The Shadow Riders (1982)

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

**_Selleck and Sam Elliott as brothers chasing Confederate renegades_**

While this is not a sequel to “The Sacketts” from three years earlier, it features five of the main actors of that 2-part film (aka ‘miniseries’), as well as the writers, Louis L'Amour and Jim Byrnes. Selleck and Elliott, as well as Jeff Osterhage, all wanted to play in another Western together and so they contacted L’Amour about it and this movie is the result. The events take place in the weeks after Lee surrendered to Grant.

It’s a good enough Western, which is to be expected with such stalwarts involved in the production. There are similarities to John Wayne’s “The Undefeated” from thirteen years earlier, although this one is distinguished by ocean shore sequences, which brings to mind “One-Eyed Jacks.”

Unfortunately, there are some glaring mistakes which can be attributed to the television budget, such as Kate (Katharine Ross) handing Jesse a modern lock blade knife on the beach. Then there’s the frivolous banjo-plucking score combined with too many smiles, which doesn’t gel with the grim nature of the life-or-death proceedings. Then, again, these guys just made it through the Civil War so maybe this adventure seems like child’s play by comparison.

Petite blonde Natalie May is on hand as Heather, one of the females destined for slavery in Mexico. She had a memorable part in the post-apocalyptic “Parasite” released earlier the same year.

It runs about 1h 32m and was shot in the Jamestown/Sonora area, which is a 2-hour drive southeast of Sacramento in north-central California; meanwhile the Baffin Bay, Texas, scenes were done at Santa Cruz, which is an almost 3-hour drive to the southwest from Jamestown.

GRADE: B-