Son of the Morning Star (1991)

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

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 simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Taking this movie for what it is, a movie about an historical event, it's pretty good. The scenes, settings, and dialogue all work towards looking and portraying the events documented in history. Because it's a movie, it is more of a play about real events. The music is the most disruptive and annoying part. It heavily detracts from watching the story. The dialogue is spoken as actors would speak it, with drama, rather than the conversational tone it was surely truly spoken as. The Indians, many of them, are fat, way too unbelievable for people who lived off the land, and Crazy Horse, while thin and muscular most likely didn't have the six pack of someone who works out, but maybe he did. Most disappointing is the portrayal of Captain Benteen, who, according to the movie, callously refuses to go to Custer's aid. I think in truth he didn't know Custer's location or true predicament. Though no love was lost between the two real men, Benteen was a brave soldier who would have come to the aid of other 7th Calvary soldiers. That said, it's a good reenactment movie with real or real looking historical sets, and I love the replacing of the famous Custer picture with Gary Cole as Custer in one of the closing shots. I believe that Custer, as a personality, was more likely a self-centered quarterback type, instead of the pretty boy he's played as. He sounds like he as a pretty ruthless killer, not very Errol Flynnish.

I actually just bought this movie(ebay) for a significant amount. Not because I really thought it was that good, but because I`m totally hung up on the history of native Americans, and especially obsessed with the battle of Little Big Horn. In that respect I was NOT disappointed by this movie.The climactic battle scene was actually very satisfying to me, because i was afraid it would a long wait for nothing. I was eager to see if they had managed to bring the great battle to a realistic scale (3000 thousand warriors, enormous Sioux camp). I was almost completely convinced. Both the choreography and the attention to historical details was flawless! All in all a must for "indians`/western fans" but also watchable for people interested in historical/war dramas. When that is said, this is after all a TV-production, and my review must be seen in that context. 7/10

This movie is history coming alive. Gary Cole IS George Armstrong Custer and Rodney A. Grant IS Crazy Horse. David Strathairn, one of the most underrated actors of our generation, is tremendous as the "oily" Captain Benteen, quick to bad mouth Custer after the disaster. The final battle scene is first rate. I do find falut, however, with the Kate Bighead character (Buffy St. Marie) who serves as the narrator. At times, it smacked of "political correctness". I don't need this character telling me right and wrong. Let the facts speak for themselves! Even with this major fault, I still recommend the movie. Every high school student in America should view this film as part of their American History course.

"Son Of The Morning Star" is by all accounts and definitions an epic. With a period backdrop, compelling characters, a cast of thousands and a span of ten years, "Morning Star" fits the mold of almost every made-for-tv-mini series. Yet you can't help but feel it's being confined on the small screen like a belt that's too tight on you. It has the look and feel of a theatrical feature, and would seem so much bigger on the big screen. But Mike Robe's gigantic effort is no movie of the week basic network fodder. It's the post-Civil War story of General George Armstrong Custer, his lovely and loyal wife Libbie, and Custer's Indian equivalent Crazy Horse, and the interesting chain of events that lead the two warriors to the gentle slopes of the Little Big Horn, or, more popularly, Custer's Last Stand. But, as the Indian female narrator Kate Bighead tells us, "it was not [Custer's] last stand...it was ours". The first half of the film seems somewhat confused of its real direction, and it's pretty much the movies only flaw. We meet the characters, soak in the rich setting of the western plains of our country, and are led through such happenings as Custer's court martialing for his harsh treatment on deserters, the training of his 7th cavalry, the somewhat flawed presidency of Ulysses S. Grant, who, apparently, is quite the anti-Custer, and to a lesser extent to all of this, the early days of the Cheyenne warrior Crazy Horse, played by underrated Native American actor Rodney A. Grant (Wind In His Hair from "Dances With Wolves", which is what I believe ultimatly helped greenlight this production). But besides that jumbled storyline, which really isn't all that jumbled, there are first rate acting scenes displayed by Gary Cole as our arrogant blond hero, who seems to really know his stuff when it comes to first person impressions. Rosanna Arquette is just going through the motions, and so is Dean Stockwell as Custer's superior in Washington, General Sheridan. But the real reward for sticking through this movie is the heart-wrenching climax of all movie climaxes, the Battle of Little Big Horn. Custer's actual Last Stand isn't until the final half hour, but boy is it worth the wait. Mike Robe really deserves some, heck, A LOT of credit for this logistical nightmare of a production. He takes us through Custer's final moments with true skill and utter authority. Combined with the poetic and professional lens job done by director of photography Kees Van Oostrum, and a lush orchestral score by Craig Safan, "Son Of The Morning Star" is a real piece of work, and should be considered a genuine cinematic triumph in the annals of western and dramatic film. Kudos, guys.