Rating: 
Summary: Excellent, and complete
Review: I am very pleased with this movie, I own it on vhs and was not disappointed with the picture quality on dvd. This is the complete 6 hr miniseries, (minus the networks commercials that made it 8 hours). The bonuses are great!
Rating:
Summary: Lonesome Dove -- A Rarity
Review: How many times have we all gone to see a movie adaptation of a book and exited the theater with the words, "it was all right, but the book was better," on our lips? Very few Hollywood writers and producers can ever make a movie script as good as a novel. Not so with Lonesome Dove! Never before in all my reading and viewing of fiction, have I laughed and cried so hard for a group of characters. Although the screen play was not written by Larry mcMurtry, the author of the award-winning novel, the screen writer did a wonderful job in trimming down this epic novel into a movie script that captures the spirit of a beautifully crafted tale of friendship, adventure and love. Everything from the music, to the cast, to the visuals make this a must-see for both fans of the book and for those who have never enjoyed westerns. It is a tale of two ex Texas Rangers, Captain Augustus McCrae, (Robert Duvall) and Captain Woodrow Call, (Tommy Lee Jones) who give up ranching in the town of Lonesome Dove, Texas, steal horses from a Mexican bandit and start out on a cattle drive for Montanna. They take with them and encounter along the way, a vast assortment of characters who make the trip all the more enjoyable for the viewer. Some notables among these are the renegade, Blue Duck, portrayed perfectly by Frederic Forrest, who brings this cruel villain to life straight from the pages. Also, Clara Allen, palyed by Angellica Houston, who is the strong-willed old flame of Gus. The two things that stand out the most for me in this movie are the wonderful musical score, composed by Basil Poledouris, and the depiction of the life-long friendship between Gus and Call. Friendship has been the theme of countless stories, but seldom is it portrayed so vividly, without being overly sappy, as it is in a story. I always come away from the movie feeling that friendships like that of Gus and Call are as easy to find today as a cattle drive. Another outstanding quality of the book and movie is the feel of authenticity the writers and crew bring to it. While certain aspects of the movie are a bit cliche, (Gus riding off to save the lady in distress), other aspects are very real, (the water moccasin episode and Jake's hanging). These qualities, both real and fiction blended together, make Lonesome Dove a truly epic tale that can accurately be called an American classic. Sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking and often unpredictable, it is a masterpiece that is worth watching at least once!
Rating:
Summary: The Best American Epic of the 21st century
Review: Capt. Woodrow F. Call and Capt. Augustus McRae play a thrilling role in the lives of 2 Former Texas Rangers gone cattlemen. They embark on a series of adventures as they set out from the deep southern tip of the United States, Lonesome Dove, Texas, and head towards a new land of oppurtunity and fertile soil. Capt. Call's hardwork and determination make him a blue collar hero as his partner McRae delivers an explosive punch to the big screen in portraying the cowboy we all want to be. With savvy looks, charm, hospitable manners, and a rough country slang, Capt. McRae is definetly every cowgirls dream. As he tags alongside his lifelong friend Woodraw, they roam the great frontier in search of Montana to settle for a new life of ranching. There are many setbacks in their trip including horse thiefs, Indians, and Arkansas lawmen who stand in thier way. It is a story of heartache, love, compassion, and 2 mens way of life that set this movie apart and in my mind make it the best western ever made. This is the only movie that ever brought tears to my eyes. Although an older movie, I am sure an avid western film watcher like myself will not be dissapointed. After all....the older the violin...the sweeter the music. *****
Rating:
Summary: Totally Complete Classic
Review: The original was a made for tv movie which included (of course people....come on you know it......) COMMERICALS!!!! If you people would first read the book then see the movie you would see that the DVD is totally complete and accurate to the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed in Orlando
Review: DVD is edited. However, they give you lots of bonus material that you can use as "salt in your wounds" while you steam over the hacked up product. I was very disappointed. How do you justify changing such a well received classic?
Rating: 
Summary: Incomplete
Review: Just a note for the viewer in Minneapolis...the original miniseries was EIGHT hours long, not six...any edited version of such a classic, especially when 25% has been cut, is bound to be disappointing...
Rating:
Summary: A Hell of a Vision.
Review: I have just finished watching the six hour Lonesome Dove for the fourth time; yet, it is a rare movie I will even watch twice. I own the DVD, and I will certainly be watching it a fifth time. Comparisons of Lonesome Dove to other TV movies don't begin to do it justice; this movie deserves comparison to any Western ever made, and it stands up well to any one of the most highly considered (The Searchers, Unforgiven, Shane, High Noon, The Good, The Bad & the Ugly, etc.). This is a story of character and nuance much more than plot and action, with many small moments that will stay with you long after the story is finished...a saloon owner grieving over the loss of his prostitute (his love)...the hanging of a friend...an attempt at telling a boy he is your son....the burial of a friend...two old warriors saying goodbye in so many words (while there is much humor in the story, there is also overwhelming sadness, and do expect very major characters to have tragic endings to their lives). Lonesome Dove is bold enough to tell an epic story (and in doing so, demytholyzing the history of the West, and showing us how brutal and painful the settling of the West really was) by focusing on these small moments. There are something like 75 or 100 speaking parts in this movie, and it is uniformly excellently cast (with the exception, in my opinion, of Angelica Huston, who I always thought seemed out of place in this Western setting). If you are wondering whether this is worth owning, believe me, you will never regret it.
A postscript: since I wrote my review I have noticed that there are a number of idiots out there unfairly ripping this movie for being shorter than the original. The original series was indeed EIGHT hours long. However, it was made for TV and had something called commericials. These had the effect of reducing its running time to about SIX hours, as my review notes. I have seen several DVD versions of this and have never seen one that was edited or cut, which is why they neglect to warn you on the box. Just get the movie, watch it, and ignore the bozo comments.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Movie of All Time. Period
Review: I strongly believe that if Lonesome Dove had been released as a theatrical movie rather than a TV miniseries it would have been considered one of the most commercially and critically successful films of all time. Not that it would have been feasible to do- 6 hours still barely does it justice. Maybe the success of The Lord of the Rings will convince Hollywood that people are willing to see long books adapted into lengthy, multi-part movies if done properly. Anyway, Lonesome Dove is simply one of the best movies that I've ever seen- the fact that it aired on TV doesn't diminish that at all. It has Titanic-sized production values, with top notch acting, writing, design and even music. Before you watch the movie, read the book. Don't let the argument "the movie is never as good as the book" stop you, because in this case they are worthy equals. This sounds silly, but when I first watched the miniseries it felt as if someone had tapped my imagination to make adapt the book exactly as I had envisioned it. Every actor, every set, every line, every costume, every location is exactly as I imagined. Robert Duvall IS Gus. Tommy Lee Jones is Capt. Call (even though he does look like Kenny Rogers). Some actors who are normally associated with TV roles give bigscreen caliber performances- Robert Urich and Rick(y) Schroeder hold their own with Duvall and Jones. Even the minor characters are perfect- only a few are left out. And you'll recognize several stars who appeared before they were more famous: Steve Buscemi, Chris Cooper, Diane Lane. And be prepared to relive the devastation and heartbreak of the book all over again. Without giving away anything, this is a brutal, tragic and sad, sad movie. Bring that box of kleenex. Yet it's not sentimental or manipulative- like the book, it rings true of real life. The events aren't happy, but they work out just as they would in life. That, I think, is where the perfection of McMurtry's story lies. Like Terms of Endearment, things happen to these wonderful characters just as you'd expect, even if you hope that they won't. This is a fine, fine movie that will hopefully hold up as a modern classic. My only complaint is that the DVD transfer is subpar. I don't know how well they could upgrade the sound or the picture since it was filmed for a TV screen, but hopefully someday it will be given its due with 5.1 sound, a director's commentary (6 hours of it!) and maybe even a widescreen format.
Rating:
Summary: Ireplaceable and Indispensable View of the tragic West
Review: What a great movie, an epic study of characters. Realistic, at times dramatic, at times joyful, always authentic, without pretension, ever hopeful in the darkest hours, this set of series looks so real, so straight and so honest, goes to the bones... And what a great Cast. No overacting. No Spaghettis. Robert Duvall is in probably one of the best roles of his career, as are Tommy Lee Jones, Dany Glover, and all the rest... It probably won't help you, as you most likely won't know that German author, but it just kept bringing me back some of my childhood memories by reminding me of the many Karl May westerns I've been reading throughout my youth, at a time when everything seemed so real and so grand, epic and tragic, that I still today almost feel like, yeah, I was there, I was part of it, this was just part of me, under other latitudes, in some other time and some other place, a silent witness... If you like Westerns and the kind of atmosphere they are likely to engender, you just can't miss this set of tv-series (six hours long), that tastes and looks so real, that looks in fact like everything but a tv-series... Indispensable and historical, there is hardly another way around to put it...
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book Too
Review: A made for T.V. mini series, a bit dated. The book is GREAT. This movie follows the book well (for a movie). Lots of little mini-stories going on. Lot's of popcorn opportunities here. I like it, saw it on T.V., rented it on VHS and now I own it on DVD. It's hit the bargin bin at Wally Mart, so you can get it there or here (for about the same price used). Now's the opportunity. Again... remember it's a made for T.V. mini series. One thing... all these years it's been around I recently realized that Tommy Lee Jones was Capt Coll.. I couldn't believe I missed that. But I did. It really sucks you in. By the way, you have got to read the book if you never have. Then you will belong to the "cult" following. I'm a big fan of Larry MacMurtry!
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