Last Stand at Saber River is directed by Dick Lowry and adapted to teleplay by Ronald M. Cohen form the novel of the same name written by Elmore Leonard.It stars Tom Selleck, Suzy Amis, Tracey Needham, Keith Carradine, David Carradine, Haley Joel Osment and Rachel Duncan. Music is scored by David Shire and cinematography by Ric Waite.

"Texas 1865. The war between the States continues to rage. Texas remains deeply committed to the Confederate cause."

Nicely mounted Oater from the tail end of the Civil War, Last Stand at Saber River does, however, suffer from predictability. Selleck is Paul Cable, who is back from fighting for the Confederates in the war, he finds that his family thought he was dead and his homestead has been claimed by Union men. A feud ensues between Cable and the Kidston family, while Cable and his wife Martha (Amis) struggle to reform their love in a haze of confusion and bitterness. Cue some Western movie staples that file in and out of the plot and a finale that turns on an unlikely character switch around.

There's something wrong with this valley. The war's over but the killing don't stop.

Characters are nicely drawn, though, with the script allowing some mature conversations and themes to be born out within the plot. The New Mexico locations are nicely photographed by Waite, and the colours are unobtrusive and keep the feel authentic. Selleck manfully carries the film on his tall frame, he looks the part and conveys great acting skills with face and body. Rest of cast are up to a required TV Western standard, with Amis standing out by expertly portraying guts and emotional turmoil without histrionics.

A good and safe time filler for the Selleck and TV Western watchers, but it really doesn't linger in the memory once the predicted ending has closed. 6/10

"Last Stand at Saber River." Sounds desperate, like a Three Mesquiteers movie from the 1930s. Actually there is no last stand, and if Saber River was ever mentioned I missed it.

It's 1865. The Civil War is about over and a bearded, filthy Tom Selleck who fought for the Confederacy rides home after three years to his family in Texas. His schoolteacher wife, Suzy Amis, and his two young children are waiting for him. His wife is bitter about his having been gone and incommunicado for so long. They decide to return to their ranch in Arizona Territory and raise horses.

They find the atmosphere in the valley decidedly mixed. It appears to be in the charge of the Union Army but no Union Army is discernible, just David Carradine, dressed up in a Union uniform, though he's now a civilian. He kinda runs things and his men have taken over Selleck's dilapidated homestead. Selleck shortly rids it of their presence.

The homestead is now in contention. It lies just outside one of those tiny Western towns with only a few buildings and a General Store. The General Store is owned by an unregenerate Southerner who welcomes Selleck as a fellow-in-arms. I can't find the guy's name in the cast list, although he gives one of the best performances in the movie.

It sounds like a simple-minded contest of good against evil. In some ways it even LOOKS like it, because some of David Carradine's men have obviously been hired for their appearances, with the evil already punched in.

But it's more subtle than that. And more complicated. A feud starts, but each side has its own justification. And there's a sub plot involved the "running" of cattle and/or horses and/or guns back and forth to Mexico. I've never figured out how those things work. I've never understood why cats are fascinated by flushing toilets either.

It's not bad. David's brother, Keith Carradine, has a bit more perspective than the rest of the clan and changes sides. When the war ends, the manager of the general store, who has been a friendly figure, goes ape. And there's a final shoot out that leaves Selleck wounded and the bad guys routed. The special effects -- the gunshots and the whines of ricochets -- are admirable.

Selleck is his comfortable, easy-to-identify-with self. He's a John Wayne figure, a man of principle. When a beautiful blond girl, Tracey Needham, throws herself at him, he resists her siren's song. This happens to me all the time but I find it harder to walk away than Selleck does.

Suzy Amis is just about right for the part of the hardened frontier wife. She's not stunningly beautiful but that's just fine because it renders her more nearly human than the ordinary glamor girls that Hollywood fields.

It's worth watching.

I'm surprised Tom Selleck hasn't made more theatrical release Westerns. "Quigley Down Under" (1990) was pretty good, and I enjoyed his TV movie "Crossfire Trail" (2001). Going back in time to 1982, "The Shadow Riders" didn't really resonate with this viewer, but it did have some good cinematography.

This story has Confederate war veteran Cable (Selleck) conflicted over his role in the War Between the States, while his wife Martha (Suzy Amis) has her own issues to work through, as the couple embark on reclaiming their Arizona homestead from Union sympathizers encroaching on their land. That subtext added a compelling backdrop to the story, rather than having just a wild shoot 'em up Western in which the lead hero takes out all the bad guys. In fact, even the bad guys here have some redeeming qualities; Vern Kidston (Keith Carradine) has a change of heart when he learns that shopkeeper Janroe (David Dukes) is playing both sides against each other for his own personal gain.

I kept a close eye on the two kids, the actors Rachel Duncan and Haley Joel Osmont really looked like they could have been brother and sister, so that was pretty good casting there. Clare Cable (Duncan) did a real good job as well while herding those horses, she looked like a pretty fair cowgirl when all was said and done.

The one thing that gets me though, going as far back as movies of the 1930's, is when a runaway wagon suddenly breaks away from a team of horses to head on over a cliff while someone aboard is saved just in the nick of time. It occurred here and looks spectacular, but how does that happen for real is what I'd like to know.