The Shadow Riders

9/28/19821h 36m

TV Release (US)

~ Sometimes you have to start a war to finish one. ~

Overview:

After starring in "The Sacketts", Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott team up again but this time as Mac and Dal Traven, in a movie based on a classic Louis L'Amour novel. They are brothers, who meet up at the end of the Civil War fighting on opposite sides. They go home only to find their family in dire need and their sisters and brother kidnapped by ruthless raiders. They set out to rescue their family.

Director:

Andrew V. McLaglen

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

kidnapping
confederate raiders
brothers

Cast

Tom Selleck

~ as ~

Mac Traven

Sam Elliott

~ as ~

Dal Traven

Ben Johnson

~ as ~

Uncle 'Black Jack' Traven

Geoffrey Lewis

~ as ~

Major Cooper Ashbury, Comanchero Leader

Jeff Osterhage

~ as ~

Jesse Traven

Gene Evans

~ as ~

Colonel Holiday Hammond, Gunrunner

Katharine Ross

~ as ~

Kate Connery / Sister Katherine

Dominique Dunne

~ as ~

Sissy Traven

Scanlon Gail

~ as ~

Yankee Officer

R.G. Armstrong

~ as ~

Sheriff Miles Gillette

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

John Chard
Written 8 year(s) ago
5
The Traven Brothers.

The Shadow Riders is directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and adapted to screenplay by Jim Byrnes from the novel written by Louis L'Amour. It stars Tom Selleck, Sam Elliott, Katharine Ross, Dominique Dunne, Ben Johnson and Geoffrey Lewis. Music is by Jerrold Immel and cinematography by Jack Whitman.

A CBS TV production, The Shadow Riders has Selleck (Mac Traven) and Elliott (Dal Traven) as brothers, who even though they fought on different sides in the Civil War, there fondness for each other still exists. With the war now officially ended, the brothers meet up and head for the family home, here they find their parents telling of how their sisters and Dal's girlfriend Kate (Ross) have been abducted by Renegade Rebels. The men promptly set off in search of their loved ones...

It's all very much standard stuff, both in plot telling and production values. Exuding very much a family feel, it's a disappointingly bloodless and sexless picture, with some cliché'd dialogue, poor musical accompaniments to certain scenes (tonally way off) and filler sequences thrown in for good measure. That said, it's very much a harmless piece, with the two male leads good company to share some time with, while Johnson and Harry Carey Jr. offer up a welcoming presence. Location scenery is also well photographed, keeping things airy, and ultimately it's a decent enough time waster for Western fans not expecting an under seen gem. 6/10