CrawlerChunky
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
Ella-May O'Brien
Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
Phillipa
Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
juarezal
YES they were BILL HICKMAN was the Leader of these men, who would go out and KILL the unbeliever's and the trouble makers for the LDS CHURCH. PORTER ROCKWELL was arrested for the attempted KILLING of GOV. LILAN BOGGS. the leaders of the LDS CHURCH were men who wanted riches from its congregations. SMITH believed in MULITPLE MARRIAGES and YOUNG loved the POWER he had over the state NOTHING was done w/o his PERMISSION. PORTER ROCKWELL was the last of the Avenging Angels. He did not think twice about killing INDIANS OR WHITE MEN he would always say "IT'S AS EASY AS WHEAT". This movie gives a slight insight as to the MORMONS life. BUT MR. HESTON is no where near the iron fisted personality of the dictating PROPHET YOUNG. who said that is not a prophesying man. he would leave that to other MEN.
bkoganbing
Tom Berenger who's a gun totin' sharp shootin' Mormon security man foils an attempted assassination of Brigham Young and is hardly thanked for his efforts. He investigates a little further and finds there's quite a complicated conspiracy at work.It's good to remember that this film is based on a novel, just as the DaVinci Code is. It's not anything remotely resembling real history of the Church of Latter Day Saints. For one thing as another reviewer pointed out the Transcontinental Railroad had been completed by 1872. Not only completed, but Brigham Young made money off it in every possible way.Brigham Young was a complex and charismatic leader who during the Civil War was practically treated like he was a ruling foreign power by both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis. His task as best he saw it was to keep the spirit of the LDS church alive and not let it get too touched by outside influences. Of course no one plays a complex and charismatic religious figure like Charlton Heston. His Brigham Young is like his Moses if Moses had actually gone into Canaan and had the responsibility of building a nation as Joshua did.By the way the Mormons here show enough outside influence. They drink, they smoke, they indulge in extra-marital affairs just like a whole lot of gentiles do. Our protagonist Berenger is no exception.In the film 20th Century Fox did, Brigham Young with Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, and Dean Jagger we saw a bit of the colorful Mormon Scout Porter Rockwell as played by John Carradine. Here the part is played by James Coburn who's older and wiser. Rockwell's place is still hotly debated, he was devoted to Brigham Young for certain and his devotion led to some blood stained hands.I'm not sure how much controversy this made for TV western has caused among the LDS community. Apparently they were a lot smarter in handling this than other religions were with The DaVinci Code. If you remember this is a novel and not a factual retelling of events, you will get some insights into the LDS community.
engineer307
There was an organization that existed in Utah after the Danites were disbanded. They were known as the Destroying Angels. The Mormons did kill people who were no threat to them in southern Utah. This was the Mountain Meadow Massacre on 11 September 1957. They killed over 100 men, women, and children on a wagon train from Arkansas. The only ones spared were children younger than 7. Even children as young as 9 were killed after the party was promised safe passage after turning over their weapons. Those left alive were given to Mormons in Utah to raise but eventually returned to their families back East. This was "The Crime of the Century" in the 1800's. There are some great books and many websites about it.
artzau
I should like this film, but I was more than a little put off by it. I want to be careful here and keep my comments addressed to the film and not its subject, the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints, AKA, the Mormons. The film which takes a VERY sympathetic posture of the Avenging Angels, the well organized and well funded hit squad of the LDS which organized a number of out-right murders of both true believers and "Gentiles (as us non-subscribers to their faith are termed). I was mildly surprised to note that such a murder is treated fairly in the film but that's about all that isn't slanted. The internal struggle of Elders provides us with the good guys/bad guys necessary for a good shoot'em Western and there are some interesting twists, including our old favorite, James Coburn, in a role as the mysterious Porter Rocwell, the organizer of the Avenging Angels. If you are willing to buy the several fictions that exist in the story and the VERY soft pedaling of Mormon polygyny, you will likely find this entertaining. Heston is his old patriarchal self as the "Prophet" Brigham Young and look for Andrew Prine, a promising young actor who never quite made it to the top, in a spot. As a hard-nosed history buff, I had a hard time with several of the religio-political elements of this film but I must confess that I've been so damn hungry lately for a good Western, I'd likely watch it again.
