Here's the origin story of the Lone Ranger, built up over a quarter of a century from its beginnings as a local radio show in 1933 to a well remembered TV oater in the 1950s. I found it bloated and unfocused.
Like many attempts in the last forty years to revive a dead franchise, it never seems to figure out what audience it is trying to appeal to. It takes about two thirds of its interminable 100 minutes before Klinton Spilsbury puts on the mask, the color matrix turns from brown to pearlescent, and he ambles away atop his horse to the strains of the 'Storm' sequence from the William Tell Overture to rescue Jason Robards as President Grant from the clutches of Christopher Lloyd, playing a mad army officer called 'Butch'.
It's directed by William Fraker and shot by Laszlo Kovacs, and it seems to spend much of its time showing beautiful compositions rather than advancing its idiotic story. There are shots of Ford Country glimpsed from a stagecoach window. There are some classic stunts, including a man leaping from a horse to the underside of a horse team and being dragged for a bit before letting go. John Barry composed one of his worst scores for this one.
Like many attempts in the last forty years to revive a dead franchise, it never seems to figure out what audience it is trying to appeal to. It takes about two thirds of its interminable 100 minutes before Klinton Spilsbury puts on the mask, the color matrix turns from brown to pearlescent, and he ambles away atop his horse to the strains of the 'Storm' sequence from the William Tell Overture to rescue Jason Robards as President Grant from the clutches of Christopher Lloyd, playing a mad army officer called 'Butch'.
It's directed by William Fraker and shot by Laszlo Kovacs, and it seems to spend much of its time showing beautiful compositions rather than advancing its idiotic story. There are shots of Ford Country glimpsed from a stagecoach window. There are some classic stunts, including a man leaping from a horse to the underside of a horse team and being dragged for a bit before letting go. John Barry composed one of his worst scores for this one.