The Desperate Riders

Absolutely the worst Western I've ever partially watched! Poor acting for the majority of the film. I love Tom Berenger & Trace Adkins but I couldn't stand to wait for them to appear! The lead female actress was the WORST! I doubt a true western woman wore hair & eyelash extensions in addition to eye make-up & lipstick! RIDICULOUS & insulting to true Western movies! If I could give this a MINUS 10 stars, I would!! I don't know what the positive reviewers saw in this drivel and I am horribly disappointed that the casting director couldn't have done better to complement Tom & Trace. I will say the setting & scenery were nice but the movie itself is regrettable & forgettable!

source: The Desperate Riders

It could have been better with a better director and cinematographer. The rest of it like the acting and story was OK but perhaps a little short on plot. Imagine some lovely wide establishing shots of the wilderness, this would have added so much. The movie is very much here's the camera there's the people. There's not much change in how it's shot so it's visually unappealing. The acting is always very low in mood without anyone punching a word in a sentence or putting emotion into a phrase. This is the directors fault more than anyone's. Even if the actors are inexperienced the director should realise that and give firm direction for what they have in mind for the story. And the story isn't all that good. So from poor writing and direction, we get mediocre performances. When this is combined with lackluster cinematography and not much of a score you get left with this movie. It's not that bad, certainly not as bad as some of the ratings and reviews. I think it's got to be a solid 5-6/10 for what it is. So it's not terrible, but could use improvements to my mind. It may well be that what I'm suggesting is beyond the scope of the budget. Therefore it's good enough for what it is. Definitely watchable.

Rarely have I given a movie less time than this, prior to deciding to switch it off. Thankfully I never got to seeing Tom Berenger, just what was he (or possibly his agent) thinking? Thankfully my previous (good) opinion of him still holds firm. That's 5 minutes 21 seconds of my life I'll never get back!