Looking for recommendations!

[Marc Adamchek]

I'm once again laid up with a really bad episode of my chronic sciatica and am reading and watching movies all day/night. Right now I'm looking for recommendations for DVD's on the Alamo and Texas history/stories in general. I've got a good amount of books in my library on Texas and the Texas Rangers especially, most I've read, some I've yet to read. But I've got none in the DVD dept except for the Lonesome Dove franchise. I really appreciate your help, so a BIG THANKS in advance!

 

[Captjoel]

Sorry for your circumstances Marc! I can only tell you that I have been there and done that with the same kind of trouble. First, I do not know of too many video's available about your Texas interests. I was laid up back when the epic series "Centennial" came out. I enjoyed it back then and have a copy on VHS and still enjoy it occasionally. Also got to watch the series "Shogun" around the same time frame and enjoyed it also. A few years ago I bought a CD series called "John Adams" and loved it. It will take your mind off of your pain for a day or two. Hope your back straightens itself out without medical intervention! Joel

 

[tenngun]

The history channel used to have its history of guns, the great ships and the real west, I watched them till I wore them out.

 

[colmoultrie]

Believe it or not, the Billy Bob Thornton version of "The Alamo" was actually decent - some wooden dialogue, but better than some other versions.

There's always the version of Forrest Carter's "Gone to Texas" with Clint Eastwood, better known as "The Outlaw Josey Wales." That's entertaining, if not strictly accurate...

 

[smoothshooter]

I don't know how factual it was, but I found the more " introspective " version of Crockett that Thornton played very interesting. Like the part where one night just before the end, in a conversation with a friend, he says something to the effect, " If I was just ol' David from Tennessee, I would have already slipped over that wall in the dark and been out of here. But I'm DAVY CROCKETT, and he wouldn't do a thing like that".

Great irony!

A prisoner of his own reputation.

 

[tenngun]

Ride with the devil was a movie I enjoyed. The WBTS in the border states is somewhat under represented. And although Missiouri looks a mite differnt then Canada I enjoyed the Assination of Jesse James

 

[Rick Boylan]

Yes on both movies. :thumbsup:

 

[Marc Adamchek]

Yeah, I wrote about RIDE WITH THE DEVIL elsewhere in this forum after I saw it. I thought it was the best Civil War movie I'd ever seen, and I still hold to that. That's another category I'd welcome some people's opinions on: Their favorite movie(s)of TWBTS, not counting documentaries.

I also really like The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Bob Ford. This movie caught a lot of negative flak here awhile back but I thought it was well done.

I own both DVD's.

OK, so let's open up that new category. BEST MOVIE ON THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES

 

[Rick Boylan]

OK, on the Alamo, I like both John Wayne's version and the one done by Ron Howard for Disney. They each brought something to the story. I also enjoyed the show Texas.

On the war of northern agression I like God's and Generals, Andersonville, Ride with the Devil, Outlaw Josie Wales, Gettysburg.

I also liked the Assassination of Jessie James. I know the guy who made the holsters for Assassination and Tombstone, plus 3:10 to Yuma, and he dislikes the Jessie James movie. He said he thinks it was too slow. I disagree with him, but we all have our opinions. He made me my first holster rig when I first got into NCOWS. I still love it. This was long before he started making leather goods for movies. His name is Will Ghromley. If you're looking for a holster for old west shooting, his stuff is the best and very affordable.

 

[Alden]

I have one for ya in the cheap Echo Bridge Home Entertainment K-Mart 20-video box set called Great American Westerns: Gunslingers.

Movie is called Gone to Texas (aka Houston: The Legend of Texas) in it. Don't like mumbling Sam Elliott but this was better than I expected and the second-highest voted film in the set -- 3.5 out of 5 (four had that same rating by the way) is about right. See below...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091224/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

 

[Marc Adamchek]

OK Alden, You're on. I just bought that el cheapo through Amazon. I suspect that it's filled with High School play stick-on beards and such, but if the acting can pull it through, well then OK.

IowaShooter, I agree, I like and own all of the movies mentioned and I do plan on checking out your friend Will Ghromley. Just one thing tripped me up: NCOWS Translation Please?

 

[Alden]

Glad ya found it cheap Mark! Citizen Kane or The Godfather, no, it ain't, but at a bargain price it's not that cheap/bad a little film overall except for Sam Elliott's typical narrow range of acting which spans from apparently-angry-about-something mumbling to clearly-excited-about-being-angry mumbling. It kinda leaves ya wanting more truth be told...

I don't see the same DVD set on Amazon, e-Bay or at K-Mart sites now but the latter has it as "Gone To Texas" in a Sam Elliott double-feature for only $4.99+ if anyone else is desperate for an OK Sam Houston, Texas independence, "historical" movie that seems to be out of print now (although e-Bay had a copy under one of the two names each in Spanish and Greek of all things).

 

[Marc Adamchek]

Yeah, they showed the single "Gone to Texas" but it was out of stock so I bit on the two-fer.

 

[Snakebite]

I bought "Gone To Texas" several years ago, I loaned it to a friend with the stipulation he COULD NOT return it to me. The only thing worse was the "Texas Rising" series.

 

[tenngun]

Sam Elliot, like John Wayne or Errol Flyn is one of those "actors"who couldn't act to save their souls...but I enjoy watching them anyhow. Never look for hc from anything you find on Hollywood. It's all lord of the rings, just fantasy that can be fun. Come to think of it ther was this English guy who used to wright plays about history. Wrote one about a scots king, another about ceaser one about Richard the third. Played a little fat and loose with the facts, but fun to watch. BS is an old and hc tradition

 

[Captjoel]

Smile when you say that pardner! Thespians come from another planet. :surrender:

 

[Rick Boylan]

OK Alden, You're on. I just bought that el cheapo through Amazon. I suspect that it's filled with High School play stick-on beards and such, but if the acting can pull it through, well then OK.

IowaShooter, I agree, I like and own all of the movies mentioned and I do plan on checking out your friend Will Ghromley. Just one thing tripped me up: NCOWS Translation Please?

NCOWS = National Congress of Old West Shootists.

We are a group that tries to keep to the HC/PC dress and guns of the period of 1866 - 1899.

A fun group that isn't in it for the speed or beating the clock. We stick to being safe and having fun. No gamers allowed. No short stroke kits and no modified guns to cut time off of your guns. Safety is #1. But we also strive to have as authentic dress as possible. In my outfit I have a safe match from the late 1880s and my pocket watch was made in 1886. That kind of thing.

 

[Rick Boylan]

I have Gone to Texas in my collection. I enjoy the heck out of it.

:thumbsup:

 

[Marc Adamchek]

Many Thanks for the translation, Iowa, and that group sounds like a really fun crowd. The time period interests the heck out of me as it includes muzzleloading AND breechloading firearms. A LOT of interesting guns, especially handguns in there, particularly the conversions. The Midwest is sounding more and more fun the more I find out about these little enclaves throughout the states.

 

[Alden]

Well, not criticizing you, but, you ARE in Massachusetts, the place that was the cradle of the Revolution and reenacts Lexington and Concord every year yet banned muzzleloading muskets for a while...

Any place would be pretty much more fun.