After Lonesome Dove the Western changed forever. Appaloosa follows perfectly in this genre, keeping to the theme of the story revealing character. Appaloosa displays such great direction in allowing moments of character revelation (which is reliant on great acting) and to take the time to allow it to happen and consequently made the movie a little short for me. I finished watching and immediately wanted a sequel because I cared about what happened next to the characters .....funny thing...Lonesome Dove was based on a novel that had to be a series, and Appaloosa is a Western movie that should have become another series....Appaloosa to me is like watching episode one of Lonesome Dove...you look forward to the next and the next...well done everyone....

"Appaloosa" is a form of new-wave western that centers on a simple plot but with plenty of twists along the way. The story is simple but the acting is spot on. The connection between Ed and Viggo is unique, their friendship being on of the most enjoyable parts of the film. The setting is basic, but beautiful, and the villain, Jeremy Irons, is spot on (he seems to always play a good villain, except for "Dungeons and Dragons"). There really is no reason to hate this movie, but some aspects of the film lead to some negative opinions. For instance, Renée Zellweger's character was really, really unlikeable (in my opinion). Another is the storyline which seemed to jump from character to character with no sense of time and the love triangle within the story can be irritating to the viewer. This film has its moments and issues but other then that "Appaloosa" is a basic western brought to the younger audience to spark a new interest in the old genre.

I found this movie a reasonable enjoyable western, with the usual cliques. A well made film. Fine sets and i was very impressed with the authenticity of the costumes and weapons. My only criticism was the roles played by Mortensen and Irons.Both very fine actors, but this was a buffer for both of them. Viggo Mortensen did not to me come across as a tough guy lawman. I thought Lance Henrickson would have been more suited. When i saw on the credits that Jeremy Irons was to play the bad guy, i thought again another English Actor playing the villain. A bit like Michael Gambon in Open Range, which was a better movie and played by veteran Western Actors, Robert Duvall and Kevin Costner.The problem with Irons was he was playing an American character, but sometimes you could hear his English accent coming through. Ed Harris was flawless. I was impressed by the fact this was his first Western. Not a bad movie, but i was disappointed with Viggo Mortensen and Jeremy Irons, especially as i am a fan of their works. For something to watch for a Saturday evening it is fine, but don't expect a classic.

It was very moral film. Savvy lawmen who were honest & told the truth, who never killed except to uphold the law. They defined integrity. I liked the quirkiness of the characters, e.g. the town leaders (Spall) funny bickering; "sequestered" and the other words that Mortenson defines for Harris. These vocabulary exchanges symbolized their relationship built on friendship, loyalty, & mutual trust. Sometimes it tried a bit too hard & it felt forced, perhaps because of the lack of flow in Irons' forced accent (why not let him be English?—he ends up importing that English steer anyway) & Zellweger's weirdness. Zellweger played her flawed character like Harris told her, but she needed to show a darker side—not just the insecure lunatic who was scared of everything. She was the antithesis of the men's morality, so why didn't she get punished? We didn't get stereotypical natives, but characters who accepted the horse because they had integrity. Hell, everyone had more integrity than her. The end showed Mortenson accepting her two- faced immorality only because Harris had affirmed that he wouldn't leave her. With this declaration, Mortenson had no other choice in the end but to move on (to take care of himself) & kill Irons (to aid Harris). I get it, but I didn't like it as an invested movie viewer who thought she was trash and didn't deserve him.