YES they were BILL HICKMAN was the Leader of these men, who would go out and KILL the unbeliever's and the trouble makers for the LDS CHURCH. PORTER ROCKWELL was arrested for the attempted KILLING of GOV. LILAN BOGGS. the leaders of the LDS CHURCH were men who wanted riches from its congregations. SMITH believed in MULITPLE MARRIAGES and YOUNG loved the POWER he had over the state NOTHING was done w/o his PERMISSION. PORTER ROCKWELL was the last of the Avenging Angels. He did not think twice about killing INDIANS OR WHITE MEN he would always say "IT'S AS EASY AS WHEAT". This movie gives a slight insight as to the MORMONS life. BUT MR. HESTON is no where near the iron fisted personality of the dictating PROPHET YOUNG. who said that is not a prophesying man. he would leave that to other MEN.

Well, I have another opinion. I don't like this movie at all. Actually, I rate it like 2 out of 10. Frankly, the only good about it was the Bad Boys trailer before the movie. It's make me compare Will Smith with this boring and stiff actor in Tom Berrenger. I think the story is complicated, I didn't know about the Mormons etc. Bad acting overall. Miles Utleys (Berrenger) drunken father does not look that old to be Utleys father in my book. Then we have this very sentimental ending with all the ....Yeah yeah, I will not appeal anything. I would not recommend this tragic movie to anyone else rather than the very greatest fans of Tom Berrenger. Don't waste your time watching this since the are so many other classic western out there.

First of all, it's been a while since I saw this movie. So, I may be wrong about this, but one of the other reviewers mentions the "trek of the Mormons to Utah in the 1870's...." By the 1870's the Transcontinental Railroad had been completed. Therefore, during this period of time the trek to Utah consisted of hopping on the next train and riding it to the territory. The trek portrayed in the movie actually took place around 30 years earlier.My next criticism is that the "Avenging Angel" as portrayed in this movie never existed. They are loosely based on a group of renigade Mormons that existed for a short time while the Mormons were living Northern Missouri in the late 1830's. This group was more commonly known as the Danites. The Danites did commit crimes against both Mormons and Non-mormons of the area. However, the Church never sanctioned their activities. As a matter of fact, the first that the then Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith, had heard of the activities of the Danites was when the organization's leader and founder, Sampson Avard, gave perjurious testimony accusing Smith of having been complicit in their crimes. Avard gave this testimony in order to save his own neck. Once their activities became known, the Danites were disbanded and were never reconstituted.Another inaccuracy is that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints never sanction murder. There were several times that various groups used violence against members of the church and the Church sanctioned violence used by the members to defend them selves, but only in their defense, only when the Church?s enemies we in the act of physically threatening the saints.Finally, their is no evidence the Orin Porter Rockwell (Coburn's character) was ever a member of the Danites. He was a bodyguard to both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young (Heston's character). He was a gun fighter reputed to have killed more men than Wyett Earp, Doc Holladay, Batt Masterson, and Tom Horn combined. He was fiercely loyal to the Church and its leaders. However, he was never party to cold-blooded murder.In short, I think that this movie would have been better if they had just used wholly fictitious characters and settings. The mixture of real people with an otherwise whole fictitious story only serves to perpetuate false ideas about the society that existed in 19th-century Utah.

If you like horses, Westerns, beautiful scenery & a story filled with intrigue, you should like this film. Co-produced by Tom Berenger (First Corp. Productions) he also stars in this exciting movie made for TNT television. Working along with famed Charlton Heston & James Coburn, Tom's in good company. He shoots, rides & roughs it nicely.You may not be particularly interested in the trek of the Mormons to Utah in the 1870's but that's what begins the story. Miles Utley (Berenger) is trained form the time he's a youngin' to serve & protect the church's prophet, Brigham Young (Heston). And he does it with a vengeance! (How Bible-totin' people can sanction murder & politcal intrigue is a valid question but...To each his own.)You have to feel for Berenger's character throughout this whole film. He's on the trail of potential murderers, dallies with Young's daughter in an attempt to get closer to the man he so violently protects, gets left for dead in the Salt Lake, found by one of the usurper's wives & nursed back to health, beginning a relationship with her in the process, rides all over Utah & finally meets up with the prophet himself who knows all along who's got it in for him. He knows Miles is sincere & never doubted his loyalty for a minute. All in all, it's an enjoyable film & will have you guessing & interested throughout. See it!Note: Berenger's two young daughters get film credit here, too - Chelsea & Chloe Berenger.