MartinHafer I love Randolph Scott Westerns as they usually manage to rise above the many, many mediocre and derivative films in the genre. Throughout the 1930s-60s, Hollywood churned out a bazillion of cowboy films and after a while, they almost all look the same to me--with the same clichés and myths about the West and the same general story lines. Yet, due to his excellent acting and believable persona, Scott was able to make a long string of these films and they almost always managed to be a bit better--and some even went on to become classics.Sadly, THUNDER OVER THE PLAINS is no classic. Part of it has to be because the story line is so familiar and unexciting. I've seen a ton of films about the Reconstruction era and this one isn't much to speak of--especially since it is so historically inaccurate. I am an American History teacher and understand that the Reconstruction era is highly misunderstood. Starting with such films as BIRTH OF A NATION, several decades of Hollywood films followed a fictitious Southern revisionist version of history. In this revisionist world, the Southerners were all gentlemen (forget that many owned slaves) and the dreaded "dang Yankees" in the form of "Carpetbaggers" flooded the South to take advantage of everyone. In D.W. Griffith's BIRTH OF A NATION, these evil swine were only eventually put in their place by the brave men of the cloth. No, not the clergy, but the Ku Klux Klan--a hate group! While there is thankfully no Klan in this film to save the day, there certainly are the evil carpetbaggers and it's up to good Union officer Scott to save the day for the poor Southerners. Folks, this didn't happen--never did.Even if the story weren't a lot of historical hogwash, the film is tepid and ordinary throughout. The characters seem too often "black or white" and Lex Barker seemed more like a psycho than an officer (and probably would have been hanged for his actions). Please, give me a film without the one-dimensional characters AND Randolph Scott, such as RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY, RIDE LONESOME or THE TALL T--not this mediocre and tepid film.

tardis432002 This just became one of my favorite Randolph Scott movies.First, there's an intelligent script by Russell Hughes, who wrote for some good radio shows like "Nightbeat" and Alan Ladd's "Box 13", as well as such films as Anthony Mann's "Last Frontier", Delmer Daves' "Jubal", and even the best of the giant-bug movies, "Them".Then, there's the look and feel of the film. Director Andre De Toth and his great cinematographer Bert Glennon (who had done remarkable work with the likes of Josef von Sternberg and John Ford) light and shoot for realism and emotional impact. Glennon had also shot "Man Behind the Gun" (available on the flip side of this DVD), so I suppose director Felix Feist could be blamed for that film's phony-looking stage sets. Here, in "Thunder... ", a barroom scene looks like it was shot in a real barroom (foreshadowing Clint Eastwood's "natural lighting" technique by decades) and exteriors are shot outdoors. To be fair, the Feist film may have had budget or producer issues, but given that film's potential (dealing with water rights, corrupt politicians, the possible secession of southern California, even the semi-legendary Joaquin Murrietta as a supporting character) it still seems like a typical, entertaining, 40's-style B-movie. "Thunder...", released the same year, 1953, seems more forward-looking, more compelling, more of the age of the "adult" Westerns, even though the literally flag-waving ending with its narrative paean to the great state of Texas kind of pulls us back to B-movie-land.

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) This film takes place in Texas after the civil war. The "carpetbaggers" were buying cotton bales for ridiculous prices after it was auctioned. Randolph Scott is Captain Porter who is obliged to maintain the law even though he is really on the side of those who are fighting the carpetbaggers, whose leader is Ben Westman (Charles McGraw). Scott does not resign only because he thinks someone else will be much harsher. When Captain Hodges (Lex Barker) shows up with a different point of view, you know trouble is coming, he even starts seducing Scott's wife Norah (Phyllis Kirk). Entertaining, with a lot of action and great color like most of Scott's films of the fifties.

Gregor Hauser (gregorhauser) Randolph Scott often shines as typical westerner. Here he plays Captain Potter a perfect example for Christian charity. He even prefers humiliation and danger to reputation of his lovely wife. He is a hero and a saint.Scott never looks unbelievable in his part.Lex Barker, former Tarzan and later superman "Old Shatterhand", plays against his image as arrogant villain. And I think he does it very well.The story is entertaining and there are a lot of other good actors like Henry Hull, Phyllis Kirk and Elisha Cook jr. in it.This really is an enjoyable B-western directed by veteran Andre de Toth.