The Legend of the Lone Ranger

Apart from some language, the movie treats the character of the Lone Ranger and his concern for justice as honorable. Having grown up watching the serial, and many others, depict the quest for a lawfully grounded justice as a worthy goal. As well the serials tried to instill a respect for others. I realize the society has moved appreciably away from the many values that made America great to the point that such depictions as this movie are embarrassingly passe and worth only of a laughing dismissal. One could only hope that similar treatment of our traditional values be one day again be reflected in movies.

The Legend of the Lone Ranger was a flop at the box office and it had nothing to do with the entertainment and quality value of the movie itself. For some reason the owner of the Lone Ranger (Jack Wrather) was concerned that the original actor, the aging Clayton Moore, who was making appearences at the time, would confuse audiences as the Lone Ranger, who was now being depicted by a much younger actor. The core audiences stayed away from this movie in droves. I as a 13 year old did not. Had those fans attended, they would have seen an enjoyable, beautifully shot Lone Ranger action film. The locals and color were fantastic and the story stood true to the original (unlike the Johnny Depp movie, which was also trashed underservedly).There were enough supporting actors to back up Klinton Spillsbury and keep the movie galloping along. I thought Tonto was fantastic and enjoyed Christopher Lloyd (yes. great Scott! THAT Christopher Lloyd) as Butch Cavendish, a disgraced Union army officer. There was no great novelty to the movie, but I as a kid as well as an adult, enjoyed it immensely. C'mon guys, give the movie a chance!

While this film didn't do well at the box office back in 1981. This is the only film that stayed trued to it is roots, or at least tried. Its a fun film and especially 100% better then that so called Johnny Depp Film of 2013. Not sure what the writers of that film were even thinking. The lone ranger was never meant to be a comedy. When I was younger I did watch the Lone Ranger series when it was on even that was better then the Depp film. If there is another reboot hopefully a new film will be better.

Haven't watched this movie since it was first in the theaters . Seeing it again,it was actually better than I remembered. Sadly,over the years,its been put down as being dreck .Mostly because of the limited acting range of its star, Klinton Spilsbury. ( Hey, its the only acting job he was ever hired for .) He was supported however,by an excellent cast in Jason Robarts,Christopher Lloyd and Michael Horse. John Hart,who played the Lone Ranger for one of the 50s televsion series,has a role here as the publisher of the local newspaper. Excepting the scene where Tonto tells the Lone Ranger that silver bullets would make him shoot straight (better ), the script is actually pretty good.Much better that the Armie Hammer movie that came decades later. Yes, this Lone Ranger was worth the purchase price and was watchable.

This is the movie about how the Lone Ranger came to be and how he worked alongside Tonto to bring justice to the West. He was an attorney before there was an ambush by an evil man named Cavendish who set a trap for all the Texas Rangers and killed all but one who uses a mask to keep his identity secret so that he can hunt down and bring them to justice. He even fights Cavendish and has to choose to shoot or not. This is a great movie to watch.

for starters, any way ya slice it, "legend" is an overstatement. the film is actually pretty understated and low-key. there's nothing wrong with that, but it no doubt surprised some at the time, not least of which because the film was probably made in response to the epic Superman films. by modern standards the plot is pretty straightforward and un-gimmicky.(interestingly, the recent Lone Ranger film, starring Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp, is being largely criticized for going to the other extreme of being too epic, of too much happening.)and of course there's the fact that film bombed, to say the least. it got a few "razzies." although to be fair, one of those, declaring the theme song "The Man In The Mask" worst original song, was all too deserved.but for all that, the film is a more pleasant experience than it's reputation would lead you to believe. it's "star," Klinton Spilsbury, may not quite measure up to Clayton Moore or Brace Beemer (from the original radio series), but he's still just engaging enough to get the job done. the major stigma, the inherent black-eye on the film, seems to be Spilsbury, based mostly on the fact that he never appeared in another film. that's actually kind of shame, because Spilsbury did have some degree of talent. it's not that he hurt the film any, it's that he lost the Hollywood lottery.he's aided by a pretty good cast. his Tonto is played by one Michael Horse, who works pretty well once you get passed the lack Jay Silverheels-esque spoonerism. Jason Robards, in what effectively adds up to a "special guest star" role, is a creditable if unremarkable Ulysses S. Grant.one John Hart briefly appears as a newspaper editor. Hart's claim to lasting fame - as dubious as Spilsbury's - is having played the backup Lone Ranger on the tv series for a year whilst Clayton Moore was having a salary dispute. although i daresay some will cease to find that particularly cool when they inevitably start to wonder why Clayton Moore couldn't put in a similar appearance. well as it happens, one Jack Wrather, who owned the property at the time, and Moore were having some legal issues, and Moore was forbidden to have anything to do with The Lone Ranger until they were straightened out.indeed, it's box-office failure was pretty much a by-product of bad publicity. the pubic interpreted the contretemps as a feud, and a genral public who'd grown up with Clayton Moore naturally sided with him.(some might ask the same question about Jay Silverheels. given that he'd just died, i'd say it was health issues in his case.)the oddest bit of casting is Christopher Lloyd as the Ranger's nemesis, Major "Butch" Cavendish. not only is this a rather radical reimagining, converting the character from rambunctious "owlhoot" outlaw to discreditted Army officer, but Lloyd is cast against type, to put it mildly. the man best known as "Reverend" Jim Ignatowski and "Doc" Emmett Brown will no doubt shock some in the role of such an understated, almost Machiavellian antagonist. but don't let anyone tell you he's not up to the task. i've heard that every actor has abilities and characterizations they probably won't have an opportunity to display, particularly those who manage to get typecast. Lloyd's performance here demonstrates the all too literal truth of that assessment.by an interesting twist of Fate, the film is a bit of a milestone. as originally conceived on radio, The Lone Ranger was every bit the "man of mystery" and as such given no secret identity whatsoever. it was gradually, over a handful of years, that they developed the backstory of the sole survivor of an ambushed posse of Texas Rangers, and how their leader just happened to be his elder brother, with a son named Dan Reid out there somewhere. this turn of events couldn't help but force the surname Reid onto our hero, but primary writer Fran Striker insisted, so as to retain at least some degree of that original mystery, that he never be given a first name. so it was from this movie that he finally received a "given" Christian name, although it's rather a drag that they'd hand him a bland, prosaic name like John. oh, well.to summarize, it's another case of the major recurring theme in my reviews, the critically panned commercial failure of a film that turns out not to suck after all. i'm beginning to think i'll never run out of 'em...

I did see this film when it was first released, but could not remember the story. However, it suffered from being slow to get going and plodded until the action sequences during the final 20 minutes. Klinton Spilsbury is one of the most wooden actors I have ever seen-why did they bother with him. Nice to see John Hart in a cameo, shame they couldn't persuade Clayton Moore to appear. I only gave this 3 stars because of the Lone Ranger's hero status to me.

I purchased this DVD mainly due to the fact I'm a JOHN BARRY fan....the music was inappropriate for that film....and the film would have been one of the corniest films I have ever seen.....and the acting was atrocious....BUT ..I laughed a lot....lol

A great DVD well worth buying.

Good

Very mediocre version of the rangers origin. A not very dynamic Klinton Spilsbury in the lead role dosen't help either. Not terrible but could have been much better.