An actor in a Wild West show must become a mythical Western Hero when a biker gang descends upon a small Montana town.
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A fun little film in which Lou Diamond Phillips runs amok. He is given some very clever lines and his delivery is spot on. The movie never takes itself too seriously, but is probably not for the kids. The rest of the cast is there to serve up situations for Phillips to play off of, which works out great. The plot is pretty simple and easy to follow. The good guys are good and the bad guys are bad. There is a bit of a romance angle, but it is really only there to set up the action and doesn't get in the way of the gun play. This is a gloriously complete popcorn, take your brain out and set it to the side, just watch and be entertained. Sit back with this one and have fun.
I couldn't say I like this movie more. I gave it a 10! The characters are very like-able and the story is really good yet simple. Bart(Lou Diamond Phillips) is head of a lawless biker gang that has a strong dislike for cops as you'll see in the beginning. While Bart and one of his biker brothers are on an excursion of violence and mayhem, they encounter John(Sean Patric Flanery), a simple guy from a very small town that works in a wild west show locally. After Bart and Dog, his biker gang companion, rob and beat down smoky their local bartender,Bart makes it clear what will happen to anyone who is witness from his biker brothers. John is the only witness with enough guts to tell the police what he saw and who they were. From here on the story really gets moving. The following day Bart and Dog show up in the mock wild west town John and his fellow bar companions work at. John without really thinking gets the drop on them with his stage gun, a real gun but loaded with blanks. Once in jail Bart uses his one phone call to call some more of his biker brothers who dispatch the sherif and his deputy, setting Bart free. From here on it's John versus the bikers with some help from another West show worker Gus(Robert Forster).Flanery's is very like-able as the character John. John's not too sure of himself in the beginning and just in general but finds his inner courage when he is confronted with the harsh realities that a small town such as his never see. Phillips I think has made a great accomplishment with his portrayal of Bart. Evil to the bone but somehow you still like him. Bart feels a connection with John as if John is his soul opposite or something along that line. John couldn't do more to show Bart he is connected to him in no way and is determined to make sure Bart doesn't find an untimely death and serves out his life in prison. Forster as Gus is somewhat of a rougher good guy and is very cool. An excellent supporting role to Flanery and the theme of the movie. This movie is simply too good to be a B movie. I would have payed to see it and infact bought the DVD.This film shows a solid script with some imagination can produce a very good movie on a low budget. I wish more movie exec's would catch on to this and stop showing the brainless, tasteless garbage in the theatre's that caters to mindless teenagers and young adults that simply have no taste or understanding about what makes a film good. Maybe a little more budget and this film would have made the theatres. You'd be amazed what you can learn about film making from lower brow movies such as Lone Hero. My final statement is this: Story and acting REALLY CAN carry a movie without being all flashy and in a pretty package to get your attention and dollars. This movie is really worth seeing and when you do you may find yourself watching it repeatedly as myself and many others have.
This is a pretty silly movie, but it is viewable. My main interest is in Hugh Rush Dillon, who happens to be in a Toronto rock band called The Headstones, who also contributed some music for the film. It's unusual and a bit out of character for the tough guy front man, but he is what makes the film OK. I doubt an academy award is in store, but it shows his versatility.
This movie provides a lot of unexpected fun. Lou Diamond Phillips is great as the leader of a renegade biker gang terrorizing a small town. This has all the classic western themes, transposed to present day. The title character is an actor in a cheesy wild west theme park who is forced to become a hero when all his friends and neighbors show their spineless true colors in the face of real-life danger. Phillips has a great time playing a murderous badass with a devil-may-care attitude and total disregard for, well, pretty much everything. While the premise of total lawlessness and murder in present day America could all seem completely unrealistic (Bart keeps the badges of all the cops he has killed as souvenirs), the remote location and utter insignificance of the pissant town where it takes place make it believable. With the incomparable Robert Forster playing Gus, our hero's only ally, and a bit of a badass himself, the stage is set for the big showdown. Good writing, and well staged action scenes make this a lot of fun to watch. Check it out on HBO.