Good movie but grossly overrated

A Masterpiece!

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

One of the better westerns to come along since the "spaghetti western" era. Lance Hanriksen is a tough gunfighter, who comes to the rescue of a town about to be besieged by three other gunfighters looking to spring one of their henchmen from jail. Kay Lenz is married to the stand in sheriff, and Henriksen is her daughter's long lost father. While there is some melodrama, the tense concluding gunfight is excellent. The film has good character development, and certainly qualifies as "female friendly". Seek this one out if you are a Lance Henriksen fan, because it is one of his best performances. ................................ - MERK

The film opens with a sunset and a red sky and there are riders who ride in slow-motion. This is quite unusual because normally it's the way a Western ends and rides are often accelerated by fast-motion. Soon we are in a Mexican-lead barroom where the superhero (a good Lance Henriksen as a squint-eyed Eastwood lookalike who looks almost as old as Eastwood himself in the nineties) is challenged by some minor gunslingers. Later he enters the town where the husband of his former love is a replacement sheriff because the real sheriff got killed by badmen. Surprisingly he also meets his daughter who doesn't know about this fact. A strange relationship with contradictive feelings develops. What could be a good drama is mostly hurt by the contrasting cartoonish Western cliché inserts. All that is related to the Old West lacks credibility here. The characters as presented feel way to modern. They just try to be Westerners. Recommended to those who are deeply interested in Westerns. There weren't that many made in the nineties.5 / 10

I first saw this movie on a cable movie channel about six years ago. I only caught the last half of the movie, but I loved it so much I searched the TV listings and would watch it every time it came on. I would set my alarm for 2 or 3 AM, whenever it was scheduled, Finally I was asked what I wanted as a Christmas gift. The only thing I could think of was Gunfighter's Moon! When I received it, I was thrilled. I have watched it so many times that I have lost count. It never gets boring or old. It is a classic. Lance Henriksen was incredible as he portrayed Frank Morgan. I found myself "caring" for Morgan as he went through a range of emotions and conflicts. The only thing I am disappointed with is there was no sequel - I wish Gunfighter's Moon 2 had been considered and released. Maybe it will be. This movie has it all - love, struggles, gunfights, hard men and Lance Henriksen with an incredible smile.

I liked this one ok even though it was filled with overzealous actors who either paid no attention to their director or this manager offered no direction at all. The facial expressions and body movements were so overdone as to be hilarious. The one player who had any experience with gun handling was relegated to playing a loser who couldn't even draw his piece without breaking it open and spilling out the rounds. The biggest drawback to this film came when the seriously wounded gunfighter left his sickbed and hobbled off to exchange lead with 3 blood hungry thugs. No way, Jose. I thought we were going to be hit with a 'Shane' moment there at the end but, thankfully, it never came to pass. At least there were no hay bales laying around as there are in many westerns. Fun but dumb.