A Masterpiece!

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

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 biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

There's an interesting juxtaposition in the IMDb ratings for this movie; it merits only a 5.2 from the general population who rated it (as of 6/1/16), but five out of the six reviewers here before me gave it a ten. That's kind of interesting because I find myself in the company of those who offered comments on it. I wouldn't give it a ten necessarily, but it's an above average Western with a story line that's a bit different from your run of the mill sagebrush yarn.That's not to say there aren't some confusing elements in the story, along with credibility issues with some of the situations. However I find them outweighed by the raw beauty of the cinematography and the gritty aspects of the characters. Perhaps the biggest twist coming out of the story was how much of a schemer Kun Hua (Gwendoline Yeo) turned out to be. Once she revealed to Saul (Andrew Simpson) how her husband Zhen (Boyuen) rescued her from a life of prostitution in San Francisco, but didn't love him, my radar immediately triggered, wondering if anything she said prior or going forward had any ring of truth to it at all.I think that's why the movie was so fascinating. Many of the characters had hidden motives or were downright mysterious. For example Moses Burke (Michael Robert Brandon) - after hearing him claim he was a U.S Marshal, and after Kun Hua related a tale of knowing him as a Marshal, when all was said and done I couldn't tell with any certainty if he actually was a lawman or not. The only certainty it seems, was that every single one of the interlopers at the 'Gallagher' Ranch was after a stolen cache of gold, but even there, the story leaves it a mystery as to whether the gold was legally obtained or not.As far as confusing elements, there was Saul shooting at his partner Bill (Richard Doyle) riding away from the ranch the first night, Bronco (Jesse James Youngblood) emptying the chamber of his firearm and then getting shot by the same gun, and Saul shooting Paco (John A. Lorenz) during the same scene, seemingly dead but showing up again in the story. Maybe the thing to do is watch this film a second time and see if any of the confusion clears up. But in the meantime, I'd have to go with my first gut reaction that this was an entertaining Western with a distinctively different story line, and if your tastes lie in the direction of nasty shootouts, it's got it's share of that too.

Don has an extremely versatile range, in this movie he's seems to take a eloquent theater background performance and morph it with a big screen evil villain. It's like Shakespeare doing a western his character was a thrill to watch! His delivery is outstanding, I was glued to his performance, from perfectly delivered lines to a character that he played beyond brilliant fully invested even in song at one point about, well I won't spoil it but it's hilarious. The movie is shot well and the cast is professional, the sets are beautiful with authentic era wardrobe. I really can't say enough about dons performance, this is one talented actor! I look forward to now viewing more of his work. I'm a western junkie and there are some modern pieces of garbage out there, this is not one of them, Swayze is brilliant in this 10 stars brother

This is one of those movies that makes you want to go back and watch it again and again. There are so many twists and subtleties, you make new connections every time you see it! The viewer is kept guessing up until the end, and it's often hard to tell who is on which side. The production quality is fantastic, especially for an independent film. It is also one of the more historically accurate films in its genre. The music is all original and quite fitting; it complements every scene perfectly. You can tell that everyone involved really put their hearts into this production. If you're like me and you love movies that leave you thinking, "Wow, I never expected that!" then you will love this movie.

I highly recommend this movie, and as to not give anything away I won't break into details ;) so you'll have to see to find out! but the cast & crew quite honestly did a phenomenal job! excellent cinematography. there a lot of points that make this such a wonderful addition to the Western genre, I think you'll know after seeing it for yourself :] great humour and wonderful points not often reflected upon enough in the genre. It breaks into the character of people & hits on the roles different people made on with in the Old West. You see the characters come to life and experience these roles first hand, & to jump the gun,(or guns as one might note) the title isn't without meaning. A really wonderful work!