Description:
The Civil War is over and the Traven brothers are going home. But what Mac (Tom Selleck, Quigley Down Under) and Dal (Sam Elliott, Tombstone) find upon their arrival is a town ravaged by Confederate rebels who've refused to surrender. Swearing to fight the Yankees to the bitter end, the guerillas have kidnapped the Travens' younger sisters - as well as Dal's sweetheart, Kate (Katharine Ross, Shenandoah) - and plan to sell them to a brothel in Mexico to raise money for guns and bullets. Determined to rescue their loved ones, Mac and Dal bust their Uncle Black Jack (Oscar(r) winner Ben Johnson, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, The
The Civil War is over and the Traven brothers are going home. But what Mac (Tom Selleck, Quigley Down Under) and Dal (Sam Elliott, Tombstone) find upon their arrival is a town ravaged by Confederate rebels who've refused to surrender. Swearing to fight the Yankees to the bitter end, the guerillas have kidnapped the Travens' younger sisters - as well as Dal's sweetheart, Kate (Katharine Ross, Shenandoah) - and plan to sell them to a brothel in Mexico to raise money for guns and bullets. Determined to rescue their loved ones, Mac and Dal bust their Uncle Black Jack (Oscar(r) winner Ben Johnson, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, The Last Picture Show, 1971) out of prison and head south of the border, where they aim to finish a war they thought had already ended.
When the Western slipped into theatrical oblivion in the late 1970s, many of the best examples of the genre began appearing as made-for-television films. After the success of The Sacketts, from the Louis L'Amour novel, producers quickly reunited stars Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott in another fine adaptation of a L'Amour book, The Shadow Riders. As brothers Mac and Dal Traven, sporting blue and gray uniforms, respectively, they wind their way home at the close of the Civil War to discover a band of confederate rebels have ravaged their town and kidnapped their sisters and brother and Dal's feisty sweetheart (Katharine Ross). With the help of their outlaw uncle (Western stalwart Ben Johnson), whom they must break out of prison, they track the guerrillas to the Gulf Coast and down into Mexico for a final, fatal showdown. Veteran director Andrew McLaglen sets this TV movie on a loping pace and a jovial tone, defined largely by Selleck's easygoing performance and the jocular comic relief of rascally Johnson. Elliott provides the intensity, at times positively ferocious under his heavy brows and burning, sunken eyes. The mood is occasionally too comic, but McLaglen delivers the goods in a series of gritty action sequences, proving that old Western directors don't die, they just drift on over to the small screen. Western icons R.G. Armstrong and Harry Carey Jr. and 1950s leading lady Jane Greer also appear in key roles. --Sean Axmaker
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Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Release date: 13 May 2008
Number of discs: 1
EAN: 9781404969087 UPC: 043396088702
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