the movie plot are fairly standard: gunfights, horseplay, ropin', good guy overcoming the odds and numerous hired guns, etc. Yet I found the setting to be interesting and the movie to be enjoyable.

If not taken on it's historical merits, then it's a film to be recommended.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fiction or Fact?, August 29, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Avenging Angel [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Whether or not this movie was based on fact or fiction, or both, it was very well done, very intense, with an excellent cast, and for those of us who believe in God, it is a movie well worth spending the money and time on to watch it, many times over. I only regret that it has not yet been released on a DVD, as that would make it even that much more enjoyable! DVD's are fantastic, and usually have so much extra information added to them, that they are worth investing in!

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fictional story based on real people., December 28, 2001

By 

Dana Robertson (Merced, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Avenging Angel [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Most of the other reviewers have gotten it right when they talked about this being a fictional story. The characters in this story though do act according to what they were known. The head of the conspiracy to kill Brigham Young is a thinly veiled Sidney Ridgon. The first women to take a shot at him was Ann E Young, Brigham's 19th wife who divorced him and wrote a famous expose on him a year before he died, Bill Hickman who was another of Brigham's Danites, who was known to drink a lot, and later turned in evidence showing Brigham's part in several killings and lastly James Young, the Prophet's favorite son who was arrested while on a mission and had to be bailed out by Daddy and also was known for his wildness. The story itself is fictional, Sidney never made any attempts on Brighams life, but did try to take control of the Church shortly after Joseph Smiths death. The main character is also fictional. You can tell that the screenwriter has done a lot of research into Mormonism before writing this because you see a lot of little details added like people shaking hands doing the First Token of the Aaronic Priesthood. This isn't a great film say like Lonesome Dove, but it is interesting.