Mill Creek Entertainment; Amazon

I know for a fact there are many fans of Larry McMurtry's novels, especially the Lonesome Dove series. For those of you don't already know, the 1989 miniseries adaptation of Lonesome Dove was recently released on a Blu-ray Steelbook (Not Rated; 6 hrs 13 mins; $34.98) from Mill Creek Entertainment. Additionally, it comes with a movieSPREE digital code.

Directed by Simon Wincer, the miniseries featured a star-studded cast including Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Diane Lane, Danny Glover, Anjelica Huston, Robert Urich, Steve Buscemi, D.B. Sweeney, Rick Schroder, and Chris Cooper.

Told in four parts, Lonesome Dove centers around two former Texas Rangers and lifelong friends, Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call (played by Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones), going on one last adventure together - a cattle drive from Texas to Montana.

Bonus Features include:

• The Making of an Epic
• Cast Interviews
• Original Sketches and Concept Drawings
• On Location with Director Simon Wincer
• Interview with Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Larry McMurtry

MILL CREEK ENT. * AMAZON

Thanks to an ice storm, I had nothing better to do in last two days than to watch the miniseries Lonesome Dove (6 hours 13 minutes; $14.98), which will be re-released on a 2-disc DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment on February 19th.

The 1989 miniseries is based on the novel of the same name by Larry McMurtry, which was inspired by failed movie script McMurtry had co-wrote with Peter Bogdanovich that originally attended to star John Wayne, Henry Fonda, and James Stewart. Of course the "film version" never occurred resulting in McMurtry writing the novel, which was published in 1985. William D. Wittliff adapted the book for television with Simon Wincer in the director's chair.

The miniseries' cast includes Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Diane Lane, Danny Glover, Robert Urich, Diane Lane, Anjelica Houston, Steve Buscemi, Tim Scott, D.B. Sweeney, Rick Schroder, Chris Cooper, and Frederic Forrest.

Lonesome Dove centers around two former Texas Rangers, Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call (played by Duvall and Lee), leading a cattle drive from Lonesome Dove, Texas to Montana. Along for the ride with them is Jake Spoon (played by Urich), an ex-Texas Ranger; Lorena Wood (played by Lane), a prostitute trying to escape to a better life; Joshua Deets (played by Glover), a former Texas Ranger scout; Pea Eye Parker (played by Scott), another ex-Texas Ranger; Newt Dobbs (played by Schroder), Call's illegitimate son; and Dishwater Boggett (played by Sweeney), the ramrod of the trail herd.

Final Thoughts

Mill Creek Entertainment; Amazon

Probably almost everyone has heard of The Three Musketeers. And, no, I'm not referring to the candy bar. I'm talking about the 1844 novel of the same name by Alexandre Dumas père, which has spawned over twenty film adaptations and thirteen animated adaptations. 

My favorite Three Musketeer movie is the 1973 film directed by Richard Lester and starred Oliver Reed, Frank Finlay, Richard Chamberlain, and Michael York. Two sequels, The Fourth Musketeer and The Return of the Musketeers, were later made. Michael York played Jacques d'Artagnan in those three films and would later reprise the character for the 2004 miniseries The Lady Musketeer (La Femme Musketeer), which was released to DVD + Digital from Mill Creek Entertainment earlier this year. 

Directed by Steve Boyum, the film centers around
Valentine D'Artagnan, Jacques' daughter, traveling to Paris to become a musketeer. Thanks to an introduction letter written by her father, she is easily accepted as a new recruit by Commander Finot (played Roy Dotrice). However, due to her gender, the original three musketeer son's (Etienne Aramis, Antoine Porthos, and Gaston Athos) aren't as accepting.

A woman has never been titled a "swordsman," so Valentine must prove to everyone that she is just as good as her father.

Final Thoughts

Mill Creek Entertainment * Amazon

Do remember when CBS cranked out one Larry McMurtry miniseries after another?

While I do recall the Lonesome Dove miniseries and its sequels/prequels, I have never seen any of them. And I have never read any of the books they are adapted from. The only Larry McMurtry novels I have ever read are the four books in The Berrybender Narratives.

Mill Creek Entertainment recently released Buffalo Girls (NR; 182 minutes; $14.98) to DVD + Digital, which is a 1995 two-part miniseries based on the 1990 novel of the same name by Larry McMurtry. Directed by Rod Hardy, the miniseries starred Anjelica Houston, Melanie Griffith, Sam Elliott, Gabriel Byrne, and Reba McEntire.

Buffalo Girls is the fictionalized story based on the real-life Calamity Jane (played by Anjelica Houston), a woman who dressed, talked, and acted liked a cowboy. She's most famous for being "linked" to Wild Bill Hickok (played by Sam Elliott in the miniseries). In McMurtry's version, Calamity gave birth to a daughter after Hickok was murdered and later gave the child to a British couple.

Part One of the miniseries centers around Calamity, who regrets giving up her daughter, and Dora DuFran (played by Melanie Griffith), a madam of a brothel/hotel in Deadwood, who has an on-again off-again relationship with Ted Blue (played by Gabriel Byrne). Part Two mostly centers around Calamity joining  Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, which takes her, along with her friends Bartle Bone (played by Jack Palance) and Jim Ragg (played by Tracey Walter), to England, where she gets to visit her young daughter.

Final Thoughts