ccthemovieman-1 This is something of a poor man's "Lonesome Dove." The story is a combination of two Louis L'Amour novels and doesn't have the intensity of Larry McMurtrey's aforementioned "Dove," nor the beautiful cinematography.The best part of "The Sacketts" is the cast, led by some of the best actors to ever play cowboys. I mean, this is worth owning alone just to see Sam Elliott, Tom Selleck, Glenn Ford and Ben Johnson all in the same story. These guys - especially Elliott and Selleck - were always fantastic playing cowboys. Not only that, you get classic stars such as Gilbert Roland, Mercedes McCambridge, Ruth Roman, Jack Elan, Slim Pickens and more ! Wow - impressive.Being a made-for-TV film, you don't get much profanity or blood and for most of the film, you get two separate stories going on at once. One story features Selleck and Jeff Osterhage as brothers and another as Elliott, as the older brother involved with his own adventures.Even though I can't compare it favorably to Lonesome Dove, it's still a decent western on its own merits.

echurch I really felt sorry for some of the classic western actors who ended up participating in this drivel. The whole thing seemed like it was written, directed and edited by a bunch of eighth-graders! It also seemed that it might have been severely edited to reduce the running time, and if that's the case, my criticism might be bit too harsh. Was this perhaps originally a 6-hour movie that was cut down to 4 hours?I can't believe that, at the time this is being written, that IMDb readers have given this an average rating of 7.5. I'm giving it a 1 in hopes that others will too to keep serious movie-watchers from wasting four hours of their time as I did last night.

grayoak It was probably OK as a TV movie back in 1979, but not that great to watch today.My biggest laugh was after Ben Johnson gets shot in the leg, he was using a makeshift crutch on the wrong side! It has some very good actors that have been in some solid movies, and it contains some strong moral themes but it just doesn't work. Also watch for Glenn Ford pull on a door that opens outwards; I guess they didn't have either the time or the budget to re-shoot such goofs.Even the music dates the movie. It sounds like some of it has been lifted from Kung Fu!

Sagebrush_Bob Funny, I like westerns but have never take the time to read a Louis L'Amour book. If this script is any indication, I don't see what all the fuss is about. While better than 99.9% of the fare on TV in the last decade, this is a definitely no-surprises made-for-TV movie, with the proper breaks in the proper places and everything wrapped up neat and tidy. *Way* too neat and tidy. Those expecting "Lonesome Dove" will be disappointed. Those expecting a few hours of Sam Elliot and Tom Selleck will be happy. Good sneering and facial quivering by Glenn Ford. Always love seeing Ben Johnson in anything. John Vernon always makes a good bad guy, but I would have appreciated seeing him get his towards the end. Being led off to jail wasn't enough. I also liked the bad guy in the bar, blonde, two guns which he (attempted to cross-draw)who Sam Elliot informed he'd have to kill and it would ruin his supper. Don't know the guy's name though.