The Shepherd
The Shepherd
| 01 January 1999 (USA)
The Shepherd Trailers

In a futuristic wasteland, a mercenary saves a woman and her son from lethal cultists.

Reviews
GamerTab

That was an excellent one.

... View More
Stellead

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

... View More
TaryBiggBall

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

... View More
Tymon Sutton

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

... View More
Bezenby

A film that has C Thomas Howell (Dead Fire) as a star should raise alarm, and let's face it, to a certain extent you should know what to expect. The thing with Sheperd is that the whole set up is great: A post-apocalyptic underground world where religious factions fight for the mind and souls of the populace? That sounds great, doesn't it?In the hands of, say, Enzo Castellari or Joe D'Amato, this would have been a great film, and although the film is full of nice quirks and strange characters, the film just seems to meander along and regularly falls into cliché. On the quirky side, you've got Roddy Piper as a messiah type leader (and truth be told, he's good in this), David Carradine as a John Wayne impersonating, crazy ventriloquist (also good), and various scantily clad women, but the action is terribly filmed and the story is just what you would expect. C Thomas Howell (Nursie) just doesn't cut it for me as an action hero. His beard reminded me a Gary Bushell, of all people. I suppose with more to do he would have been more acceptable, but he just runs from one scene to the other with a chick and her kid in tow.You see (Thomas Howell), our hero is a Shepherd, who kills other religious leaders on behalf of Piper, but balks at a hit and has some guys sent after him, one of which was his old cop buddy with a secret. His hit turns out to be another Shepherd with a kid, whom our hero takes a fancy to as his wife and kid were murdered by someone or other. Did I mention that Howell does all this so he can watch his past through sunglasses? If you want to see Carradine acting really strange, or Piper carrying a cross, then this film has that, but if you want a film where you can guess the ending (except for the head scratching motives of the ex-cop buddy), then well I guess this film has that too. It's remarkably unremarkable.

... View More
markymark70

First of all, let me start by saying that I have been a devoted follower of C Thomas Howell's career ever since "The Outsiders" and "The Hitcher". He was an up and coming star in the 1980s - with hits such as "Soul Man" also. The future was bright for this young actor and he had the potential to go on from there and really assert himself in Hollywood. Put it this way - Tom Cruise had a bit part in "The Outsiders" while Howell had the lead. Look at Cruise today !!! But picking material like this drivel will only denigrate Howell's career even more - if that was possible. Why does he pick stuff like this? A small part in a major movie would be of more benefit to him than this rubbish.Essentially the story here takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where everybody lives underground where chaos reigns. Howell is a Shepherd - protecting the flock of various religious leaders by killing off any undesirables. He's a hit-man in other words.The sets are so bad, they wouldn't look out of place on a Thunderbirds episode. The use of slow-motion needlessly repeats itself throughout the movie but is well backed up by bad acting (and bad is a kind word here), no continuity, scenes that are thrown in for no reason whatsoever, vehicles that looked like they were made from a Corn Flakes box and a directorial style that bordered on stupidity. Oh yeah, and the storyline was pathetic too.I hate writing bad reviews about films - especially those in which I really like the star - but this film is so bad I don't believe for one second that anyone could have been proud of it. I am not a filmmaker nor am I a director but I would hide my head in the sand if I'd spent whatever amount of money and time on this movie.In short - this was a monumental waste of time and energy and I would not recommend anyone to EVER see this film. It came free with a DVD player I bought but I still turned the thing off halfway through because I was embarrassed for Howell. Come on C - give yourself some credit and wrestle yourself away from these non-hit wonders and try to knuckle down and get a good part - however small.1/10 - and only because there is no setting for 0/10.

... View More
dave-1093

If "B" movies, tired and corny scripts, and golf carts dressed up as some sort of futuristic mode of transport are your sort of entertainment, you'll probably enjoy this. Otherwise, forget it. The topless newsreader, though completely irrelevant, did give a few seconds of amusement.

... View More
markymarky

First of all, let me start by saying that I have been a devoted follower of C Thomas Howell's career ever since "The Outsiders" and "The Hitcher". He was an up and coming star in the 1980s - with hits such as "Soul Man" also. The future was bright for this young actor and he had the potential to go on from there and really assert himself in Hollywood. Put it this way - Tom Cruise had a bit part in "The Outsiders" while Howell had the lead. Look at Cruise today !!! But picking material like this drivel will only denegrate Howell's career even more - if that was possible. Why does he pick stuff like this? A small part in a major movie would be of more benefit to him than this rubbish. Essentially the story here takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where everybody lives underground where chaos reigns. Howell is a Shepherd - protecting the flock of various religious leaders by killing off any undesirables. He's a hitman in other words. The sets are so bad, they wouldn't look out of place on a Thunderbirds episode. The use of slow-motion needlessly repeats itself throughout the movie but is well backed up by bad acting (and bad is a kind word here), no continuity, scenes that are thrown in for no reason whatsoever, vehicles that looked like they were made from a Corn Flakes box and a directorial style that bordered on stupidity. Oh yeah, and the storyline was pathetic too. I hate writing bad reviews about films - especially those in which I really like the star - but this film is so bad I don't believe for one second that anyone could have been proud of it. I am not a filmmaker nor am I a director but I would hide my head in the sand if I'd spent whatever amount of money and time on this movie. In short - this was a monumental waste of time and energy and I would not recommend anyone to EVER see this film. It came free with a DVD player I bought but I still turned the thing off halfway through because I was embarrassed for Howell. Come on C - give yourself some credit and wrestle yourself away from these non-hit wonders and try to knuckle down and get a good part - however small.

... View More