Product Details

• Actors: Patrick Stewart, Marcia Gay Harden, Lauren Holly, Roy Scheider, David Alan Grier
• Directors: Uli Edel
• Writers: Stephen Harrigan, William Shakespeare
• Producers: Patrick Stewart, Art Levinson, Arturo Brito, Robert Halmi Sr., Wendy Neuss
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Turner Home Ent
• DVD Release Date: December 10, 2002
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00007AJFY
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #23,012 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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• For more information about "King of Texas" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It's Shakespeare with six-guns as King of Texas goes boldly where no TV Western had gone before. Transplanting King Lear to a Texas cattle ranch was a risky proposition, but as star and co-executive producer (with his wife and fellow Star Trek: The Next Generation alumnus, Wendy Neuss), Patrick Stewart brings his formidable Shakespearean training to bear on a condensed but satisfying interpretation. Whereas Akira Kurosawa's Ran required a gender-switching overhaul of Shakespeare's tragedy, this handsomely mounted TNT Original retains the feuding sisterhood of Lear's undoing. As aging cattle baron John Lear, Stewart sets his downfall in motion, dividing his land and loyalties among daughters played with stalwart fortitude by Marcia Gay Harden, Lauren Holly, and Julie Cox. Familial machinations multiply with a stellar supporting cast (Roy Scheider is the Earl of Gloucester here), and for all of Stewart's impressive fury, it's comedy veteran David Alan Grier (interpreting Shakespeare's "Fool") who quietly steals the show. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

An aging cattle baron's plan to divide his vast spread among his three daughters ignites a sibling blood feud in this volatile Wild West retelling of Shakespeare's "King Lear."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CLASSIC WESTERN DRAMA WITH ITS ROOTS IN SHAKESPEARE, November 9, 2005

By	D. McAllister "MRD" (Somewhere in the Field) - See all my reviews

If the immortal Bard could only have imagined the adaptations that his work would inspire! There have been numerous modernizations of Shakespeare's work. From WEST SIDE STORY to TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU. There have also been various different stagings for practically all of Shakespeare's stories. So why not a Western?

We get just that in KING OF TEXAS, King Lear set in post-Alamo Texas. The story adaptations flows marvelously with Patrick Stewart starring as John Lear, a Texas patriot turned cattle baron. As with the Shakespeare original, Lear here has built an empire, complete with the pride and ego that attend it. He determines to leave his massive ranch to his daughters, Susannah (Academy Award winner, Marcia Gay Harden), Rebecca (Lauren Holly) and Claudia (Julie Cox). In a show of pseudo-love, the two older daughters charm the aging Lear, get the ranch for themselves and set in motion a chain reaction of drama and tragedy that Old William would have heartily approved of.

Some wonderful twists in the story include the part of the fool from the original play becoming a faithful black servant, Rip, played wonderfully by David Alan Grier (JUMANJI, RETURN TO ME). Keeping with the timeframe involved, it's the only natural solution. His playful banter with John Lear is wonderful and warmly draws the audience in.

The movie's depiction of the tense interplay between the Republic of Texas and Mexico is also a terrific twist as, historically, these two opponents continued to spar with each other for decades following the events that led to Texas independence.

One minor disappointment for me was the resolution of the original relationship of the two brothers, Edmund and Edgar, replaced in the Western drama with Emmett (Matt Letscher) and Thomas (Liam Waite) Westover. Just as in the original play, the scheming and corrupt Emmett works to disinherit his brother, Thomas, the rightful heir. When their father, Henry (Roy Scheider) continues his allegiance to Claudia and goes to warn her of pending trouble, he is blinded (just as with Gloucester in the original play). But in the original play the faithful son returns incognito and plays his father's servant, working carefully back into his father's good graces while waiting for the chance to avenge himself on his brother. Still in disguise, he then confronts his brother in a classic Shakespearean standoff. For the sake of not giving the story away here, let's just say it doesn't happen quite that way in this version.

I also very much missed a corresponding character in KING OF TEXAS for King Lear's faithful friend and advisor, Kent.

But, as mentioned, these are very minor issues at the very worst.

This is a classic Western with all the drama of its roots in Shakespeare with the spectacular setting of Texan grandeur. Not one that you will want to miss.

THE HORSEMAN

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars King Lear Meets the Wild West, January 24, 2003

By	"blondie_me57" (Montana United States) - See all my reviews

The story begins around the same time frame as the Battle of the Alamo. Star Trek captain Patrick Stewart, plays the famous Lear whose downfall comes when tries to make his daughters prove their love to him in return for their share of his land. His first two daughters have no problem lying to their father but Claudia refuses to appease her father's pride. Lear, outraged by this, banishes her from his sight. She retreats to her father's enemy, Menchaca. After this first mistake, Lear's life crumbles beneath him. He is turned away by his two remaining daughters and eventually begins to lose his mind.
The King of Texas is the story of Shakespeare's famous play, King Lear, with a western twist. It reunites all of the characters from the play and though the names have been changed, it is easy to decipher who is who. One of the best aspects of this movie is that you don't have to have read the play to understand or enjoy the movie nor do you have to be a fan of Shakespeare. Unlike other adaptations of Shakespearean plays, the language used has been changed to more of a western dialect then the often hard to understand Shakespearean style enabling a more broad audience to enjoy this classic play. I think it's safe to say that this made for TV movie will be sought after by many to better understand this famous Shakespearean play.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars King Lear turned Cowboy, January 23, 2003

By	C. McLean (Butte, MT) - See all my reviews

The story line followed closely with the concept of King Lear. The adaptation from a B.C. English setting into a more recent, western setting, was portrayed well. That is a very difficult transition and the setting worked. It wasn't the best western movie, but the story line from King Lear was transformed the best way it could be.
Overall the plot followed Shakespeare's play the best it could have, with the new setting in mind. The storm scene was very closely related to the storm in Act III scene ii of King Lear. John Lear was portrayed closely to King Lear, the emotions were there; and the viewer could really feel for him. The situation his daughters put him in was unbearable for a man of his caliber. The Shakespearian version portrayed Lear as a crazy man, while in the movie I felt Lear suffered from dementia. Lear's character showed a weakness-- a great and powerful man who feels that there is nothing that can bring him down, nothing that can knock him out of his saddle, but in truth is due to age and his sickness his daughters see a ... in his armor, much like when he falls off his horse in the storm, and take advantage of the moment.
The only disappointment in Lear was that he was more stubborn than proud in the movie. The two oldest daughters disappointed me, compared to the play; their characters were not harsh enough. Goneril and Regan were bitter and wicked, compared to the daughters in the movie who despite what they did to there father still felt sympathy for him.
I felt the movie was closely related to the originated play, and worked with what it had to show the weakened Lear, and which characters truly loved him and not his wealth and power.