Really Surprised!

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

It's always been Hollywood's ongoing, unforgivable sin to make an unwanted sequel to a well-established classic. At some point the decision was made to try and make another story to High Noon; it seems almost like an impossible mission to completely mess this up - decent actors, gorgeous location, respectable if not a fantastic script... and... well, as I sit here and watch this film I regret to say this movie simply does not hold a candle. It does not hold a candle as most "forced" sequels do to ingenious films preceding them.All I can see in this movie is an aged Pernell Roberts who left 'Bonanza' for all the right reasons but his taste in scripts probably lead to such a stagnant career. Lee Majors doesn't quite impress and neither does Carradine; it would take until Kill Bill with Quentin Tarrantino to finally put the spotlight on him. Most of the acting falls flat and the story doesn't quite make up it's mind as to whether it should be about one person or several of them. In a two-hour time slot, that's not a good sign: if your characters still aren't quite relatable or memorable for a large chunk of my viewing time, why should I be watching this? This is a movie that tries so hard but it shouldn't have to. Maybe it is a good film compared to what most folks disagree with, myself among them, but I can't quite see what makes this particularly good. It feels more like an extended modern remake of Bonanza, the same show Roberts was trying to avoid. A pity. This movie shouldn't have low scores, but it does. Why? Someone decided to call it 'High Noon II'....had marketing not attached it to something better, maybe, just maybe, we'd all like this a little bit better than we do now.

Pernell Roberts left Bonanza because, as a serious actor, there was not enough opportunity for him to show his acting skills. He made this movie? Why oh why?! My wife is a fan of Lee Majors, so we watched this movie! Why oh why?! Everyone knows High Noon was a truly great movie, so they made a 'sequel'. Why oh why?! If you watch this movie before reading the reviews, you too will say 'Why oh why?!' This movie truly deserves the accolade of 'awful'. The story line is extraordinarily weak - an excuse for a final, face-to-face showdown between an ex-hero (Lee Majors) who doesn't like to use a gun and a nasty piece of work (pseudo-lawman Pernell Roberts) who is an expert with a rifle from long distance (note the scene where he pulls his rifle quickly to his eye and shoots a 'baddy' from super long distance without barely a moment to take aim, using a rifle without a sight???) but, according to Kane (Majors), only likes to face up to his victims from a distance. I suffered the pathetic story line hoping for a dramatic ending - it wasn't dramatic, but at least it was an ending! Yes, I watched it all the way through - why oh why?!

Right out of the gate, this movie had an almost impossible hurdle to overcome by invoking the name of "High Noon", so it shouldn't come as any surprise that the result was somewhat disappointing. Had the film makers gone for an entirely different premise, you might have had a reasonably interesting Western. However comparisons with the original were virtually assured by touting the 'Return of Will Kane, and when you throw that challenge at the viewer, you've got to expect to take your lumps.Back in 1952, when Gary Cooper threw his marshal's badge into the dirt in Hadleyville, he was a fifty one year old actor, so I wasn't expecting to see Lee Majors show up a full decade younger. At least Katherine Cannon's portrayal of Mrs. Kane didn't give way to the same reverse aging process as her husband. I really have to wonder why the casting gurus went with this strategy, as it bothered me pretty much throughout the picture.About the only scene that captured my imagination was that saloon showdown when Will Kane first met Ben Irons (David Carradine), and he winds up bluffing the villain and his sidekick Emmett (Charles Benton) into backing down. The picture could have used some more creativity like that, but wound up being a pretty standard Western the rest of the way. Pernell Roberts' turn as sheriff J.D. Ward was fairly successful, having his bases covered as an all around bad guy. I did a quick sit up and take notice when he ordered his black deputy (J.A. Preston) to "Fetch your people" to form a posse, thereby adding racist to the list of his other endearing qualities. The idea that Kane would take up with outlaw Irons to protect him from Marshal Ward was generally handled OK, although more than once I wondered why Irons wouldn't have tried to make his own getaway. Of course everything that happened in the story prefaced the final showdown between Kane and Ward, with the point of Ward's mastery of long range sharp shooting about to be tested. The serving of the warrant gimmick was one of the more effective endings to a final gun battle that I've seen, so you can score another plus for the picture there. But once again, without the clock, without the train tracks and with no mounting tension to speak of, this poor man's version of "High Noon" simply failed to satisfy. And if I didn't hear it with my own ears, I wouldn't have believed that the final score would go spaghetti.

I enjoyed the movie very much. I thought Lee Majors captured the essence of Will Kane better than Gary Cooper. David Carradine was great as a likable, not so bad, not so good, down on his luck guy, who wasn't real particular about the letter of the law. Bonanza's "Adam" was a particularly unlikable bad guy as the law officer who conducted himself and the duties of his office to satisfy his own personal greed and needs. The theme of a wrong, for which the good guy seeks recompense, was good and evident throughout the movie, as it evolved into a theme of "standing up to evil." Lee Majors was great as Will Kane, just trying to do right and finally not being able to walk away from evil, knowing he had what it takes to fight it.