To me, this movie is perfection.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

In 1883 in Dakota Territory, a bounty hunter named Cochrane is chasing after Cincinnati John Mason ("I've never been to Cincinnati", Mason frequently tells people). We later learn three men died because of him and while they might not have had high moral standards, Cochrane says, "The law is the law." Mason was also connected with the death of a prisoner in Mexico whose family wanted justice; someone was told to release one or the other, and Mason was released. Mason may have killed people for The Pinkertons. He does admit to having been a Texas ranger.A gang wearing masks robs the mail in Wyoming and several people on both sides are shot.At a card game in Montana, Mason has three aces while the other man has three kings. I'm not clear on who was cheating but a number of guns are drawn and Mason needs to get out of town. He meets Ben McClure at a campfire.In Promise, Wyoming, Mason meets up with his father who is not happy to see him. He also meets up with Alice who is attractive, intelligent and tough, and very happy to see him. However, Ben McClure wants to marry her. This becomes a problem later. Alice seems to be the closest thing Promise has to a doctor, though maybe we just don't see the doctor in the movie.Alice's brother Rodd is about to lose the family ranch, and he is prepared to do anything. He even considers the ranch more important than his sister. Rodd needs $5000, and money like that is hard to get legally. Mason says he doesn't do that any more.The masked gang shows up again. At least I assume it is them. They wear the same masks. The only way to be sure is that some, or maybe all, have double X on their shoulder. We are told this is the first time someone has died. There are railway workers who are getting paid more now than they used to. Someone has to deliver the money, and Ben and Mason volunteer to do the job at different times. Each time there is a problem. We can't really be sure what Mason's intentions are. Meanwhile, Cochrane finally catches up with Mason. This is a standard Western, with nothing particularly special except that it's never clear just who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. There's lots of fightin' and shootin' and not too much blood. Several people die but most of them we didn't really know. Donald Sutherland gives one of the standout performances, but doesn't he always?Jill Hennessy also does a great job. This was cleaned up for TV. One word network TV doesn't tend to allow did slip through, but a number of other words got bleeped. A lot of them. Cleaned up, it's probably no worse than most Westerns, but not as clean as the family-friendly Westerns of the distant past.I just watched this because it was on. You might like it if you like Westerns.

Using most of the character names as was used in the original Tom Tyler film (Monogram) and the remakes starring John Wayne (Lone Star-Monogram) and Bob Baker (Uinversal), it would appear that such an outright theft should have also been noted when the writing credits appear on this film...but try as I may I fail to find one line on any frame of this film that mention this film was base on an original story and screenplay by Wellyn Totman, and also on subsequent screenplays by Robert N. Bradbury and George Waggner. Evidently, the use of previously-written copyrighted material, without crediting any of the original story or screenplay writers is no problem in Canada. A simple based-upon-by nod would have been honest, at least.

"Dawn Rider" is a remake of a John Wayne "B" western of the 1930s. The original version ran only about fifty-three minutes, while this remake runs an additional forty minutes - which happens to be one of the big problems. There isn't enough story here to justify a ninety-three minute running time, so frequently the movie runs at a VERY slow speed. But there are other problems with the movie. The movie is also quite dull, and while there are several action sequences, they are very unexciting. While Christian Slater has given some fine performances in the past, he's hopeless here, the last person you would consider being a hardened gunfighter despite not shaving for several days. Donald Sutherland only appears in five brief scenes, indicating he was only hired for a few days so that the movie would qualify for Canadian content rules. The production values are okay, and there are a few well-photographed sequences, but that's not enough to make the movie appealing to even western addicts like myself.

In this day and age when the genera of the true Western movie is becoming a rarity, it's difficult to see any which are memorable. Some good examples are 'High Plains Drifter, The Wild Bunch and Unforgiven' where a gunman is remorseful of his past. To that group is this new addition called " Dawn Rider." Growing up I remember the same title on another movie, but nothing as memorable as this offering. Director Terry Miles who also co-wrote the story relates the western tale of a man (Christian Slater) who returns home to his father who unfortunately is killed in a hold-up. His son, being a former Pinkerton detective, silently ponders who might have been responsible. At the same time the son is tracked by a shadowy, but persistent lawman (Donald Sutherland) and his posse who have an outstanding though dubious arrest warrant for him. In addition, the rider has set his eyes on a woman (Jill Hennenssy) who becomes a nurse and friend to him, unaware she is set to marry another man. The rider has a persistent problem in that a group of cowboys in white masks is making themselves known as a ruthless band of killer robbers who are planning for their final confrontation with the law, while the rider remains vaguely unaware how close the danger really is. The movie appears to have been hewn from an authentic western photograph. Indeed, the rustic town is rough-cut, thread bear with all the black and white images of early Americanna, complete with colorful names for the citizens and multiple uses of buildings. The movie itself is believable in mannerism, costumes and even dialog. Slater does well to carry the film to it's inevitable conclusion with Donald Suttherland giving a convincing performance with a surprise ending. Excellent Film. Recommended. ****