Sometimes I think of a good western as a conventional plot, with slight variations, and having the merit of doing it in the best way possible. Applying those standards "The Shadow Riders" scores quite well. Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott are the ideal heroes, playing two brothers who fight on different sides during the civil war.Just listening to their dialog is half the fun of the film. Katharine Ross is beautiful and Ben Johnson and Harry Carey Junior ( remember the John Ford films?) are welcome additions to an already excellent cast. The story is from Louis L'Amour and follows the character of his books, predictable but entertaining. The musical score brings to mind the song "The Battle of New Orleans". An unusual scenery with vivid colors and a seashore that looks a lot like California even though it is in Texas, this western is not outstanding, but very enjoyable

Even though these brothers don't call themselves Sacketts, the story really seems a prequel to the movie by that name since the brothers are all played by the same people, There names in the story are the same, and much of this story is connected to that story. In the Sacketts it starts out with Orin (Tom Sellick) as either the mayor or running for the job at the same time as getting married. So I found it a bit strange to basically have connecting stories...But different last names.Unfortunately that was the least of the problems. The Sacketts must have been directed by someone else because that's a for TV movie that looks professional. This one comes across a pretty amateurish. Then again maybe they were working on a very tight budget so they couldn't do a lot of re-shoots or very extensive editing. It was a shame to see such a good cast sometimes come across as rookies. Had they been able to get better directing and editing this too would have been a pretty good western......Oh....And as someone else said...Drop that music that often didn't match the situation. I like the comparison to the Dukes Of Hazard....That's spot on in my opinion.One last thought. As an old duffer that was around in 1979 when this was released....I remember TV back then, and I really can't be too tough on them because many of the shows were made like this. I think the Sacketts probably got more money because it was a bigger and longer production. Anything over one night kind of went into a Mini Series mode so the productions seemed bigger. Too bad they didn't meld the stories, but I suppose there was a issue if the brothers from Shadow Riders weren't Sacketts. Otherwise putting this as the first night followed by the next two parts would have worked out just fine.

*Spoiler/plot- 1982, Western movie. It's a story of handsome heroes, renegades, scoundrels, and a hellion in petticoats. It's 1865, the close of the American Civil War; two brothers, a Yankee Mac Traven and a Rebel, Dal Traven return home to Texas to discover that their sisters and Dal's sweetheart Kate has been kidnapped by marauding Rebel guerrillas who refuse to accept Confederate defeat. Mac and Dal break out their notorious Uncle out of jail to help them rescue the women before their sold as slaves to a Mexican brothel.*Special Stars- Tom Selleck, Sam Elliott, Ben Johnson, Geofrey Lewis, Katherine Ross. Dir: Andrew McLagen *Theme- Family should stand for right and fight together.*Based on- Best seller book of Louis L'amour *Trivia/location/goofs- A made for TV movie by Columbia Pictures. This film is from the director (son of the actor Victor McLagen, a member of the John Ford and John Wayne crew.) of "Shenandoah", "The Way West", "Chisum" and "Bandolero".*Emotion- An enjoyable and richly produced western with many old and new western stars in a rather simplistic plot. But, nice casting, locations, film pacing, good scenes, and theme make this a enjoyable film to see for any western viewer.

If you loved bad '80s TV shows, you just might like this movie.This movie has a talented cast to be sure. But it's just so cliché-ridden by modern standards that it's hard to take seriously: one punch knocks out the bad guy every time; tossing a stick of dynamite takes out all the bad guys; good guys running on top of a train, continue until movie ends. There is nothing offensive about this movie, so it's fine for children and mixed-audiences. My elderly parents loved it, and it was a fine way to spend 90 minutes with them without wincing at graphic violence or cursing. But if you're looking for a movie with any level of sophistication or nuance, take a pass.