bkoganbing The three hour plus two part mini-series was just about the right time that was needed for Louis L'Amour to tell his tale about the Sacketts. His fictional family encompassed a few of his many western novels and the ground covered here is covered in two of his stories.One brother Sam Elliott has already gone west and now Tom Selleck and Jeff Osterhage have to go west because of a killing of a family member who have a feud going with the Sacketts. Their mother played by Mercedes McCambridge sends the boys off with her blessing and a promise that they'll send for her when they can.One thing I liked about this film is without being sanctimonious or preachy The Sacketts does manage convey the strong moral values the men were raised with. That slips all too often in the rough and violent west when it could become a dog eat dog matter of survival.Elliott is involved with prospecting and he runs afoul of a band of brothers named Bigelow when Elliott shoots one of them for being a card cheat. Selleck and Osterhage sign on to a cattle drive that is ramrodded by Glenn Ford who is wise in frontier ways. They settle in Santa Fe where they get caught in the middle of a feud between the new American immigrants led by John Vernon who includes among them a number of gunfighters and Gilbert Roland leader of the Mexican settlers who were there before.Let's say that the brothers help each other out in their different situations.A lot of familiar western names support Selleck, Elliott, and Osterhage and it's always a pleasure to see any one of them in a film. Ben Johnson plays another grizzled veteran of the frontier. Glenn Ford's character is probably the most morally ambiguous of the lot and in his long career Ford did play a few people who were not heroes, Lust For Gold and The Man From Colorado come immediately to mind. And Mercedes McCambridge's few scenes at the beginning are memorable. Fans of Louis L'Amour novels and western fans in general will enjoy The Sacketts

SanteeFats Tom Sellack as Orrin Sackett (the learned one) and Sam Elliot as as the oldest brother Tell (the toughest one). Jeff Osterhage is a very pleasant surprise as the youngest brother, Tyrel, (good with a gun to say the least). Any movie with Tom Sellack and Sam Elliot in it is bound to be good in my opinion.I am really surprised by how closely the movie actually follows the book. It tracked the book very closely. Ben Johnson as the old timer is very good, but then he almost almost has been. The fact that he was first a champion rodeo star makes his roles even better. Glen Ford plays Tom Sunday and while he educates the three Sackett brothers he is destined to die by one of them. Not in this movie but later down the line. This is a very well done movie.

ccthemovieman-1 This is something of a poor man's "Lonesome Dove." The story is a combination of two Louis L'Amour novels and doesn't have the intensity of Larry McMurtrey's aforementioned "Dove," nor the beautiful cinematography.The best part of "The Sacketts" is the cast, led by some of the best actors to ever play cowboys. I mean, this is worth owning alone just to see Sam Elliott, Tom Selleck, Glenn Ford and Ben Johnson all in the same story. These guys - especially Elliott and Selleck - were always fantastic playing cowboys. Not only that, you get classic stars such as Gilbert Roland, Mercedes McCambridge, Ruth Roman, Jack Elan, Slim Pickens and more ! Wow - impressive.Being a made-for-TV film, you don't get much profanity or blood and for most of the film, you get two separate stories going on at once. One story features Selleck and Jeff Osterhage as brothers and another as Elliott, as the older brother involved with his own adventures.Even though I can't compare it favorably to Lonesome Dove, it's still a decent western on its own merits.

deni2730 I thought with my two favorite actors, Sam Elliott & Tom Selleck, it had to be a winner. We rented the DVD's which had a part 1 & part 2. After the first 15 minutes I was ready to shut it off. I've never seen such a slow moving western in my entire life. I gave up after the first DVD, not caring who lived or died in the rest of this movie. Even with the great cast, the acting was wooden, the scenes were predictable and it was just plain boring.It starts out in Tennessee with two brothers Orrin & Tyrell. Within the first 5 minutes Orrin (played by Tom Selleck)Sackett's bride-to-be is killed at the ceremony and Orrin's brother Ty shoots the man "Higgins" (remember Magnum P.I.'s character Higgins?). Naturally Higgins brother is going to come after Ty (yawn) so he heads out west which he eventually hooks up with Orrin who has also left TN. They become cowboys and the rest is too mind numbing to even recall. What a disappointment!