A Town Has Turned to Dust (1998)

A Town Has Turned to Dust is not great, and has things wrong with it. However, I didn't think it was that bad. The storytelling is uneven, sometimes it is thoughtful and elegiac, but in others it it awkward and disjointed. The special effects are not up to scratch either, in fact they are lacking in their design and some have no reason to be there. The message the film has that racism and oppression are timeless is well-meaning but felt rather dated to me. The pacing is also rather sluggish at times so the more disjointed scenes of the film lack momentum. However, the film is shot well and has beautiful scenery. The soundtrack is decent, and the script is thankfully not cheesy but has a touch of thoughtfulness. The characters, especially Stephen Lang's are clichéd in hindsight(I have seen the drunken sheriff character so many times) but actually manage to be interesting. Ron Perlman's character is surprisingly multifaceted. Lang and Frankie Avina give good performances, but the best thing about A Town Has Turned To Dust is Perlman, while essentially ruthless you do feel some element of sympathy for him. So overall, a decent attempt at a western but doesn't quite come off as well as it could have done. 6/10 Bethany Cox

There are very few of Rod Serling's stories that don't hold much interest for me. The *Original* "A Town Has Turned To Dust" wasn't one of them.But we've seen this countless times in Hollywood: A story written by a brilliant writer gets hacked to pieces and then is handed to a director who wants to "take the story in a new direction" or "show the audience the *real* intent of its writer(s)".Heres what I want Hollywood to do with the greats of the past: Leave them ALONE. Stop standing on the shoulders of giants because most of Tinseltown is creatively bankrupt.Enough is enough.Until then I remain your,Avid Fan

Short of Lang's performance, I could not sit through this film. Lighting, direction, and overall production were horrible, and the story was not developed in a timely fashion. The only saving grace was the lead, who it appeared had little to work with. My call - 1/2 star

A Town Has Turned To Dust is a good movie with great acting. It is a story set in the future with age old problems. The actors all did a wonderful job, especially Ron Perlman and Frankie Avina. Frankie Avina as Tooth was a man oppressed by the ones who ruled over him. He didn't believe his brother would get justice but was accepting of what was happening. But after the awful event happens he stands up and fights back. I thought he was excellent. Ron Perlman's character you hated but felt sorry for him too. I would like to see more movies like this and I would love to see more movies with Frankie Avina and Ron Perlman.