milest-30909 I am generally not a big Steve Zahn fan because of his comedy acting career where he almost always plays the clueless dummy,; However this series shows he can act as a solid lead in a non comedy role as a versitile actor with skills that are realistic in natural fashion that makes the audience believe in the part he portrays. The caracter that he played fell right into place with Robert Duvall taking over the series as Gus with the same emphisis on the vocal speech as well as the character variances. Val Kilmer was, as always a great character role, but I think he could have been more of the powerfull character than was portrayed. (writers fault) His acting as always was impecable! There is also a GREAT cast of actors to make this mini series a MUST to watch. One bad note is the last part of the three part series shows the series jump forward in time without knowing what happened to the players that were cut with weak explanations as to their demise. There should have been two or three more episodes (and maybe there were) to show the progression of life as it turned into the Lonesome Dove series. Everyone was left wondering how the new born boy was 6-7-8 years old, but the father, and mother only aged slightly; However the part of Kilmer (and others) seemed to have aged 20 years or more?

dstandc I am very impressed with the acting in Comanche Moon. Before I started watching this, I wasn't expecting it to be as good as Lonesome Dove. I couldn't believe how well the actors were chosen to represent all the characters. It blew my mind how well they played each role! This was in my opinion almost as good as Lonesome Dove. Its hard to compare any film to Lonesome Dove. If you don't make that comparison, I would give this a thumbs up. It was very entertaining! I don't post many comments on this site, but I just felt I had to get my opinion out there. Amazing! I don't want to go off naming every actor who was brilliant, because I would probably have to list every single one. My favorite was Steve Zahn. He hit the nail on the head playing Captain Gus. His mannerisms were perfect.

ccthemovieman-1 I think the consensus is pretty unanimous about this recent TV miniseries: it's okay but it's a far cry from "Lonesome Dove." It gets compared to the latter simply because this a prequel to that famous story. "Commanche Moon" is definitely worth a watch for any fan of westerns. Just don't expect it to be as intense as "Lonesome Dove." Steve Zahn and Karl Urban are not Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones, and the characters they play aren't as strong as how Duvall and Jones portrayed the same two guys. Some say it's unfair to criticize this movie because of the comparison but you have to compare it - it's the story of the same two leading Texas Ranger characters: "Woodrow Call" and "Gus McCrae."The main difference, I found, was that this prequel is a lot of slower and more relational (the two Rangers and their women) at times. Yet, I didn't mind that because the two main women were pretty ladies and generally likable and agreeable people. They were played nicely by Linda Cardelini ("Clara Forsythe") and Elizabeth Banks ("Maggie.").. They helped make this long movie palatable. If you've seen pictures of women in the Old West, none of them looked half as pretty as Cardelini and Banks, though. They were a joy for these male eyes to ogle. Maggie's son "Newt" was a wonderful kid, too - the kind of boy every parent would want..The most interesting character, I thought, turned out to be "Inish Scull," played by Val Kilmer. As in the western film, "Tombstone," Kilmer almost steals the show from the leads. "Scull" is really an original, if I ever saw one: a strange dude, indeed. Actually, all of the supporting actors in here did a fine job, from Keith Robinson's "Deets" to Wes Studi as "Buffalo Hump." I always find Studi to be fascinating, no matter what role he plays. I wish he had had a bigger role in this miniseries.One thing this film has in common with "Lonesome Dove" and other good westerns: the scenery and photography. It's just beautiful at times and is a joy to watch. We also have an excellent director of this film: Simon Wincer, who directed "Lonesome Dove" and an another outstanding TV western, "Crossfire Trail." He also did two of my other favorite feature films, both based in his home country of Australia: "Phar Lap" and "Quigley Down Under."Unfortunately, although I enjoyed this, "Commanche Moon" is nothing as good as the above-mentioned films.Yet, I still watched all of it and was sorry it ended, if that makes any sense. It made me want to watch Woodrow and Gus again, this time with Tommy Lee and Robert.Note: The title page says this is 360 minutes. That must have included the TV commercials. The two-disc DVD version I saw was about 4 hours and 40 minutes.

c_nicolesimpson Okay, let's face it. Nothing will ever touch "Lonesome Dove". It had the great Robert Duvall after all. That being said, I have to say that Steve Zahn nailed it. He's usually cast as a dumb ass. So, I was worried he wouldn't pull this off...but he did. Not just because he was the closest to Robert Duvall's portrayal as you can get, but also because he really proved his acting ability. The movie itself was not necessary. "Lonesome Dove" explained their history, but it was fun to see the characters in their youth. It's also probably good for people who haven't seen "Lonesome Dove" yet. All and all I'm glad they made it. But, it's kind of like "Star Wars"...don't mess with a good thing.