Lonesome Dove was one of he greatest cowboy movies ever made.. Pulitzer Prize winning novel, 17 nominations, 15 awards... Return to Lonesome Dove,,, hmmmm??? I'm sure I could have watched this (I watched Bad Girls) had it not had Lonesome Dove in the title but I was expecting to see "something" like Lonesome Dove.. This ain't it....The original,,, LD,,, was written in Pulitzer Prize winning language.. RTLD was written by the same people who brought you "Spencer for Hire". The original had a dark, serious, no nonsense feel.. RTLD had the made for TV,, let's get the 18 to 45 crowd,, don't want to confuse anyone,, PC, touchy, feely, family entertainment feel.. And by all means,, start the movie with (eye candy) a beautiful,, young,,, female,, pistolero,, in form fitting clothes,, blowing holes in Gus McCrae's grave marker... What could this possibly mean???? Dah...And by all means,, change the laconic Capt Call character,,, completely.. Make him more like Gus this time.. Lots of body language, jovial, friendly, more smiles,,, an all around more likable guy... And by all means,,, make sure he is inebriated with verbosity... Looks alone don't do it anymore,, people may be given to thought if a character isn't moving his lips... All "seemingly" empty spaces must be filled with dialogue,,,, or music..I could go on and on about the shallow, generic characters, weak acting and the unbelievability of the situations but,,,, I watched only 30 minutes of the first installment... My time would have been better spent watching paint dry....This Mesterpiece is proof that diamonds can indeed be turned back into coal....

If you're new to the Lonesome Dove series I'd recommend giving this one a miss for a while. It's not canon and doesn't follow the same narrative line as the genuine McMurtry titles. I don't want to drop in any spoilers, but suffice to say some of the characters are given very different futures here, information that is completely contradicted in Streets Of Laredo. The villains in this title also can't match characters such as Mox Mox, Blue Duck or Joey Garza. Return To Lonesome Dove has, in my opinion at least, a weak first act as it struggles (and fails) to capture some of Lonesome Dove's magic, however the writing improves and maintains a higher standard from act 2. Ultimately it's a worthy mini series in its own right, not on the same level as Lonesome Dove or Streets Of Laredo, but enjoyable none the less. Worth a look once you have some distance from the 'real thing' and can judge it own its own merits. ...

After watching this so called movie one is left with the impression that some will go to no end to change in entertainment what they can not change in history.This film should have aired as a day time soap opera as it seems to hold to the same criteria which to a day time soap is normally, if its to good to be true its probably someones fantasy.Rating this a 5 out of 10 is only to give credibility to the main stars John Voight who did a good job in the roll as Capt. Call, Tim Scott who continued his great performance as Pea Eye and Rick Schroder for his role as Newt.

I agree with the above that this is not the original. But it is a well made and well acted sequel. There are many fine parts to this story that deserve comment. Not the least of these are the fine performances put in by Louis Gossett, jr, Nia Peeples and Reese Witherspoon. Barbara Hershey is outstanding as the former and now disappointed love of Gus McCall from the original. The fire at her homestead stands out in my mind as an exceptional piece of drama - well staged and filmed. Rick Schroder brings real talent to his performance as Capt'n Call's unacknowled son. Jon Voight brings drive and at times a bit more life to the part of Capt'n Call than Tommy Lee Jones. His performance in the 'flight of arrows' chapter is outstanding.Well worth the viewing.