It could have been better with a better director and cinematographer. The rest of it like the acting and story was OK but perhaps a little short on plot. Imagine some lovely wide establishing shots of the wilderness, this would have added so much. The movie is very much here's the camera there's the people. There's not much change in how it's shot so it's visually unappealing. The acting is always very low in mood without anyone punching a word in a sentence or putting emotion into a phrase. This is the directors fault more than anyone's. Even if the actors are inexperienced the director should realise that and give firm direction for what they have in mind for the story. And the story isn't all that good. So from poor writing and direction, we get mediocre performances. When this is combined with lackluster cinematography and not much of a score you get left with this movie. It's not that bad, certainly not as bad as some of the ratings and reviews. I think it's got to be a solid 5-6/10 for what it is. So it's not terrible, but could use improvements to my mind. It may well be that what I'm suggesting is beyond the scope of the budget. Therefore it's good enough for what it is. Definitely watchable.
Review of The Desperate Riders
