Steve Skafte
First of all, the vast majority of those giving "Streets of Laredo" bad reviews have no legitimate complaints whatsoever. People whine about the dark tone, the killings, the acting, et cetera. Rather, this film has much more in common with the real old west, to a greater degree even than series like "Deadwood". Of course, many of the immature, misguided western fans seem to want happy horse-riding hippies who talk hard and rough but don't live it. How stupid to expect such from the real killers of the west.Woodrow F. Call (James Garner) is not a nice man. And he should not be pigeonholed as one, either. Garner plays him the way he should be, and is even more impressive than Tommy Lee Jones in "Lonesome Dove", the series which preceded this one. Indeed, despite the rabid fanbase of "Lonesome Dove" (of which I very nearly belong), this series is undoubtedly superior. First of all, the direction is a vast improvement. Joseph Sargent handles the scenery and actors with far more intelligence and grace than Simon Wincer, who proved his woeful inadequacies when he returned for the prequel "Comanche Moon" last year. That series was pure trash, horribly acted and directed despite the great actors involved.There are many great performances beside Garner. Charles Martin Smith, Sam Shepard, and Sissy Spacek are pure class. Smith, especially, has always been an excellent unnoticed actor. This is perhaps his best performance since "Never Cry Wolf" (1983). He is sympathetic and identifiable as the nervous railman. Shepard and Spacek play husband and wife quite intuitively. Their character development is well-performed to the highest degree. This is also one of Spacek's best performances.Larry McMurtry has a very intuitive writing style, and the film carries over much of his subtlety. There's no overblown dialogue or direction to be found in "Streets of Laredo", something that the original "Lonesome Dove" series sometimes slipped into. I would say, without reservation, that this is one of the very best and most realistic depictions of the true west. A great film, with stunning acting and direction. A must see for any true film fan - narrow-minded western fans looking for a 'Hollywood' west need not apply.RATING: 8.5 out of 10
per-oqvist
I bought first the lonesome dove DVD and then the collection of Return to Lonesome Dove, Streets of Laredo and Dead man Walking I think it was.I have seen all but the last now.Streets of Laredo this is the worst of the three. I loved the first one and also enjoyed the second but this just got to much the same and too stereotypical.Every women is a whore or used to be. Every character is so one dimensional. 95 % of the men are pigs whereas the last 5 % is gentlemen???. A lot of talk about children going bad but they don't reflect much about it... It's like they can't think ahead. It's like watching aliens.Really don't like the Joey Garza character. and overall it was little in this mini series that interested me.
earpmorgan
There appears to be little connection between this movie and the original other then several similar character names. Why did Call become a bounty hunter? Why did he abandon his Montana Ranch? Why is pea eye in Texas and why is Lorena married to him? I thought she was living her dream in San Francisco? James Garner is a great actor but he is not good as Capt Call. Even Jon Voight was a better replacement. I thought that Return to Lonesome Dove was the real sequel, not this poor attempt.This would have been a good free standing movie if it was not advertised as a Lonesome Dove sequel and the characters would have had non-Lonesome Dove names.
cabuesch
Tommy Lee Jones was outstanding as the captain as was John Voight. James Garner was just playing James Garner playing Captain Call. Also, dropping the names of real people such as Charles Goodnight and John Wesley Hardin and the names of characters from other movies such as R.J. Poteet from Centennial was kind of lame.
