Red River

Trailer—Red River

To be fair, as a TV movie, this is barely passable entertainment. Beyond that, everything is a stretch. There is no discounting that this is a (kinda) remake of the 1948 classic, starring John Wayne. Unfortunately, while the original was over 2 hours long, this had to be cut down to fit in a two hour TV movie time slot, and to get commercials in. As such, over 30 minutes of the movie was just cut out. Further, unrelated subplots involving an ex-slave and a teen-aged boy take about 10 more minutes away from the story. Imagine if one of your favorite movies, say Casablanca or The Matrix, was remade missing 45 minutes of the story. Gives me shivers. The original was directed by Howard Hawks, who also gave us Sergeant York, The Big Sleep, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, among others. This film is directed by Richard Michaels, whose biggest claim to fame seems to be directing a batch of Bewitched and Brady Bunch episodes. Further, as a TV movie, this was very tightly budgeted, and it shows in horrible ways. For instance, the herd of cattle they are driving is supposed to be 10,000 strong, but they apparently could only afford a couple dozen cows. How did they deal with this? By inserting stock footage from other westerns, including some grainy shots, apparently from the 1950's, that stand out like a fat lip. Add to this that it stars James Arness, who at this point was only making Gunsmoke TV movies. John Wayne was 41 when he made his version. James Arness was 65, which is WAY too old for the character. I could go on, but you get the point. If you haven't seen the original, you might be able to enjoy this. If you have seen the original, then no, you won't like it any better than I did.

James Aeneas is one of my favorite actors but no one and mean no one remakes a John Wayne movie! Not even close the quality of the original, can't believe Arness attempted it!

This movie made for TV. Aired on April 10 1988 starring James Arness as Thomas Dunson, Bruce Boxlietner as Matthew Garth and Ty Hardin as Cotton. Thomas Dunson as a dream and the dream is to have the biggest cattle ranch in Texas. Years later, Dunson has forefeel his dream, however he has one problem? There know place to take his cattle to market unless he takes his cattle across 1000 dangerous miles of Texas land. Dunson also doesn't have to much help and there's several dangerous. Not only does Dunson have to deal with the dry conditions, he also has to deal with Indians, Cattle Rustlers, and a few unexpected circumstances that Dunson didn't count on. This wasn't a bad TV movie because it had what makes a good western. Plenty of action adventures and cows. Based on that I give this movie 6 weasel stars.

I like James Arness. I grew up with Gunsmoke. Unfortunately, he doesn't dominate a scene like John Wayne, nor does he have the acting range of Wayne. Bruce Boxleitner's Garth was not as good as Montgomery Clift's, nor was Gregory Harrison's Cherry up to the standards of John Ireland's. However, these are not fatal to the movie. Dunson is the heart of the movie. If you're going to remake Red River, you'd better have a good Dunson. Maybe it has to do with learning the right cadence of delivering your lines so that they take on real meaning, maybe it's reacting to the other actors so that it seems like you're actually listening to them. I'm a little surprised, since Arness was a friend of John Wayne's and acted in several of his movies. You'd think Arness would have learned something. Just compare the bar scene where Dunson lays out the plan and the rules for the upcoming cattle drive. Too bad. This movie has a great cast, with old names from the past (like Ty Hardin, John Lupton, LQ Jones, etc.), but every single member of the cast has done far better work in other movies or other TV shows. It also hurts that the original was directed by Howard Hawks and had that wonderful Dimitri Tiomkin score.

A nice story, but pales compared to the John Wayne, Monte Cliff original of 1948. Too many subplots, confusing characterizations and a wandering theme of a troubled trail drive and its boss driver...Arness is one-dimensional, lacks the charisma of a John Wayne (don't they all)...Bruce Boxlietner is a good looking stud, but could never give the penetrating characterization portrayed by Monte Cliff, a truly remarkable performance. The original offered a clean plot and built to a great conflict between a father and son...this made for TV version is action packed, but is totally unremarkable. See the 1948 Red River for a genuine treat of the classic western and Hollywood at its finest.

Everybody knows that John Wayne was the King of the westerns, but dumping on this TV movie remake is really unfair. Compared to all the reality and talent shows, this was a nice change of pace. Lots of us wish more westerns were made but it is a genre that is sadly overlooked with all the spy, war, kung fu and bizarre sex shows being produced nowadays. The story line for this remake was an improvement over the original. Bruce Boxleitner is still a hunk. James Arness played against type which had to be a real challenge. I believed he was an embittered old man who was used to his word being law. I always thought Clift was a little over-the-top and tried too hard as opposed to Boxleitner who showed the change that comes over a man who sees too much of the horrors of war. Gregory Harrison tried a little too hard as well, but the young cowboy and the black horse-breaker as well as Ray Walston more than made up for what Harrison lacked. If you judge the movie on its own merit and without comparing it to its predecessor, I think a good western story still beats out most of the trash passing for entertainment on TV. So give these guys a break, why don't you?

A great cast for a television remake with the exception of Gregory Harrison. He couldn't sweep the floor John Ireland walked on yet alone give a performance like in the 48 version of this rugged western. Lets face it, some just aren't meant to be cowboys even if they can't surf. Boxleitner and Arness work good together and pretty much carry this production. A probable reason why they paired again for the 1994 made for television film "Gunsmoke: One Man's Justice." I'll have to admit that I kept waiting for Peter Graves to come on after commercial breaks and announce "and now, back to Gunsmoke, staring James Arness !"

Watch the original and don't waste you time on this flick. Wayne and Clift are perfectly cast, and while I always enjoyed James Arness as Marshall Dillon...he is not right for this movie. This movie re-make should have never been made. On a lighter note, I remember actor Victor Mature was offered the role played by John Wayne in the original film by actor Sylvester Stallone who was intending to play the Montgomery Clift role in the film. Mature's response was "I'll play his (Stallone's) mother for the right money!" Fortunately, somebody got this one right...and didn't to it. Truth is some classics are best served by just leaving them alone.

Check out the cast list, if you've forgotten. This 1988 film hearkens back to the epic blockbusters and disaster films of a few decades earlier, where the audience was kept awake playing the game of Spot The Star in the dozen or so cameos. Here we have the cinematic equivalent of an all-star game of western stars, who even in 1988, might have shined in a small original part they could make their own. "Red River" certainly did not warrant a remake. Perhaps MGM would have done better to put together a Wild West version of "That's Entertainment". Regardless, my enjoyment of this film was mostly due to seeing all the old familiar faces, now a bit older, and remembering them in their glory days.