"Broken Trail" is among the very best open range Western films ever made. The scenery always recommends such films for audience enjoyment, and this wonderful TV series is no exception. The filming was in Alberta, Canada, near Calgary. Canada and parts of the Great Plains states still have some expanses where such movies can be made without modern obstructions in view. The cast for this mini-series film is excellent. I know it's not accurate to say so, but it seems as though Robert Duvall couldn't make a bad movie if he wanted to. Surely, not a Western. Duvall's realistic portrayal of cattle drive owner and foreman, Prentice Ritter, is splendid. This is the best role I've seen Thomas Church play. He's excellent in his quiet role as Ritter's top hand, trusty friend and long-time associate.The rest of the case are all very good in their roles. The cinematography, scenery, and technical aspects of this two-part film help make it a very enjoyable movie. It's a very good look at what the West must surely have been like.

Robert Duvall is as good as he was in Lonesome Dove, which was Duvall's favourite movie. He is such a charmer, a gruff cowboy ladies man with a cold exterior and a warm heart. Duvall was into his seventies when this was filmed but he retains his old brilliance. Cold and calculating, generous and thoughtful, a portrayal of an old cowboy making his peace within his small family and mending the rift between his dead sister and her son.The photography is excellent and you really feel you are there in the foothills of the Rockies. Excellent supporting cast and believable story line. The final written notes suggest that this is based on a true story. For those who love the Western, you can do no better than this other than the Lonesome Dove collection.Suspense, blood chilling violence contrasting with periods of extreme peace and human nature at its best and worst.Simply brilliant.

I started watching this miniseries while channel surfing, missing a good portion of the first part. I was instantly absorbed in the story, and had to get the DVD to see the whole thing.Besides the well written story line, the casting was excellent, giving us characters that created a great chemistry together (and some great bad guys, as well).The storyline may have more realistic if it was set a few years earlier: in 1898, you didn't go around hanging thieves or getting into too many gunfights! Also, the reason for going to the trouble of having virgin sex slaves wasn't explained; even the (somewhat creepy) character of Capt. Billy Fender said that he didn't know why some people preferred virgins, and that he liked women who knew what they were doing. The real reason that men would pay a great deal of money to have sex with virgins back then is that it was thought to be a cure for sexually transmitted diseases (especially syphilis). Before antibiotics, syphilis was no joke: about two years after contact (in the third stage) syphilis begins to attack the heart, brain, and nerves, slowly killing those who suffer from the disease. This may have been too much information to add to the story line, but would have definitely added to the horror of what was in store for the girls if they had been delivered to a brothel.Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed "Broken Trail". I give it a rating of 9/10, and would definitely recommend it to others.

Almost all the comments I have read here are pretty much on the mark as far as I am concerned, and I still intend to check out some references herein with which I am unfamiliar, such as the Ruthanne Lum McCunn novel and Robert Duvall's self-styled mid-chapter, "Open Range," to which I look forward, of his "western" trilogy. I had thought nothing could ever begin to approach the likes of "Lonesome Dove." That said, I especially appreciated the input of the Los Angeles commentator who was "Chinese," like myself as far as ethnicity is concerned, and who keenly appreciated the precipitating "angle" of the drama herein, those five girls "sold" into sexual slavery. My first reaction to the opening titles was excitement at the prospect of "seeing" a redux of 1898 "San Francisco Chinatown," likely the year and assuredly the place of my parents' marriage. But, nary a shot, much less a "scene." Only a smoke-filled, candlelit tenement room. And I questioned the establishing setting of "thousands" of such girls entering the U.S. then, maybe hundreds? But, once past this subjective reaction, I found this Walter Hill film as flawless as any I have ever witnessed, the exotic "girls" neither patronized nor merely pictorialized, fully framed and honestly depicted. And there was no problem with the language barrier as it was handled. For the first time, well, almost, I didn't cringe at either stereotyping OR well-intentioned sanitizing of the real interface between "celestial" and "white," whether "devil" or savior. Kudos to the screenwriter as well as the director. No praise needed for Duvall, who remains nonpareil, or Thomas Haden Church, whose hard-biscuit characterization is refreshingly "western" as opposed to the ersatz heroics of either the John Ford OR "spaghetti western" variety. Both Duvall and Church AND Chris Mulkey more than make the case for the "pioneering" cowpokes and trail drivers who are, or seem to be in hindsight, the "best" of this tradition as opposed to the killers and oppressors and usurpers of the day. Now, if only SOMEone could come up with an equsly "honest" AND accurate invocation of the "San Francisco Chinatown" of the day to balance/explicate this scenario, it would only be "fair"? But, likely, not a "Chinaman's chance," and, even more likely were it to come to pass, it would lack the "theatrical" ingredients to engage an audience. Unless, of course, you are "Chinese."Addendum:After enjoying one more viewing of this classic, and bearing in mind that ALL "movies" are merely "virtual" reality and must be taken as such, this particular specimen bears notation as to the following "virtual" truths and homilies, to wit: When Lung Hay sadly admits it is "too late, too late," and Tom Harte responds with a look that is more than simple response. The reprise of Print Ritter's "from the sweet grass to the packing house" is cornball for sure, but, at the same time, every bit as truthful as dust unto dust. The surprising, to this view at least, evolution of the goofy mechanic in "Wings" to an "authentic" hard=biscuit cowhand on the part of Thomasa Haden Church. A revelation for sure, and a performance to relish and relive. And, for you non-Chinese, please note that the number "2" is the phonetic equivalent of "easy," and that poor child's death, while feverish, was "easy" in the sense of quick and no-nonsense. Also, the number "4" in Chinese is phonetically equivalent to "death," and thus, to the superstitious, is to be avoided, if possible. These, along with countless other subtleties and nuances of depiction, observation, and wry comment are the hallmarks of this "eastern" "western," and I, for one, find it ever so diverting AND thought-provoking. Also, I would keep an eye out for future outings by one Scott Cooper? Provided he has the right "agency" AND a gung=ho press agent, that is.