mrohlee When the movie was first made virtually the entire cast was very familiar and it was difficult to see the people as their characters since they were so famous. Now that time has passed I watched it again and found it very enjoyable. The movie is a remake of the John Wayne classic and when it came out that version was still being played on TV and was popular on DVDs. Since then a flood of other movies have come out and made that one a little more distant. I love the John Wayne-John Ford version and this one sticks pretty close to that story but with the "Highwaymen" taking 4 of the lead roles. It's a really interesting cast with lots of family and friends popping in for small parts.The basic story of a group of people wanting to get across a piece of country where Apaches have been raiding. They have different reasons revenge, wanting to repay old debts, escaping from the law, running from the past, etc.There are changes from the original as the doctor (Willie Nelson) is now Doc Holiday rather than the town drunk. The gambler (Waylon Jennings) is openly a card shark with a very shady past rather than the rigid southern gentleman.The stagecoach crew has to contend with many problems and the story never lags. There is a nice "Hollywood ending" but that was fine with me.If you feel like sitting back and enjoying a modern "B" western this is a good one. It's a throwback to the old TV Westerns like Gunsmoke and does a very good job of it!!

lkm222 It seems most reviewers are impotent to view and comment on artistic work on its merit. They remain cognizant of previous works with the same title and their innate objectivity [if they had any] goes screaming out the door.This work if being compared, should be compared to earlier works by these singers .... er actors. I've seen Johnny Cash so stiff and stoic he appears like a page in a dull novel. Here he comes to life and is really believable in his role. The writers gave these people lines that they rarely muffed or failed to deliver with absolute perfect clarity and hesitancy if orchestrated that way. I was so impressed with the writing I made a bee line to see who the writers were. I was amazed I must tell you it gave me more appreciation for the artistic work of these singers in their second at least not primary, chosen area of labor. Any objective person who wants to enjoy a western movie can relish and savor this to the penultimate if he or she sits with NO preoccupation with the title, how many times done before and who might have played the parts. Bring innocent objectivity to your seat and then sit down and savor a well done movie [arguably the BEST ever done] by these talented artists who are not working in their primary field but skillfully put their varied abilities to the test on the big screen which is unrelenting enough of mistakes without someone sitting there with the preoccupied thought of seeing what doesn't compare with 1939. Its a winner if YOU can be objective.

jamesrl48 With great country stars like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Kris Krisofferson, and Waylon Jennings; not to mention June Carter Cash and not having one good song makes about as much sense as Harrison Ford, Kevin Costner, Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise hosting the Grand Old Opera. The only one of the four who can really act is Willie. If it would have been more like "Red Headed Stranger," with a few songs like "Red man don't take my scalp," "Forty miles to water," or "My butt gets sore in this old stagecoach," would have helped. This remake of the great, classic, John Ford original was a total failure. Mostly for the reason given above. I believe a great movie cannot be remade. This is proof.

BrianG Some movies just shouldn't be remade. Gone With the Wind, Casablanca . . . and Stagecoach. For some reason, though, Hollywood can't keep its hands off it. It was remade (badly) in 1966, and this one is even worse. It looks like a bunch of wannabe cowboys with some money decided they could make a western better than John Ford could (Willie Nelson was the executive producer of this), and they couldn't possibly have been more wrong. Everything, absolutely EVERYTHING, about this movie is pathetic. Ted Post is normally a first-rate director, especially of westerns (he did most of the "Rawhide" series with Clint Eastwood), but he either had a really bad day, or (what seems to be more likely) everyone in the cast simply ignored what he told them; there doesn't appear to be any discipline at all in this film. Everybody keeps trying to out-ham everyone else, or they're either so laid-back they're practically comatose. The photography isn't particularly good, the editing is horrendous, the scenery around Old Tucson (where this was shot) is completely wasted . . . and on and on. A really sad waste of time and money. Skip it.