User:TheKid9650 on Sun, 08 Apr 2007 01:13:32 +0000
This is a surprisingly thoughtful and well-done movie, even if it does give off every impression of being a failed TV pilot (I don't know if it actually is or not, but it has that feel to it). I enjoyed it, and I can't even honestly say I'm much of a fan of Westerns in general. The premise is an attention grabber to be sure. Worth a look if you're in the mood for something a little bit different.
User:TheKid9650 on Sun, 08 Apr 2007 01:13:32 +0000
This is a surprisingly thoughtful and well-done movie, even if it does give off every impression of being a failed TV pilot (I don't know if it actually is or not, but it has that feel to it). I enjoyed it, and I can't even honestly say I'm much of a fan of Westerns in general. The premise is an attention grabber to be sure. Worth a look if you're in the mood for something a little bit different.
User:Humann on Fri, 13 Apr 2007 17:02:48 +0000
According to IMDB, this was indeed a made for TV movie. In the '70s, these were often made as pilots for potential series. The idea was that rather than just shooting a pilot episode that might be seen only by network execs, they could put it on TV, make back at least some of the production costs through ad revenues, and if it scored sufficiently well in the Nielsens, the producers could then pitch it to the network as a series. This was how "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" went from a movie of the week (actually two movies of the week) to a weekly series.
User:Humann on Fri, 13 Apr 2007 17:02:48 +0000
According to IMDB, this was indeed a made for TV movie. In the '70s, these were often made as pilots for potential series. The idea was that rather than just shooting a pilot episode that might be seen only by network execs, they could put it on TV, make back at least some of the production costs through ad revenues, and if it scored sufficiently well in the Nielsens, the producers could then pitch it to the network as a series. This was how "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" went from a movie of the week (actually two movies of the week) to a weekly series.
User:Humann on Tue, 17 Apr 2007 17:07:24 +0000
Now that I've actually watched this movie, I can comment on it a little more thougthfully. The story is pretty good, although by the time it was made in the early '70s, the TV western was very much a dying genre and most of the story elements had become cliche from overuse. Had this been made a decade earlier, it would probably been parlayed into a successful series. Its premise would have been much like "The Fugitive," "Kung Fu", or "The Incredible Hulk"--the main character, forced into the life of a drifter, touches the lives of those he encounters in his travels and is relentlessly pursued by some element of his past while he pursues some larger quest--which was itself lifted from the pages of Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables". One of the more interesting aspects of the story, the main character's apparent ability to read minds--or read people--just barely touched upon in this story. Presumably, subsequent episodes would have delved more deeply into the question of whether it was truly a supernatural gift or just an especially keen insight into human nature. Given the material he had to work with, Steve Forrest turns in quite a good performance as the title character, Devlin, who is equally compassionate and tough as nails, exerting his moral superiority over the villain of the story, while at the same time acknowledging his own flaws, shortcomings, and past sins. Definitely worth watching.
User:Humann on Tue, 17 Apr 2007 17:07:24 +0000
Now that I've actually watched this movie, I can comment on it a little more thougthfully. The story is pretty good, although by the time it was made in the early '70s, the TV western was very much a dying genre and most of the story elements had become cliche from overuse. Had this been made a decade earlier, it would probably been parlayed into a successful series. Its premise would have been much like "The Fugitive," "Kung Fu", or "The Incredible Hulk"--the main character, forced into the life of a drifter, touches the lives of those he encounters in his travels and is relentlessly pursued by some element of his past while he pursues some larger quest--which was itself lifted from the pages of Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables". One of the more interesting aspects of the story, the main character's apparent ability to read minds--or read people--just barely touched upon in this story. Presumably, subsequent episodes would have delved more deeply into the question of whether it was truly a supernatural gift or just an especially keen insight into human nature. Given the material he had to work with, Steve Forrest turns in quite a good performance as the title character, Devlin, who is equally compassionate and tough as nails, exerting his moral superiority over the villain of the story, while at the same time acknowledging his own flaws, shortcomings, and past sins. Definitely worth watching.