Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

gup74 I list this movie the all time greatest. For illustration of close system politics and how wrong and what evils this system can unknowingly defend on its principles of hard nosed justification. Its more than a story of human drama its a lesson that opens the mind. Thats how powerful this lesson is and Americans have a fundamental right to know the true and a duty to right the wrongs. Evil cannot last it will always be discovered and dismantled. It cannot be hidden in a document its content will speak boldly beyond reason. We can thank the directors and producers along with the actors. For this movie it is a beacon of light. I wonder why it was a mini-series but i'am glad it was.

Charles Eagle SPOILER ALERT!!! Three generations of police chiefs struggle with changing times, racial issues, and a vicious serial killer in the southern town of Delano, spanning 40 years. The growing community's first official chief, a failed farmer played by Wayne Rogers, is hired by town patriarch Charlton Heston (narrating the tale and chewing the scenery a bit) in the 1920s much to the chagrin of veteran redneck county sheriff Paul Sorvino, who along with Heston's character has a role in each of the pivotal lawmen's lives. Sorvino predicts that Rogers is not tough enough for the job, and sure enough the first Chief is killed in a tragic shooting just as he is about to reveal the identity of the local oddball who is secretly a sexual murderer of hitchiking boys. The Chief's grown son (Stephen Collins) finds recognition as a WWII hero and returns to take a place in the town's political leadership, while sneering tough guy Sonny Butts (a terrific Brad Davis) comes home as well, joins the police force, and quickly makes a name for himself as the racist terror of Delano. After murdering an innocent black man (Danny Glover) Butts finds himself under investigation for that crime, attempted rape, and other offenses and sees a way out when he discovers the old chief's serial killer evidence. But before he can reveal what he knows and save his job and his skin, the killer takes him by surprise and he joins the lengthy list of missing victims, along with his fancy police motorcycle. 20 years later Stephen Collins is now a Senator who pulls strings to have Delano get its first black police chief (ass-kicking Billy Dee Williams),a war veteran who whips his good ole boy lawmen into shape. Amid skirmishes with unenlightened local yokels, bigoted cops from neighboring communities, and the Klan, the Senator is unaware that he and the black cop share a tragic-sweet childhood bond as he runs interference for the Chief's attempts to bring the aging serial murderer to justice. Great television miniseries as these things go. Very effective building of suspense, full of characters you love and hate. Acting heavyweights above as well as Keith Carradine, Tess Harper, Victoria Tennant, and John Goodman. Look for the little boy from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" as the son played later by Collins. Certainly no "Roots" but a must-have on my video shelf along with "Lonesome Dove", "Rich Man Poor Man" and "The Stand."

wlmlbl This was one of the best mini series I have seen. The plot was well written, and had a great cast. Charlton Heston was outstanding as Hugh Holmes, the man behind the town of Delano. It is a small southern town in need of a police chief. the mini series is in three parts, covering three generations. The first part is 1924. A meeting is held, and there are only two candidates for the job. One is a well known farmer, Will Henry Lee. The other is a World War I veteran named Foxy Funderburke. Foxy is breeding dogs, but a lot of people in the town think he is strange. Will Henry Lee is a fair man, and well liked. He has to deal with a county sheriff named Skeeter Willis. Willis is very bigoted, and has the backing of the Ku Klux Klan. Will Henry investigates a death, and leads him to begin an investigation of disappearing young men. As is turns out, they are being murdered by Foxy. Will Henry dies after being shot by a man that has malaria. The man mistakenly shoots Will Henry, and sends his son away before being executed for his crime. The second part takes place in 1945. Many of the towns soldiers are returning after the war, including a very bigoted Sonny Butts, who becomes police chief. He is involved in the beating of a returning veteran named Marshall Peters. Peters was set up in business by Hugh Holmes, and befriended by Will Henry Lee's son, Billy. Butts happens upon the investigation that Will Henry Lee began 20 years before, and goes to visit Foxy. Foxy kills Sonny, and buries him and his motorcycle. The third part takes place in 1962, and Delano is again in need of a police chief. Billy Lee is running for governor, and suggests a retiring army officer named Tyler Watts be given consideration for the job. Watts gets the job, and it is revealed that he is the son of the man that shot and killed Will Henry Lee almost 40 years before. Again young men are disappearing, and Tyler Watts begins an investigation of his own. He runs into trouble when he wants to search Foxy's property, but eventually does get permission to search the property. One of the agents there trips over what he thinks is a pipe, but it turns out it is the handlebar of Sonny's motorcycle buried almost 20 years before! Foxy gets his rifle and shoots Tyler, and then is shot by agents. More than 40 bodies are unearthed on his property. Billy, Tyler, and Hugh are saddened by what they have found out. In the end, Billy is elected governor, and Tyler reveals his true identity to Billy by recalling a conversation they had almost 40 years before. Billy is brought to tears as he realizes it is his long lost friend.

magellan333 This movie will grab you and keep you in it's grasp from beginning to end! You find yourself cheering for one of the bad guy's at one point. The entire film is acted very well and it is interesting to see the characters and town age and change over time. I think Charlton Heston did a great job, better than Andy Griffith would have done had he gotten the role as planned. It was originally a mini series and it might take you two or three sittings to see the entire film, but when it is over you will be glad you did.