Let's be realistic.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Like most here, I stumbled across this movie by accident and am glad I did.Robert Forester is great, and Sean Patrick Flannery does a good job as the "Lone Hero," but for me Lou Diamond Phillips stole the show.His portrayal of a bad guy was anything but routine. His character is complex as a truly bad "bad guy" bordering almost on the unbelievable. A real cold-blooded killer with no compunction at all in killing people-cops or anyone else he chooses, he also possesses a genuine sardonic sense of the world he lives in. He bring an edge of humor into what could have been a run-of-the-mill murderer.The humorous overtones carry through his every action and are reflected in his continued attempt to gain empathy from Flannery's character. One could almost say he is playing Satan. He enjoys his evil life style and tries over and over again to corrupt Flannery.I suspect Lou Diamond Phillips enjoyed this roll and was allowed by the director to shape the character himself.His evil is an attractive evil and yet you know that if Flannery let's up or goes along with Phllips, Phillips' character would kill him in a second.I really enjoyed this movie.Oh yeah, and the gun play/Western style shoot-em-up tone of the movie makes this one a keeper. Recommended.

For those living in the Ivory Tower who think that "Citizen Kane" is the movie by which all others should be judged, this movie is complete trash. For the rest of us who remember that movies are ENTERTAINMENT before ART, this movie certainly has the capacity to be entertaining.It's a modern western: A small town in the west, a gang of bandits, and a nobody who has to save the day thanks to an older, tougher mentor. The action is fast-paced, yet refreshingly simple, and the movie deserves bonus points for not taking itself too seriously...in fact, the general pace of the movie switches fluidly between action and comic relief. The direction is effective, with a few inventive shots, and the score has the perfect "modern western" feel to it. The acting, however, is a bit weak. Sean Patrick Flanery acts like he's about to fall asleep, and most of the rest of the cast is completely forgettable. Two exceptions however, are Robert Forster (who is for the post part solid) and Lou Diamond Phillips, who actually overplays to the point of being likable (it's an over-the-top character, thus requiring an over-the-top performance).Anyone looking for a meaningful cinematic experience will surely be disappointed, but if you're looking for an entertaining shoot 'em up, you can do a lot worse.7/10

I couldn't say I like this movie more. I gave it a 10! The characters are very like-able and the story is really good yet simple. Bart(Lou Diamond Phillips) is head of a lawless biker gang that has a strong dislike for cops as you'll see in the beginning. While Bart and one of his biker brothers are on an excursion of violence and mayhem, they encounter John(Sean Patric Flanery), a simple guy from a very small town that works in a wild west show locally. After Bart and Dog, his biker gang companion, rob and beat down smoky their local bartender,Bart makes it clear what will happen to anyone who is witness from his biker brothers. John is the only witness with enough guts to tell the police what he saw and who they were. From here on the story really gets moving. The following day Bart and Dog show up in the mock wild west town John and his fellow bar companions work at. John without really thinking gets the drop on them with his stage gun, a real gun but loaded with blanks. Once in jail Bart uses his one phone call to call some more of his biker brothers who dispatch the sherif and his deputy, setting Bart free. From here on it's John versus the bikers with some help from another West show worker Gus(Robert Forster).Flanery's is very like-able as the character John. John's not too sure of himself in the beginning and just in general but finds his inner courage when he is confronted with the harsh realities that a small town such as his never see. Phillips I think has made a great accomplishment with his portrayal of Bart. Evil to the bone but somehow you still like him. Bart feels a connection with John as if John is his soul opposite or something along that line. John couldn't do more to show Bart he is connected to him in no way and is determined to make sure Bart doesn't find an untimely death and serves out his life in prison. Forster as Gus is somewhat of a rougher good guy and is very cool. An excellent supporting role to Flanery and the theme of the movie. This movie is simply too good to be a B movie. I would have payed to see it and infact bought the DVD.This film shows a solid script with some imagination can produce a very good movie on a low budget. I wish more movie exec's would catch on to this and stop showing the brainless, tasteless garbage in the theatre's that caters to mindless teenagers and young adults that simply have no taste or understanding about what makes a film good. Maybe a little more budget and this film would have made the theatres. You'd be amazed what you can learn about film making from lower brow movies such as Lone Hero. My final statement is this: Story and acting REALLY CAN carry a movie without being all flashy and in a pretty package to get your attention and dollars. This movie is really worth seeing and when you do you may find yourself watching it repeatedly as myself and many others have.

This film drew me in from the start. I like the idea of a small town that makes its living putting on old-fashioned Wild West shows, that is suddenly faced with a gang of renegades not unlike the old Clanton gang of the real Wild West. Surrounded by thugs, the town, though seemingly armed to the teeth, finds itself paralyzed and seems incapable of defending itself. It's an old theme: civilization vs savagery. How do you deal with bandits on the rampage? How far would you go to take back your town? And, as this film cleverly suggested, is the town *worth* saving? To me, "Lone Hero" follows the tradition of "High Noon" and brings to mind the work of Kurosawa. Sadly, what Hollywood offers today is not remotely what it offered yesterday. "Lone Hero" is an updated Western (a forgotten genre) and it has the kind of black-and-white good-vs-evil morality that harks back to the days of John Wayne. I like the fact that this film actually embraces a moral vision not seen in current cinema (except in films like "Gladiator" and "Black Hawk Down"): bravery, honor, sacrifice, and yes, though amazingly it seems offensive to some, the notion of machismo - a quality that we've somehow lost (to our detriment).