To me, this movie is perfection.

Simply A Masterpiece

Sadly Over-hyped

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Great acting.......great script/writing. Classic story or lessons that should be the basis for all great award winning films. Icing generally includes cinematography, authenticity, good supporting characters and acting/wardrobe. Never pass up a single Duvall film.....follow the actor who chooses his next role for the love of the story and writing not the fame and fortune. Here's a spoiler ;) Find the movie "wrestling earnest hemmingway" and watch a rare gem of a film that will resonate and dig into the the surface ...just the surface of great films. Gave this an 8 cuz only halfway through and soooo impressed had to look it up!

You can tell a classic film the first time you see it and that was the case with Broken Trail. The same goes for Dances with Wolves, Lonesome Dove, E.T., Close Encounters, Braveheart, The Godfather series, The Star Wars series, Shawshank Redemption and so many others. This film has all the elements of a classic and more. Robert Duvall and Thomas Haden Church are terrific as usual as are the rest of the brilliant cast. As for those strange few reviewers on here who found the story dull and boring, what were you drinking or smoking? The story here, like Lonesome Dove, is engrossing, riveting, emotional, sometimes tense, sometimes heart-breaking; I mean, what more could one ask for in a story. The film also had stunningly visual scenery, a fine, servicing music score, authenticity galore in sets, costuming, art direction. Yes, they are making them like they used to. That old line no longer fits. If you think they aren't (making them like they used to) then you're going to the wrong films. I have to give 'props' to the young Asian girls in this film. They were completely charming and made us care about them. BTW, I don't know what 'props' means but I think it fits here. I highly recommend Broken Trail!

The film opens in Chinatown San Francisco, 1898 where we five exotic virgins from the Celestial Empire are bought by Captain Billy Fender (James Russo) to be sold as slaves and introduced into the brief and violent life of prostitution…Robert Duvall stars as "Print" Ritter, an old cowhand whose sister left a will inheriting all to him rather than to her own son, Tom Harte (Thomas Haden Church) who lives in John Day Country Oregon...Print ignores why she has done it, or why was crossed between the two, but his sister done it…Print got the idea to buy a team of tough, high-desert mustangs—three to eight years of age—to take them to Sheridan, Wyoming to sell to the British Empire; the money they'll earn will be to increase their capital… And on the shares, Print figures a 25-75 split on profits after expenses and loan repayment to the bank… From this point, Hill's Western becomes a road movie, with all kinds of odd characters, from ugly villains to a friendly musician, but the key to "Broken Trail" is that through a series of circumstances, fate has placed the five Chinese innocent girls in the hands of Tom and his uncle… But the reality is another… Their families sold them to that rat captain heading out to the mining camp, where Kate, an odious saloon owner, bought them from an associate in San Francisco…Our two cowboys save the girls' lives from rape and take them along on their journey…With great photography, gorgeous vistas, perilous ground, sensible brave girls, good and decidedly courageous men, great action when it is necessary, and a big confrontation at the climax of the movie, Hill's Western is a must see film for the fans of the genre

This was a very worthwhile production, with excellent acting all the way through. Robert Duvall is brilliant, of course, as is his co-star. It is not an overwhelmingly good western,("Lonesome Dove", or "Unforgiven") and nor would I put it in the "superior" category with something like "Open Range" or "Will Penny". The second disk of the series really goes downhill, writing-wise, and you have events rather becoming muddled. The ending is also muddled. This dragged the movie down significantly. But, certainly the most outstanding part of this movie was the setting, photography and physical beauty of a horse drive--in "Broken Trail" the horses and herd were really a major character. The drovers and wranglers for this production deserved a special Emmy. And all of this was set in some of the most beautiful country available on the planet. A real pleasure to watch this movie.