Red River (1988 TV Movie)
4/10
Imitation is flattery but not improvement
23 June 2009
Amazing.

I would have thought Marshall Dillon could play John Wayne better than he did. But I wouldn't have thought there'd be a reason for having him do it in the first place. The confrontation scenes called for Wayne's swaggering in-your-face style, but, despite his lines, James Arness seemed to be trying to defuse his own fight, keeping law and order in Dodge City on Saturday night.

Taking a truly classic movie and trying to improve it by having different actors repeat the same lines is basically stupid. Adding a minor twist here and there in an otherwise identical plot only makes the viewer think someone made a mistake.

As for realism, where did they get the height-challenged cattle to walk around the street? Were they all calves born during the drive? I know the actors are tall, but not that tall. And need I mention the Indians that kept getting shot off their horses while the number riding in circles uselessly shaking tomahawks never decreased, and there were never any casualties lying on the ground?

If a band of village idiots ever remake The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly they'd better keep the original music, or they'll find that only it and Clint Eastwood made the movie a legend. If anyone doubts this, they need only watch the remake of Red River to understand.
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