Product Details

• Actors: Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Danny Glover, Glenne Headly, Diane Lane
• Directors: Simon Wincer
• Writers: William D. Wittliff, Larry McMurtry
• Producers: Dyson Lovell, Michael Weisbarth, Robert Halmi Jr., Suzanne De Passe, William D. Wittliff
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, EP, NTSC
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Cabin Fever
• VHS Release Date: June 30, 1997
• Run Time: 384 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (433 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630241380X
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,216 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones star as Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call, aging cowboys and former Texas rangers and who organize a 2,500 mile cattle drive for one last great adventure in this excellent 1989 miniseries adaptation of Larry McMurtry's novel. The best friends, who steal the herd from a gang of Mexican cattle rustlers, drive their herd from Texas to Montana, battling horse thieves, angry Indian tribes, and a renegade half-breed killer named Blue Duck (Frederic Forrest) on a mission of revenge. The excellent cast also includes Robert Urich as cardsharp and former Ranger Jake Spoon, Anjelica Huston as McCrae's old flame Clara Allen, Danny Glover, Ricky Schroder, Diane Lane, Chris Cooper, D.B. Sweeney, Steve Buscemi, and even a small role for author Larry McMurtry. Australian director Simon Wincer shows a tremendous capacity for balancing sweeping drama and intimacy against the gorgeous landscape of the American Southwest, giving a grandly epic feel to the film despite its small-screen target and limited budget, and for forging memorable characters of even the smallest supporting parts. The heart of the drama belongs to McCrae and Call, memorably etched by Duvall and Jones as the last of the range romantics. In the age of revisionist Westerns, this excellent cattle-drive drama nicely maintains an old-fashioned feeling while still showing the dark side of the American West. Winner of seven Emmy Awards and responsible for two miniseries sequels (Return to Lonesome Dove and Dead Man's Walk) and a TV series. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

114 of 116 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars My favorite Duvall role, February 20, 2000

By	Kevin P. Westmoreland (Asheville, NC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lonesome Dove (DVD)

It is finally nice to get the entire Lonesome Dove epic on DVD. While I have to agree that the picture is not as pristine as I would have liked, it is definitely better than the VHS version that I own. The sound is Dolby Digital mono, but surprisingly good.

One thing to note - the movie breaks at the same break points that the mini-series did when broadcast. After approximately 1.5 hours, the credits roll, and then the next section starts. Not that bad, but a little clunky. The interview snippets with Larry McMurtry are kind of insightful and nice to have.

Robert Duvall is really incredible in the role of Augustus (Gus) McCrae. The man is the character. I found I was laughing to myself all over again at Gus's western philosopher dialogue, and wishing that we all thought a little more like him.

If you loved the VHS version and want a better copy, buy this DVD. Though not crystal clear, it is an improvement over my old VHS copy and with instant chapter access, much more convenient to view.

134 of 138 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No Other Western Comes Close To This One, December 3, 2002

By	D. Mikels "It's always Happy Hour here" (Skunk Holler) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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This review is from: Lonesome Dove (EP version) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I've seen LONESOME DOVE so many times I've practically got the six hours of dialogue memorized. Yet I'll keep watching this excellent adaptation of Larry McMurtry's epic novel, over and over again. Why? Two words: compelling story.

The friendship of Augustus McCrae and Woodrow F. Call is the underlying theme of LONESOME DOVE; it's the motor that drives the story. When these two weathered former lawmen steal a herd of cattle from Mexico and set off for Montana for one last grand adventure ("I wanna see that country," says Call to Gus, "before the lawyers and bankers get it."), the stage is set for a Western with plenty of humor, action, violence...tragedy.

This production makes McMurtry's unforgettable characters literally leap off the page. Robert Duvall IS Gus McCrae...Tommy Lee Jones IS Woodrow Call. Both performances are so vivid and on target the viewer is transported seamlessly to McMurtry's story, a story centering around the undying loyalty and friendship of these two men.

LONESOME DOVE is a film that will entertain you, take you over the full gambit of human emotions, then after six hours leave you begging for more. Jones and Duvall lead a stellar cast in a remarkable film that has but one weakness: it has to end. And McMurtry's story is told--told so well that no other Western even comes close.

58 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Hell of a Vision., February 27, 2004

By	David Hutton "occasional reviewer" (Bedford, NH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lonesome Dove (DVD)

I have just finished watching the six hour Lonesome Dove for the fourth time; yet, it is a rare movie I will even watch twice. I own the DVD, and I will certainly be watching it a fifth time. Comparisons of Lonesome Dove to other TV movies don't begin to do it justice; this movie deserves comparison to any Western ever made, and it stands up well to any one of the most highly considered (The Searchers, Unforgiven, Shane, High Noon, The Good, The Bad & the Ugly, etc.). This is a story of character and nuance much more than plot and action, with many small moments that will stay with you long after the story is finished...a saloon owner grieving over the loss of his prostitute (his love)...the hanging of a friend...an attempt at telling a boy he is your son....the burial of a friend...two old warriors saying goodbye in so many words (while there is much humor in the story, there is also overwhelming sadness, and do expect very major characters to have tragic endings to their lives). Lonesome Dove is bold enough to tell an epic story (and in doing so, demytholyzing the history of the West, and showing us how brutal and painful the settling of the West really was) by focusing on these small moments. There are something like 75 or 100 speaking parts in this movie, and it is uniformly excellently cast (with the exception, in my opinion, of Angelica Huston, who I always thought seemed out of place in this Western setting). If you are wondering whether this is worth owning, believe me, you will never regret it.
A postscript: since I wrote my review I have noticed that there are a number of idiots out there unfairly ripping this movie for being shorter than the original. The original series was indeed EIGHT hours long. However, it was made for TV and had something called commericials. These had the effect of reducing its running time to about SIX hours, as my review notes. I have seen several DVD versions of this and have never seen one that was edited or cut, which is why they neglect to warn you on the box. Just get the movie, watch it, and ignore the bozo comments.