Michael Landon's "Little House on the Prairie" is similar in concept, and "Miracle at Sage Creek" producers should have watched a few of those shows to learn how to make a viewer's heart feel a story. And too many production liberties were taken. For example, the only thing cold about the weather was the conversations about how cold it was.I like a "feel-good" story, but it needed more showing and less telling. The characters simply were not developed very well, so it was difficult to share their troubles or feel great about the resolutions of those troubles. And time was wasted on meaningless "excusions". For example, we were given a rather lengthy introduction to the Judge's wife early, and then she never reappeared.This is the kind of movie I like and pull for, but this one was B Rated at best.

I liked the spiritual aspect of the movie especially the visions that the Indian had. Western movies that portray the vanishing west are intriguing. I am looking forward to watching more films by Thadd Turner. Thadd recently received the Wrangler Award for the production of Truce at the Cowboy and Western Heritage Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (April 2007). I met Thadd on a shuttle bus from the Marriott Hotel to the museum. My dad struck up a conversation and found out Thadd had lived in the Bitteroot Valley of Montana south of Missoula. Somehow they got to talking about Henry Plummer which Thadd mentioned that his company is looking into doing a movie on his life. Coincidently, my Great grandfather, Frank B. Linderman wrote a book titled Henry Plummer the Novel. So, Thadd and my father talked all the way to the museum about Mr. Plummer. We met Thadd's wife and son, Wyatt. It was entertaining to see Wyatt and Thadd acting in Miracle at Sage Creek.

I'm watching the movie right now, so I don't know how it ends.Um, Christmas-time in Wyoming, and there's green leaves, green grass, flowing water, shirt-sleeve attire, no breath fog.. meaning, it's not very cold in Lusk, Wyoming in December?? WHAT? The Indian woman was washing clothes outside, sleeves rolled up, in December, in Wyoming. Wyoming has long, wicked-cold, windy winters. That immediately took a lot of the reality away. It was filmed in Arizona, they should have just set the story there, as "Wyoming Territory" didn't have much to do with the story. There were homesteaders and Indians in Arizona, too. It's just too unbelievable. Maybe later it snows in the movie, but I've been to Wyoming, and seen it snow in JUNE, and I've been there in February and it was very cold and windy. Nobody went out in just light jackets.They filmmakers must take us as people who all live in LA or NY, people who know nothing about geography and what places look like, and people who don't ever travel. I've seen some movies supposed to be Wyoming, but filmed in Canada, and you can't tell. The terrain in THIS movie didn't look at ALL like Wyoming.Bad acting, especially the Grandfather Indian character. Unneeded choppy "Indian Accent". Words used I don't think someone new to the language would use.Here's another: A mother and her son are sitting right by a fireplace that has a good crackling fire in it. She feels his head and determines he has a fever. How could she tell? Being a mother, I know better than to forehead-feel a kid for a fever when they're a few feet from a fire.Snore.You want a good western? See Lonesome Dove. See Tombstone. See Open Range. See anything else.

I understand the need for family movies, traditional values and though I share that need I have to say that the critics on this website too eager to be pleased.I can see what the filmmakers were trying to achieve,the story of two families separated by culture and yet brought together by tragedy, finding out their need for each other in their darkest hour. But this was not a great movie,it was barely watchable. I liked the cast, the performances were great, but the script just did not make any sense. The lines were often just too corny and rang completely untrue and unrealistic.So here is the characters: There are two families, family number 1 includes dad, used to be involved in unspecified ministry, now in charge of a stagecoach rental business, mom and two boys. Grandfaher of family number 1, angry guy, blames Indians for the death of his wife for unspecified reasons and wishes his daughter had gotten married to dad number two.Family number two, includes dad who is white, mom who is Indian, son, daughter, who has no lines at all, and wise old Indian chief grandfather. Dad number 2 seems to still have a crush on mom number 1.****warning- following content might contain spoilers**** Dad #2 steals a horse right under the nose of the two guys hired to kill him and they do not even bother going after him, they just shoot at his direction once.Mom #2 is all choked up and grateful that grandfather #1 will not take her land back completely ignoring the fact that he is the reason her husband, dad # 2 is presumably dead. Let me see, taking the land, bad, murder mucn much worse... if my husband was murdered the land would be the least of my worries.Boy #1 and 2 are missing and mother #2 waits the whole day at her house for the dad #1 to show up and look for them, even though her dad, grandfather #2 seems perfectly able to at least try.