me43 I recently watched "Skinwalkers" again and enjoyed it more than I did the first time around. As I wrote in my Coyote Waits review, etc., I dislike that moviemakers think Native tribes are interchangeable. I am not only talking about the mispronouncing of words or the expression of cultural ideas, but something more apparent at first glance... somatotypes. Major tribes have different body types, facial structure, ways of speaking, dressing, walking, and even hair styles. They can be as different from each other as they are to non indigenous races. For example: Comanche tend to be tall, muscular and golden skinned. Navajo necks tend to look shorter with the head seemingly very close to the shoulders, in both genders. Sioux have killer cheekbones, while Apache faces are broader, and their legs are shorter; Mohawk noses tend to be "hawkish" and they "look indian" even if the person is a mixed blood with blonde hair and blue eyes! I could go on and on, but you get the point. I also find it amusing that Adam Beach's character pointed out Apache somatotypes in "Smoke Signals", so the actor cannot possibly be unaware. You will see more Navajo in Skinwalkers than I recall seeing in Coyote Waits, and I bet you will soon start recognizing who in the film is a real Navajo and who is not... giving you an appreciation of what some of us keep complaining about. I thought Adam Beach was better in this film and I thought the plot was better. They still didn't film in the right locations as the Navajo are Mesa people, but the scenery is beautiful just the same. Michael Greyeyes can do an insane smile better than anyone since Martin Landau. Even if you haven't seen the other films in the series, you can enjoy this film as it doesn't pull in important references from the others. It has problems, sure, but I enjoyed the ride.

jstewartii I'm not a Native American so I cannot comment on the accuracy of the customs presented or on whether the actors "butchered" the language. As a non Native American, however, I can say the movie was very entertaining and educational. It presented a different perspective and gave me insights I never had.As for the previous reviewer's comments, I can understand why he might be upset. When Hollywood first started doing movies on African-American culture, they presented "facts" that I disagreed with. In the long run, however, things got a little better.Skinwalkers is a beginning.

hsinatra Tony Hillerman is one of my favorite authors. He can weave a tale that really grabs me. To finally see one of his stories come to life on the screen is a great pleasure to me. I suggest that if you haven't read any of Hillerman's works, that you go out and get some.

tazcat39 Having read several of Tony Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee mysteries, I was excited to learn that one would be the first American series of PBS' Mystery.Wes Studi portrayed the "uptight" Leaphorn very well. I first saw him as the scoundrel Magua in Last of the Mohicans, a part well suited to him. Adam Beach was also great as the more sensitive and perhaps a little naive Jim Chee. Although I guessed who the villain was in this story, it was close to the end when Leaphorn and Chee also discovered the truth.I grew up seeing Native Americans or Indians always the enemy. It is good to see a story of Indians and their cultural ways in an everyday setting.