Posted on 08/23/2007 5:45:11 PM PDT by Reaganesque
"This handsome indie Western damningly recounts the 1857 slayings of 120 settlers passing through Utah, but the didactic presentation, grim speechifying and tacked-on love story all signify a less-than-healthy regard for the audience's intelligence."
Variety Justin Chang
1/4 "The film feels less like historical drama than a venomous religious tract printed on celluloid." Minneapolis Star Tribune Colin Covert
"September Dawn has the ham-fisted lyricism of political ads and pharmaceutical commercials." Village Voice J. Hoberman
"When the movie isn't doling out ham-fisted history...it gives us magnificent vistas of a pristine prairie...and there's a deep sweetness to the subplot of Jonathan and Emily falling in love." Film Journal International Frank Lovece
1.5/4 "When watching the screen depiction of a historic event in which 120 people were murdered, giggling is not the appropriate response." Salt Lake Tribune Sean Means
1/5 "It has the chilling certitude of the self-righteous." Orlando Sentinel Roger Moore
2.5/5 "The real problem is that September Dawn isn't a very good movie. It moves too much like a public-school history pageant and gives us mono-dimensional characters who speak dialogue that fairly reeks of printer's ink." Arizona Republic Richard Nilsen
1/5 "The jarring MTV-style filmmaking is so distracting and the 'messaging' so unsubtle that after two long hours you find yourself leaving the theater with a massive headache, wondering when you started to hate Mormons." Orlando Weekly Brett Register
1/4 "Forget Grindhouse. September Dawn is the year's first honest-to-goodness exploitation flick." Slant Magazine Nick Schager
1/4 "Bombastic, slow-drying dramatization with lead-weight dialogue and a turgid romantic subplot." Newsday Gene Seymour
D- "Has serious problems in historical terms. But in this case they're exacerbated by the simple ineptitude of the filmmaking." One Guy's Opinion Frank Swietek
"Even if one gets past the movie's controversial depictions, there is the matter of its second-rate, made-for-television fare -- the poor battle choreography, the wooden editing and the cheesy writing." Washington Post Desson Thomson
2.5/4 "If September Dawn is a kind of Western, it's a Western utterly devoid of heroism or the usual archetypes. But the core message transcends time: Hatred laced with religious fanaticism is a toxic blend." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Dave Tianen
1/4 "Doesn't even measure up to an episode of your typical, cowboy TV show from the Fifties like Roy Rogers or The Lone Ranger. Get my drift, Kimosabe?" NewsBlaze Kam Williams
Click here for links to the full reviews.
It’s been covered before, in books and documentaries. Fictionalized movies give a mixture of truth and entertainment with emphasis on the latter.
BTW, I’m no longer a Christian, but when I was I considered Mormons to be Christians. I still do.
They should have waited a year, hoping he’d be nominated, and then release it shortly before the general election.
How in the world does eliminating Romney from the primaries help the Democrats? Only if you think Mitt is the most electable candidate, which is at best debatable.
These are republicans who produce this movie and maybe were not to keen on Romney getting the nomination!
Timing is every thing!
We don’t need to attack Jon Voight.
So what do you believe is a valid subject for a movie, since we can't make historical pictures? 300? Braveheart? Joan of Arc? The Scarlet Letter? Roots? Gunfight at the O.K. Corral? I think you get my drift, right?
BTW, I’m no longer a Christian, but when I was I considered Mormons to be Christians. I still do.
Good for you. I don't.
Republicans make movies?
In the interviews these are things that came out.
It is Joh who used in the interview a religious fanitic which gives a different flavor to this.
I don't know the details they did not do autopsy in those days I guess. I am sure the rogue Mormons did do it but if the stories of disarming is true I don't? I am sure the rogues were paranoid and thought they needed to do this. The whole thing still remains a mystery. I am a convert so I have no family history to protect.
That is a funny question why not?
Jon Voight is a Republican and so is the director.
If so, it apparently affected the entire Church in SW Utah.
The attack was ordered by the local Church leaders and implemented by the regional militia in their organized bands.
Did Young specifically order the attack? Doubtful. He wasn't that stupid. Although the Church suffered remarkably little blowback from the incident, managing to pin the entire blame on one man, JD Lee.
BTW, what's a file leader?
The movie is entertainment and propaganda. Unfortunately, most people will look upon it as a documentary. As we know, most people are really that gullible.
Voight appears to be one of those nice guy idealists. I wish he’d read the books and stayed away from making the movies.
File leader was used in a positive way for those in the priesthood to follow the leader in your group.
To keep the Lord‘s covenants
Like Boys scout so there is order and not chaos!
But the way it sound these guys were a group onto themselves and did not listen.
It’s pretty well known that most people in the movie business are liberal Democrats.
While I don't condone what John D. Lee and others did to the Fancher party, some members of the Fancher party DID make those very threats. They boasted of their participation in the murders of innocent Mormons in Missouri, and promised to bring more of the same on the Mormons in Utah. Such threats and boasting remove those making them from the "innocent" category.
Imagine Osama Bin Laden traveling through your neighborhood bragging about 9/11, pointing at you and saying "You're next infidel!". You would give him a glass of goat milk and wish him well?
I am sure Jon is an idealist but he also was not too keen of his Mormon mother in law!
I have not been able to get to the bottem of this family estrangement or fued!
They worked closely with the Francher folks and never used the Church at for understanding.
If they were sincere they would have launch it in 06
If they had so much lead time why is it such a turkey?
No, really, how can one get a truthful and factual answer to the real lead time?
The reviewer is a idiot,comparing one incendent to 1500 years of muslim rape,looting,and mass murder is obscene
This just a bad attempt to white wash 9/11 by dhimmis and usefull idiots
“”Imagine Osama Bin Laden traveling through your neighborhood bragging about 9/11, pointing at you and saying “You’re next infidel!”. You would give him a glass of goat milk and wish him well?””
Makes me think back to post 46.
There were rumors floating around during the 2002 Olympic
Might want to make it clear that you believe Joseph Smith to be a prophet, rather than a clever huckster bent on making up fun stories about Indians using scimitars and iron, riding horses and such.
Just a question for you: Why is Jesus not sufficient?
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