Linkshoch Wonderful Movie

Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Dan1863Sickles Here's how you know you're a loser. It's the spring of 1981. You're a high school senior, and you've never kissed a girl. You've never been on a date. You have no friends. Your mother tries to cheer you up by taking you to a movie, and you pick . . . the Lone Ranger. This was the night when I finally accepted the fact that I was a loser. What kind of 18 year old boy goes to the movies with his mother? The movie was so awful, and the worse it got the more it became clear to me . . . I deserved this. I deserved it for being a loser with no friends. But still the movie wouldn't stop! Now, as horrible as the movie was, I do remember a couple of good moments. There was a big battle early on, where a whole Ranger troop gets wiped out. And there's an old timer who tells the young Lone Ranger, "don't worry, kid . . . I've been a Ranger longer than you've been alive!" And he talks about some real life battles of the Texas Rangers, while calmly loading and firing and bringing down several bad guys. It's a nice moment. But then he dies. Just like all my high school hopes and dreams!Oh, and later on, the cowardly villain Butch Cavendish meets Ulysses S. Grant, and tries to explain why he became a villain. "I deserted my men -- I ran from the field of battle -- I was accused of cowardice -- it wasn't my fault!" And Grant just looks at him quietly, and says, "It never is." That line really stuck with me over the years. Because I mean, I came up short in high school, I had to face it that night. No good times. No dates. No happy memories. But you know what? Maybe Grant wasn't just putting Butch down. Maybe Grant understood that some guys just don't have what it takes, in combat or in high school. Maybe some guys just don't get the right break, or they only get one chance and they blow it. Over the years I've spent a lot of time thinking about what Grant says in this movie. In a way it's given me a certain kind of strength. But the movie still sucks.

Neil Welch As the Johnny Depp/Gore Verbinski iteration moves towards the cinema screen, this 1981 version - now over 30 years old - merits revisiting. Savaged at the time, how does it stand up now? To be frank, the reasons why it was savaged are all still there. The Lone Ranger's origin story is a good one, but it is helped immeasurably by having an actor of charisma in the role. With the best will in the world, the unfortunate Klinton Spilsbury demonstrates, in a career-destroying performance (this was his only film), that not he is a charisma-free zone, he is also an acting-free zone. Michael Horse, as Tonto, is a better actor, but doesn't command the screen any better.We need our heroes larger than life, not smaller.

preppy-3 The untold origin of the Lone Ranger. It shows who he was and how and why he became the Ranger.Legendary bomb. The idea was not a bad one--reinvent and introduce the Lone Ranger for 1980s audiences. Right off the bat though there were problems. The studio ordered Clayton Moore (the original Ranger) to stop appearing anywhere as the Lone Ranger. It led to a nasty little battle that made headlines. I know of people who refused to see the film because of how Moore was treated. Also they hired the awesomely untalented Klinton Spilsbury to play the Ranger. Spilsbury was very handsome and muscular but had absolutely no charisma and just couldn't act. In fact his whole vocal performance was redubbed by another actor! Also his off screen antics (public drunkenness and beating people up) didn't help matters. Acting aside, the script is dull and slow. Also the Ranger himself doesn't show up until an HOUR in! There were some complaints at the time that the movie was too violent for a PG. However I don't think it was that bad.There are a few (very few) things done right here--the photography was truly beautiful; Michael Horse was excellent as Tonto; Christopher Lloyd is lots of fun as the villain and when the Lone Ranger finally shows up (with the William Tell Overture booming from the soundtrack) it's really rousing. But, all in all, this is a boring and terrible attempt to bring back the Lone Ranger. It's easy to see why this bombed. A 4--mostly for the photography.

jfreeman714 When you were a kid and listened to the Lone Ranger on the radio it was exciting. Years later, when Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels played the Lone Ranger and Tonto in the TV series The Lone Ranger, it brought ones heroes to life through the eyes of a youngster. Who can forget the masked man riding away at the end of the program shouting, "HiHo Silver,and Away", all to the stirring music of the William Tell Overture! Wow!We all loved and respected the lone ranger and his faithful companion Tonto, but we never really knew the story of how the two came to be such great friends and why they had chosen fighting evil and injustice as an occupation. Well,the Ledgend of the Lone Ranger brings us right up to speed in a fashion that reveals many of attributes and flaws that are found as choices for all us. Loyalty, honesty, character, and fair play are pitted against deception, greed, cruelty and murder! Sounds just like another Lone Ranger episode. But,No! This time the hero is portrayed in the role of the victim. Will good have its day and triumph over evil? Things look mighty grim, after all, we've been into at least half the movie and haven't even seen or heard of our hero. And that's the point. Stick around for the wonderful second half to see how the Lone Ranger evolves, when he comes upon Silver, when he's reunited with Tonto and when he rides like the wind to even the score, as Rossini's Overture creates goosebumps, just like it did when we were kids!